This is what comes of having three dogs and fully 80% of your facebook friends/groups being animal-related organizations. Last night, I dreamt that I took my sister’s new puppy to the park – and promptly lost him!. In the dream, I fell into conversation with a fellow dog owner, then turned to check on the puppy – only to discover he had disappeared. Frantic, I searched the park and the surrounding area, then retraced my steps in the hopes that he had found his way home, subsequently checking and re-checking the house. I couldn’t believe it. When it comes to my own dogs, I’m super careful. I always make it a point to walk them on leashes, hire people to stay at the house with them when I’m away, and never ever leave them unattended in the car or the back yard. How was it possible for me, of all people, to lose a dog?
Finding that puppy became an obsession. I was damned determined. How determined? So determined that I woke up a half dozen times during the night and promptly went back to sleep so that I could resume the search!
Finally, it’s settled. I think. I’ll be flying my sister up from Montreal so that she can take care of the dogs while we’re in Tokyo!
Some dog-related news:
Bed dog or bed bog: the realities of sleeping with dogs: http://www.dogheirs.com/misst/questions/38-bed-dog-or-bed-hog
Baltimore Ravens wide-receiver has been a long-time supporter of animals in need. He even asked that donations be made to the Baltimore animal shelter instead of wedding gifts! This news makes me even happier that I drafted him for my fantasy football team! Torrey Smith
ASPCA helps shut down Bronx dog-fighting ring. Nearly 50 dogs were rescued from the six story apartment building and the building’s superintendent, Raul Sanchez, was sentenced to 1-3 years in prison. Sayanora, dirtbag! http://www.aspca.org/fight-cruelty/field-investigations-and-response-team/blood-sports/bronx-dog-fighting-raid-july-2012
This here in B.C. This guy, Brandon Scott Harrison, who allegedly abused his dog AND allegedly threatened the bystanders who came to the dog’s defense, is going to court October 15th. In the meantime, he gets to keep his dog! Head on over and sign the petition: https://www.causes.com/actions/1760004-justice-for-terry
I find these cases particularly sad – senior animals that are dumped by their so-called families. Here, an open letter from a shelter worker to one of these fair-weather dog lovers: An open letter to Jean (last name withheld), the person who dumped Cocoa at the pound lunachyq.wordpress.comHello. You don’t know me, and for your sake, you’d best hope and pray that you never have the misfortune to meet me. How do I know your name? Because the people at animal control gave me Cocoa’s …
Meanwhile, this handsome boy is still missing from his Pensacola, Florida home – possibly stolen. Have you seen him? Finding Diesel
Apparently, in Merced, California, it is perfectly legal for police officers to “put down” wounded animals…at their shooting range: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2013/09/11/3217267/merced-police-officers-shoot-injured.html Presumably, the shooting range is closer than the local vet hospital?
Help save Phineas: Save Phineas | Phineas Summary
GA rescue being shut down by the state exposed www.examiner.comBreaking news update on the story ran earlier on Friday, September 13, 2013; I posted an article about a Georgia rescue being shut down by the state. The build
Clifford’s Army Rescue Extravaganza
Pibbles & More Animal Rescue, Inc – PMAR
Shelter Animal’s of Garland, Rockwall, Rowlett, Royse City & Surroundings
I’m absolutely convinced the world has gone crazy, Joe, and it’s the animals that are paying the price. I read of case after case after case of neglect, abuse, abandonment, etc. and get so frustrated wanting to fix everything for these poor animals, knowing that I can’t. As for “Jean”, she is a piece of shit, indeed. I think of all the dogs that somehow have found their way to my door over the years (especially when we lived in Homestead, FL) and how each of them brought so much to my life and my family. How anybody can do that to any animal is beyond my comprehension. As of next week, it looks like we’ll have a new family member. My husband found a stray at his work, and she seems like a sweetie. She’s being fed and sheltered there until I’m feeling a better, and then I’ll get her to the vet to check for a microchip, heartworms (very common here, unfortunately), get her shots, spaying (if necessary) and then on to see how she gets along with Cody, Riley and the baby. If for some reason that doesn’t work out, I’ll find her a loving home, no matter how long it takes. That reminds me, Stewey is doing really well in his new home with his brothers! He’s definitely found his forever home and is getting spoiled rotten. 🙂 Funny how nobody looked at him for 6 months and when I made some noise about keeping him and couldn’t, he got adopted. 🙂
When my dad passed away in 2010, his two little old lady cats were with him, Punkin and Trixie. They are tiny things, 5 and 6 pounds. I took them in. I already have two male cats, a Siamese (Oide) and a huge 20 lb. silver tabby named Harry Buttlicker. The boys and the girls do NOT get along. Punkin is an insane tortie, and Oide is still trying to rid the house of them. Harry gets vocal and huffy, but does nothing. In fact, he wouldn’t go downstairs were the girls were for a whole year! We had to get an upstairs little box. Yuck.
There’s been blood drawn, and no forgiveness. So the guest room downstairs has become the girls’ room. The ladies are very good about their “beddy bye” routine, going in and waiting for treats when I begin turning off the lights and TV and calling “beddy bed, beddy bye”. Kinda cute, but sad. Trixie would love to sleep with us, but my bed is the boys’ domain. Punkin will stay in her room to sleep in her little hut on the top bunk during the day without me having to “put her away”. Any time we go anywhere, we have to put the girls in their room.
Only now do the girls try to hang out in the kitchen. They and the boys have a truce of sorts, while one set is napping, the others stay near me.
It is all very tiring as they all want love and cuddles and attention and I can only do that in shifts.
Joe, in your dream, I think you are just worried about bringing another dog into your home and if you will be able to take care of it like it deserves for it’s lifetime. It is your sister’s dog because you have been talking to her about babysitting and you know she has dogs she loves too. Are you worried that she is going to come over and loose one of your dogs? Relaaaax. Everything will work out.
I don’t understand how people can be so callous to their pets and simply throw them away like a piece of garbage when a problem develops. I’ve racked up some pretty hefty vet bills over the years, but at no point did I ever consider abandoning or euthanizing any of my cats because they were going to cost me some bucks to have them treated. I did have to have two of them euthanized (cancer for one, kidney and liver failure for the other), but only after all other avenues of treatment were exhausted and the quality of their lives became such that they were suffering and in constant pain, and facing a slow and painful death.
When a person adopts a pet, looking after that pet and acting in its best interest is part of what that person has agreed to do and he or she should be prepared for the costs associated with that care, especially as the pet ages, and to look after the pet to the best extent possible.
Based on the letter, my opinion of Jean is that she’s a complete scumbag.
As for the “dirtbag,” it’s too bad he got concurrent sentences rather than consecutive.
What a nice sister. I hope she has a great time while babysitting the kids.
I think it’s wonderful you care so much about dogs and want people to re-home whenever possible but give a thought to cats and other small furries to.
I foster for Hazel Wood Rescue in Greater London, England. Although we never turn an animal away, I mostly foster cats, most of them are dumped in boxes, bags, trash cans etc or rescued from the countryside where they have become feral but some are brought to us because the owners can’t be bothered anymore or are threatening their safety. We have seen some horrific things over the years but one of our latest sticks in my head and my heart. Graham, one of our fearless leaders was called about a stray cat that had been hit by a car and had one of her front legs ripped almost all of the way off. The local vet had wanted to put her to sleep as no one owned her and he couldn’t be bothered to help her if it was going to cost a lot of money to fix her and no one to pay. Thankfully another head of our charity was on duty at the vets and overheard the conversation about putting her to sleep so they quickly contacted Graham who gave the go ahead to start treatment and our charity would pay, within minutes Graham had her story on our Facebook page asking for our helpers to donate £1 each if they could to help try to save this poor kitty. People donated what we could and Little Miai as she was named began her long road to recovery. She had to be stabilised before surgery which took a whole week, her leg bandaged but untouched yet. Finally when she went in for her operation, her leg literally was hanging on by just skin, inside there was nothing to hold it in place but there was road grit and stones, grass and lots of infection. The vets cleaned out what they could but ended up removing her shoulder joint along with the leg and we really weren’t sure if she’d make it but she did, not only did she pull through all the surgery but she can now run and even jump a little but the best news of all is that she went up for adoption last week and we have a whole list of people wanting to give this wonderful little kitty a new forever home. So please if you can, remember all animals deserve a wonderful and loving home.
https://www.facebook.com/hazel.rescue?fref=ts
We have had many babies over the years, a lot of strays who we needed as much as they needed us. We had a multipet discount with the vet, a good thing to have. We lived on a dead end country road so we got new babies sometimes. I have a soft spot in my heart for critters and do not want to imagine these horrible people in the world, and am a believer in karma and they will get their comuppance(is that a word). Thanks for sharing your babies with us. The dream,,maybe you are losing something else besides a pup….keys, chocolate..
One thing that encourages me is that I believe for every “Jean”, there are a lot more “Jamies” (the writer of that blog) and Joes. I really don’t understand how someone can take care of a creature for that many years and not have SOME feeling of long term responsibility for it. I think that there is an attitude among some that pets are no more than possessions – that you can swap out animals as easily as upgrading to the newest mobile phone. I wonder what their human relationships are like.
I think Jamie heaped way too much judgement on Jean without knowing anything about her situation. It’s awfully convenient how much kudos she invites for herself, where if she just announced she deserved them for paying extra for dog food then that would just look like attention-seeking. I’ll reserve judgement on whether her motives for writing the post were 100% altruistic.
You are so lucky that your sister is coming to watch the dogs for you. It must be nice to have family you can trust and are willing to help out. The dogs will be fine with you gone. They will miss you but they will be fine. We look forward to all the wedding stories as well.
Animal abuse is a deeply disturbing subject for me. I’ve seen it up close and personal working at animal hospitals. Don’t get me started on how awful it is. It’s just the tip of the iceberg though in terms of society.
The helpless are the first ones to be abused and then it bleeds over into everyone else. I don’t believe they make laws against animal abuse severe enough. Politicians close their eyes to how it effects everyone, not just pets. For example, serial killers start out on animals.
Joe if you might indulge me in a little dream interpretation:
In Native American medicine dogs are the representation of loyalty and service. To me, this dream seems to imply that you have recently made a new alliance that can help you and better serve you in the long run than an old alliance did. The dream indicates that you are very worried about losing this alliance if you don’t keep your eye on it or you start talking to other people while the alliance is in the ‘puppy stage’ and is apt to run off after the something else. Make sure you set clear boundaries for this new alliance and, without being to arrogent (for lack of a better word) gently remind them that you are the “alpha dog” in this venture and while they have something to offer, you are the more experienced at getting it in the right direction.
What funny timing. Last night I had a dream that I had four clients to go visit (multiple dogs) and I had forgotten I had them. I totally know where it came from–I have not any clients for the last two days and boy does that feel weird, like I forgot to write someone down on the schedule. I go see my regular puppy tomorrow. It has been a long time where I had two days in a row without at least 1 client. Don’t you hate those dreams where you wake up and you go back to the same sucky dream? I hate nights like that. Sis will take great care of the kids while you are gone.