Found Dog (Debate)

[CTChin]

Try working in a vet's office ...or even a groomer. We see dogs in worse shape than this come in. There are often multiple excuses ...sometimes legit such as it was an elderly deceased relatives and they just became aware of it. We're just happy they finally made it in for treatment. We work on a case by case basis to decide whether we turning over a case to animal control to be investigated.

Hopefully only the matting caused this dogs skin issues and not severe allergies. I've learned multiple "tricks" listening to my customers regarding their dogs allergies plus going to seminars so let me know if you need help.

 

[Spoof]

I would alert the local humane society to the dog and the condition it was found in and discuss it with them.

I have low tolerance of the 'we lost our dog' if it doesn't have a chip in it. It's only $20 in this state, required by law for both dogs and horses. If they don't have a chip it means they didn't care enough to take it in for it's first round of vaccinations here.

Probably not the case in other states but lots of transmittable diseases in this hot sweaty swamp.

 

[CTChin]

I would alert the local humane society to the dog and the condition it was found in and discuss it with them.

I have low tolerance of the 'we lost our dog' if it doesn't have a chip in it. It's only $20 in this state, required by law for both dogs and horses. If they don't have a chip it means they didn't care enough to take it in for it's first round of vaccinations here.

Probably not the case in other states but lots of transmittable diseases in this hot sweaty swamp.

Really? Chips are required by law in LA? I had no idea. I know people that were down there for Katrina and they say they have never seen animals so neglected in their life. They said you could tell their issues started way before the flood.

We offer chip implantation but only about 10% of our customers take advantage of it. They are usually in for shots when we offer it.

 

[LemonSqueezi]

I would not turn the dog into a pound. Sorry can't do that. He's been through enough. If you ever been to the pounds by me you wouldn't either. There is no way he would slip through anyones sites where he was. Its like NYC meets the slums. Its really just not likely, especially long enough to develop what he did.
Second the pounds over here won't let you keep him, they will tell you to call animal control to come pick it up. They won't keep your info on file for if anyone calls cause they don't have time and you are lucky if you get through to them to begin with. We tried that last time. He is old and in bad shape, and I know the pounds over here don't do much for them, and if not adopted by a certain time they put them down from being over crowded especially if sick or old. I would have to adopt and pay the ridiculous fees they would want for him when I found him in the first place then take him to the vet and deal with all of this anyway.

On a different note, he went to the vet. On top of having fleas and some weird bug eggs in his fur he has bad skin allergies and some hair thinning from it ( besides the bald spots and wounds) and still with meds scratches constantly. He is aged between 5-9 years of age and has bad teeth. His anal glands were so full that they were infected and it hurt too much to drain them so he is on antibiotics and pain meds until he gets them drained next week. We think he may have spinal disc disease which is pretty common in dogs his size. He weighs exactly 7 lbs but should be about 9 lbs.
I still need to test him for Heartworm and get his shots. I only had so much to spend this week last minutes notice and don't want to use the ER or rescue Money. We need that for the chins. So probably next week he will get more stuff done.

 

[Spoof]

I know people that were down there for Katrina and they say they have never seen animals so neglected in their life. They said you could tell their issues started way before the flood.

Certainly, they treat their pets, themselves and kids all alike, many of them still live (happily) in what I'd consider third world conditions - sometimes they'll have running water, but I've met a few that don't. There's a family of about 20 down the road from me that lives out of their cars on a property. They have no intention of buying a house, they consider it a waste of money.

Don't know why they do that, but it's a way of life.

The microchipping has to do with the rabies vaccs, all pets are required to have rabies here. Horses it's EIA. I was surprised at the cost - I'd never gotten my horse done because it was $150 in WA, more like a novelty. When they told me it was included in the Coggins here ($38 for blood draw/paperwork/chip) I was shocked!

 

[cintistatern2005]

Well im glad you took the dog in! He deserves someone like you!!

 

[alli713]

When I got Lila, the vet offered to microchip her for me, but it was over $100 for it, so sorry, I wasn't going to pay that much.

 

[chinsNdobermans]

When I got Lila, the vet offered to microchip her for me, but it was over $100 for it, so sorry, I wasn't going to pay that much.

I definitely find that people are far more likely to chip at one of the local events where it only costs $15 or so (when the SPCA or the local rescue do their fundraisers). Some people really aren't willing to spend a whole lot on their pets though, even $15 for a chip.

 

[alli713]

Yeah, I would definitely pay for it if it were around $20. But not $100.

 

[RDZCRanch]

When you call animal control to report a found dog you don't HAVE to turn the dog over to them. Like was mentioned you give a description of the dog and your contact information in case someone comes looking. OR, since you said they won't keep your information and all that. You can call and see if anyone has called looking for a (description of dog here). Then just do that every day for a little while. They may act as if they don't have time...but it's there JOB to be there and answer your questions.

Also...since dogs and cats ARE considered property, most states have laws about animal abandonment and finding dogs. In California you have to actively look for an owner and place notices in a conspicuous place for 14 days. If no one comes forward to claim the dog then you are free to keep it, even if an owner shows after the 14 days. For vets in California we are required to euthanize any animals abandoned at our office if we cannot find homes for them in 10 days. Our office is very good at misjudging time frames when we get pets surrendered to us, though.

Give him a little time with the itching. Since his case is so severe it will take a while to get his skin and everything back to normal and to the point where he's not trying to scratch his skin off.

 

[eroomlorac]

I have all my dogs microchipped. The local humane society offers it to the public for about $20 or so. So does the vet I use but he is the vet for the animal shelter.


http://www.tailshumanesociety.org/

 

[LemonSqueezi]

When you call animal control to report a found dog you don't HAVE to turn the dog over to them. Like was mentioned you give a description of the dog and your contact information in case someone comes looking. OR, since you said they won't keep your information and all that. You can call and see if anyone has called looking for a (description of dog here). Then just do that every day for a little while. They may act as if they don't have time...but it's there JOB to be there and answer your questions.

Also...since dogs and cats ARE considered property, most states have laws about animal abandonment and finding dogs. In California you have to actively look for an owner and place notices in a conspicuous place for 14 days. If no one comes forward to claim the dog then you are free to keep it, even if an owner shows after the 14 days. For vets in California we are required to euthanize any animals abandoned at our office if we cannot find homes for them in 10 days. Our office is very good at misjudging time frames when we get pets surrendered to us, though.

Give him a little time with the itching. Since his case is so severe it will take a while to get his skin and everything back to normal and to the point where he's not trying to scratch his skin off.

In NJ the owner has 7 days to claim and the person holding has 7 days before they are legally allowed to adopt it out, no matter who it is, pound, rescue or resident. The last dog we found and told animal control we wanted them to keep our info we got yelled at and that we should have called them to pick up the dog and not touched it. We explained he was in the streets and headed toward a major highway and they told us it didn't matter( like they answer or were gonna come out) However regardless if it is their job to be there and answer anything they don't. Thats how it is over here. I don't have time to keep calling around the clock to get them to answer sorry, and even if they answered they will give you an attitude and tell you no one has called that they know of and hang up. After seeing how bad this dog was there is no way I would hand him over to anyone claiming it was theirs anyway and since they have no proof well... yea
At this point I'm not worried about any owners and now just trying to find him a good home.

 

[eroomlorac]

Just thought of this.........did you have him scanned for a chip?

 

[ChinchillaSteve]

If they don't care I don't care
If the owner should show up I'd have to control myself
(reminder to the man who beat his dogs nextdoor :hammer

 

[Siren]

Also consider other factors such as health and age. I found a schnauzer once. He looked VERY old and had full blown testicular cancer. I didn't need a test to know it was cancer. He was in terrible shape, but friendly. Deaf and blind too. Its a breed that never ages gracefully. I dematted him, groomed him. Gave him a nice short Schnauzer cut. Cleaned him up nice. He had no fleas or ticks. We had him over Christmas and finally his owners came forward.

The owner just inherited him. Her friend passed away and the dog was written into the will to her. The dog was new to her. Only had it a day, and being as senile as he was, she didn't notice he had wandered away. Mind you, she didn't have a leash on him. And I scolded her slightly for that. I also told her not to let any vet rip her off by telling her to treat the cancer. He was 18. He lived a good long life. If she never showed up, we would have kept him. He probably only had a few more months to live before he'd pass on his own or need to be euthanized. But he was a good dog. But the owner wasn't at fault for his condition....His previous owner never got him neutered. That would have saved him from getting cancer. Too late to neuter him now. And his disheveled look was related in part to age, as well as his owner was very sick, unable to care for him, died, and the new owner didn't have the chance to groom him.

Now I will say, a majority of the time, if you find a dog who looks abused and neglected, it was probably done purposefully. I'd probably keep it or find it a new home. Sounds like this is the case for this one. Poor baby. Having a pet is a privileged, not a right. However, our pets have rights to good treatment.

 

[Brea]

I wouldn't be so quick to assume that dog was neglected. At the vet clinic I work at, we had a call from a girl that pet sits regularly for our clients, saying one of the yorkies she was looking after had gotten loose in York city. He was lost for about a month before he was found and he was in horrible condition. I would look for his owners, but be sure that they are sincere about taking proper care of him. Did you have him scanned to see if he was microchipped? We once found a microchipped dog that was stolen from a house in CA. The owners where very happy to hear he was alive and well and gave us the ok to rehome him. Microchipping costs $100 at my office, and not many people opt. to do it because of the cost. I wish they could make it more affordable.