Found Dog (Debate)

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LemonSqueezi

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 11, 2009
Messages
119
Location
Southern/Central New Jersey
There is no debate section here that I saw, if there is please move it.
I understand people lose dogs or they run away from good homes although often I think if they were a good home would this have happened to begin with...
Anyway I am a believer in trying to reunited a found dog with owners if he looks in good shape and friendly etc. However yesterday I found a dog in a really nasty area on my way to work. He is super friendly although a little cautious of strangers. I think he was just hungry so he let me grab him. He was covered in mats and hard crust and looked like had skin issues under neath. Was very boney, very dehydrated, and smelled soooo bad. Had no collar or any identification on him. No chip and he looks at least 7 years old going by his white muzzle.

I took him up to Megs after work. We shaved him down and under all the mats were bald skin, scabs and fly eggs. It was really nasty. He had to have been in pain and miserable.We scrubbed him down head to do in medicated wash and put some ointment for dogs on afterward.
The thing is where I found him its not likely he was out on the street too long because its a populated area and he would have been spotted and picked up or hit by a car. He is a small 7 lb black papion/chihuahua looking mix. Those dogs get sold left and right around here. Someone would have snatched him up. So to me its obvious whos ever dog he was neglected him badly and there is no way I would ever consider giving this dog back to them.
Am I wrong for not even bothering looking for an owner?
Right now he is clean safe and good eats. We are going to take him to the vet to get his anal glands drained ( looks inflamed) and an exam for now and then if we can't find him a great hone he will Stay with us.
When you find a dog in this bad shape though, should you even bother looking for an owner..?

ETA: Ugh I a an idiot I just found the debate area! Please move this.. I am sorry!
 
If I found a dog in such bad shape, I don't think I'd bother to look for an owner. That's just plain out disgusting.
 
I would not try to find the owner, it looks to me like he or she does not care too much about him anyways.

We live in the country and people let their dogs roam around constantly, even the ones living right next to the highway. One day my husband and I saw two tiny little yorkshire terriers running around right on the highway. We stopped, caught the dogs and brought them to the house they live in, the owner took them in. After that we saw them again and again running around close to the highway. And just as I knew it would happen sooner or later, a few weeks later we saw one of them run over and dead on the side of the road.
I told my husband that everytime I see one of their dogs (they have several) running around loose on the highway again, I will catch it and not bring it back, I will find it a new caring home.

Claudia
 
If I found a dog in that kind of condition, there is no way I'd even bother to find its original owners. The dog deserves way better than that!
 
If s/he's that bad and you've documented the neglect/abuse with pictures, I might try to find the owner just to try to get the @$$#0!& charged with cruelty and neglect. People like that make me :vomit: and if I still had the same temper I had as a kid, I'd have a very hard time not doing more :)hammer: comes to mind).
 
Probably I would not look for the owner. Unfortunately neglect is so common.

However, there have been rare instances that an owner has lost a dog by accident...maybe a petsitter let him lose or he escaped a fence....and the dog has been missing for months and they have been heartbroken. Rare...but I have seen it happen. We've all heard of the stories of the dog that was found 1,000 miles away 4 years after they disappeared lol.

You can try searching petfinders lost and found section so you don't have to post an ad. Or try googling lost dogs in your area just to be safe.
 
See I thought maybe he was lost for months but there is no way he wouldn't have lived a week on the streets in his condition, nor would he last on the streets with that much traffic and people. Someone would taken him in and try to resell him. The area is a really bad area in NJ, lots of traffic, no woods or areas to get lost in where no one would see him. Its very city and slum like and many of the people in that area keep their dogs off leash 24-7 and feed them scraps if they have any and breed them for money. Its horrible.
This one happened to be on a street where not many people were. Just kinda sniffing along and walking along the curb looking hungry. I pulled over and called him and he just looked at me and ran over but then stopped until I acted like I had food in my hand then he rushed over. He is super friendly though. Can't tell if he is neutered or not, I doubt it.
 
Some pics of this poor baby. Didn't have my camera with me so we took cell pics. They are hard to see. If you look close you can see the wounds on his back.
 

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My goodness, poor baby and certainly is the sweetess looking papillon. I would not try to find his previous owner.
He is waaaay better off with you.

I had found a lab x golden she was 5 or 8 we don't know. She would feed herself from her droppings and (don't know how to say this in english but will try to be understood) when in heat she would get milk even if she wasen't pregnant and feed from that also.
She had skin allergies which made her scratch like crazy and had no fur on her stomach and sides, her ears where 1inch thick from otitis, elbows and butt area was free of fur and thick like leather. Her weight as 45 lbs when found and ended up to be 80. She never did stop eating her dropping and drinking her milk no matter how much I fed her.
Got her to the vet, operation for a mass and put her to sleep 4 years after cause cancer caught up.
Miss her dearly RIP Candy. Candy was her name cause she was sweeter than sweets.
 
CTChin said:
You can try searching petfinders lost and found section so you don't have to post an ad. Or try googling lost dogs in your area just to be safe.
Click to expand...

Sometimes what I'm afraid of posting an ad for found lost dog is that people other than the original owner might want to 'claim' for the dog. Especially after you've invested time & energy into getting this dog into shape and like you said, people are selling this type of dog everywhere .. a person other than the owner might want to 'claim' it just to resell it.
 
Yea there is really no way to identify this dog. If I give any slight description then anyone can claim it. He responds to what we been calling him which is "Tao". Perhaps if they named his breed and had a vet record for him but that would be surprising given the condition he is in.
He has a vet appointment tomorrow. After that if any owner decided to post ads for him they will have to pay the vet bill, have vet records and pics.
I doubt that will ever happen.
If anyone in the NJ or surrounding area is interested in him please let me know. He is cute as pie and very sweet and licky. I'll ask a very small adoption fee but he will have a vet record after tomorrow.
 
He looks like a very sweet dog. I'm glad that you took him and cared for him. That was very kind of you! If you were closer, I would take him in a heartbeat because I don't think that even my husband could say no to those eyes. :)
 
Keep the dog. There was a german shepherd that used to roam the streets by where we used to live. Ryan and I found it once and we took it back to the owners(we knew where they lived).

Anywho... we kept seeing the dog running around on the streets all the time - owners had a fenced yard but apparently they didn't care to shut the gate. One night my mother freaked me out saying there was a dead dog in our ditch outside. She was squealing about it. Ended up being that dog that we always found roaming the streets.

So, Ryan took one of my pallets and put the dog's body on the pallet and took it back to the owner up the street. Kids were crying at their house, blah blah... a week later - they have another dog. Same thing again - letting it run loose on the streets. I'm assuming that dog is dead too, since I haven't seen it in about a year and the same people still live there. People like that, as well as people who neglect their dog like the one you found - don't deserve to own a dog, imo.
 
Not going to say whether I agree or disagree with anyone here. There are ethical/moral/opinionated arguments on both sides of the debate (which thus far has not been much of a debate :p)

Legally, a dog is property, and if you were found to have been keeping a dog who is owned, they could go after you for theft. Legally, you should report the find to animal control. They may very well tell you that you can hold onto it (decrease number of animals in their kennels) until its owner is found. Legally, you should probably try to find an owner. You would be amazed at how a dog can manage to escape detection, especially a little one, and how quickly the haircoat can get icky.

Roaming animals should be reported to animal control. The animal can then be impounded; the owners fined (and double fined if it's not licensed, up to date on rabies vaccination, and/or not neutered), and that may help trigger the owner to take better care to keep it confined.
 
When I find strays and bring them home, I always call the police and animal control and tell them I have found a dog, the description and I tell them I'll keep it until the owner is found. I don't like to turn the dog over because then I never know what happens. But I have never found a dog as uncared for as the one pictured on this thread. The ones I find you can tell they are someone's pet and he just escaped. They are usually very loving and appreciative owners who come to pick up their dog.
 
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