The owners of the puppy...
Well, it had been a week since Ashley/Princess had been found. Ramiro and his brother, Arnaldo (I think) were very excited about the prospect of getting a new puppy. Ramiro worked in the blueberry fields with his mom all day yesterday - collecting 105 buckets of blueberries - at $3.00 a piece, he had racked up enough for heartworm/flea/tick prevention, dog food, bed, crate, leash, collar, and dishes - and still have some left over for future expenses. The boys came over today to walk the puppy and play with her, and Arnaldo was finally beginning to warm up to her - actually petting her and not running away.
This afternoon, I was letting my dogs out first and heard a huge ruckus of kids running down the street. Not thinking anything of it, since there are always kids running up and down the street, I got Ashley out to walk her. As soon as I did, the kids said "That's our dog!" My heart sank. They ran up and started to fawn over her... "Precious" is her real name. They asked where her collar was, "Is it pink?" they asked. I said yes, it's inside. I said, before I get it, do you mind walking with me to the house down the street - the boys who found her would probably like to say hi. So we walked down to Ramiro's house. I asked why they hadn't been looking for her all this time - why they had missed all the flyers we had plastered all over the neighborhood. They live apparently about 4 streets down - opposite of where we had placed the flyers. And they were not likely the type to have been looking online. So, the kids knocked on the door (all 8 of them or so) and Ramiro came out. I think he was a little overwhelmed. So I told him that these people owned the dog... the kids said thank you... and then he was like, ok - and closed the door. The kids followed me back to my house to get the collar. One of them was kind of impatient - actually, he was the only boy in the group. He looked her over and said "What happened here, what the f--- happened here?" looking at an area by her mouth that had lost some hair. So I explained a little - he was like oh, ok. Anyway - as I was brining out the collar I said you have to promise me two things: 1) to get a tag with her name and their number on it, available at the flea market or Petsmart; 2) to get her spayed. I asked if she had been, they said - oh, she's not even a year old yet. I said, you can get them done very, very early these days. You don't want her having puppies, there's too many dogs in the shelters, yadda yadda. I think I lost them at that point. I should have said I already an appointment lined up for her and would get it done for them if they wanted - but I think it's best that I stayed out of that. *sigh* This is why I don't do rescue. While I was unsure about Ramiro and his family and how they were going to care for her, I'm even more unsure about the care the dog had in the past. Although, the dog was happy, seemed healthy... I worry that they won't get her spayed. She lives in their garage... apparently the boy was playing with her and dropped her on her back. She took off out of the garage door.
After all was said and done, I went back over to talk to Ramiro. I wanted to explain how they came across the dog and that I truly believed they were the owners. I said that I knew that he had gone out and gotten a bunch of stuff for the dog and if they couldn't return it, I'd be glad to buy it off of them. They found a retractable leash for $6.00 - so I could definitely use that. I just didn't want him out of his hard-earned money for nothing. They were so excited - making all kinds of plans. I did warn them that this could happen, but even I'm depressed about it. I try so hard not to be prejudiced, but it's hard when you have a pack of 8 black kids taking this puppy that you've had in your care for a week and the way they talk about her and won't listen to advice... just makes me nervous. Again, that's why I don't do rescue any more.
Oh well, she's made it this far - hopefully I will have planted a little seed in them about getting her spayed. *crosses fingers*
Guess I can close that chapter in my life.
This afternoon, I was letting my dogs out first and heard a huge ruckus of kids running down the street. Not thinking anything of it, since there are always kids running up and down the street, I got Ashley out to walk her. As soon as I did, the kids said "That's our dog!" My heart sank. They ran up and started to fawn over her... "Precious" is her real name. They asked where her collar was, "Is it pink?" they asked. I said yes, it's inside. I said, before I get it, do you mind walking with me to the house down the street - the boys who found her would probably like to say hi. So we walked down to Ramiro's house. I asked why they hadn't been looking for her all this time - why they had missed all the flyers we had plastered all over the neighborhood. They live apparently about 4 streets down - opposite of where we had placed the flyers. And they were not likely the type to have been looking online. So, the kids knocked on the door (all 8 of them or so) and Ramiro came out. I think he was a little overwhelmed. So I told him that these people owned the dog... the kids said thank you... and then he was like, ok - and closed the door. The kids followed me back to my house to get the collar. One of them was kind of impatient - actually, he was the only boy in the group. He looked her over and said "What happened here, what the f--- happened here?" looking at an area by her mouth that had lost some hair. So I explained a little - he was like oh, ok. Anyway - as I was brining out the collar I said you have to promise me two things: 1) to get a tag with her name and their number on it, available at the flea market or Petsmart; 2) to get her spayed. I asked if she had been, they said - oh, she's not even a year old yet. I said, you can get them done very, very early these days. You don't want her having puppies, there's too many dogs in the shelters, yadda yadda. I think I lost them at that point. I should have said I already an appointment lined up for her and would get it done for them if they wanted - but I think it's best that I stayed out of that. *sigh* This is why I don't do rescue. While I was unsure about Ramiro and his family and how they were going to care for her, I'm even more unsure about the care the dog had in the past. Although, the dog was happy, seemed healthy... I worry that they won't get her spayed. She lives in their garage... apparently the boy was playing with her and dropped her on her back. She took off out of the garage door.
After all was said and done, I went back over to talk to Ramiro. I wanted to explain how they came across the dog and that I truly believed they were the owners. I said that I knew that he had gone out and gotten a bunch of stuff for the dog and if they couldn't return it, I'd be glad to buy it off of them. They found a retractable leash for $6.00 - so I could definitely use that. I just didn't want him out of his hard-earned money for nothing. They were so excited - making all kinds of plans. I did warn them that this could happen, but even I'm depressed about it. I try so hard not to be prejudiced, but it's hard when you have a pack of 8 black kids taking this puppy that you've had in your care for a week and the way they talk about her and won't listen to advice... just makes me nervous. Again, that's why I don't do rescue any more.
Oh well, she's made it this far - hopefully I will have planted a little seed in them about getting her spayed. *crosses fingers*
Guess I can close that chapter in my life.