Abandonded pets-RANT

[Lostdog]

I live in the country so the idea of people "dumping" their pets has come to be a frequent occurance that I have seen over the years.Although I still can not understand how people can be so heartless as to abandon an animal like trash.
I have myself rescued a few of these animals or have had to turn them in to shelters

.(Which I feel guilty for doing.)
I have to say that it has gotten to the point where I didn't think I could be shocked anymore by people's immorality when it comes to these animals.
Until the other day when my DH left the house to run an errand and came back home to tell me his story.
DH was driving down the road to see a horse running towards his car.He realizes quickly there is no rider or anyone close by so in his quick thinking he gets the car turned sideways to block the roadway.As the horse approaches the car he begins to slow down as a man runs around the corner at the bottom of the hill.My DH exits his vehicle and grabs the horses reigns(not a horse person so I don't know if this is the correct term).He talks to the horse and tries to calm him down.
As the man approaches my DH he says"geez, if it's not bad enough people dump their dogs off now they are dumping horses."
The gentleman obviously was familiar with the animals & owners in our area and said unless Mrs.such-n-so got a new horse that escaped someone just dumped this poor horse off in the middle of nowhere.

How could people do such a horrid thing to a poor animal?
I hate to believe this is the case but nothing surprises me anymore.

 

[kbarrett]

What a sad shame. From some of the equine sites I visit, dumping horses is happening more often, especially in areas hit hard by drought which has driven hay & feed prices really high. With the horse market in bad shape people just cant sell their animals. Yet I can give you a list of people in my area still breeding their non-proven, non-shown, non-registered stock, cause they're pretty, have white markings or are sweet, despite their horrible conformation. It's usually the horses that suffer before people figure out how expensive they are

 

[deb1]

This makes me angry also.

Don't feel guilty if you have to turn an animal into the pound. Even if they are put to sleep, they will die in a much more comfortable manner then if they starved on the street.

We found a skinny, eye infected but sweet dog. I could not keep her as I had three dogs. So, I took her to the pound. When we pulled into the parking lot I barely had time to jump out of the car with her as she vomited worm infested junk all over the pavement.

The woman at the shelter/pound assured me that the dog was so friendly that she was certain she would be adopted. She also said that she would be given medical treatment.

Think of the slow death that little dog would have suffered.

I don't understand dumping an animal either. It makes me angry.un

 

[wegotchickens]

I have a friend who believes in no-kill shelters. And while I would prefer them, I've seen too many animals die on the roadside in rural GA and TN to discount kill shelters. I would MUCH RATHER an animal be left at a shelter and later put down than see one suffer.

A lady I knew dumped a bunch of kittens in the woods. She didn't want to be responsible for them any longer and reasoned that they could at least hunt for their own food

People like that make me

 

[farmgirlie1031]

Yeah, they are dumping more and more horses these days due to being unable to sale them. I've heard several stories like that unfortunatly. The other day we were out and a lady that has horses said she's had a few people now stop at her place because they see her horses and offer her free horses with their registration papers because they can't afford them anymore and can't get them sold either. It's rather sad but true.

 

[Cheryl]

Well if there are any of "those" horses in NH, let me know...

 

[Colored Egg Farmer]

we have 2 stray cats that just got dumped. Let them hunt they all they knew was where meow and get food. Luckly we were able to keep them and get them feed and feelign better.

 

[punkin]

Four of our six dogs were in some way abandoned. Shadow, our 16 year old was adopted from the pound as a puppy by someone who brought him back because she said he was sick. Lassie, our 15 year old was left at a dumpster at my DH's company. Cocoa, our 2 1/2 year old found us after being nearly starved and covered in 50+ ticks. Hunter, was brought back to us after we gave him away as a puppy because she did not want to take the time to housebreak him. Even though these dogs have cost us literally thousands of dollars over the past 16 years, we would do it all again. We love 'em all.

 

[CountryMom]

Since horse slaughter for human consumption has been banned this is what is happening. I heard at a local show someone placed a sign in their pasture "Free Horses." The next morning instead of 4 horses they had 6 in the pasture. It isn't a funny situation. And I worry myself being out in the country if I will find a horse dead on the highway along side the recent dog that was dumped. Along with a dead horse I worry about the driver who hit the animal. I personally gave a horse away this past year. He was ill tempered and just something wasn't right. I knew a cowboy that could use him or I would have gladly fed him out... not to my family, but the local wildlife. He was just too dangerous. The cowboy assured me if he didn't turn around he would do the same. However, I gave him a chance to help the man earn his living. So he has this year to show he is worthy. Putting the animal down isn't always an option for some - either money wise or legality. And I worry about the older horses that no one can sell. They just get put to pasture with no health care and are seen suffering. I have three elderly horses in my herd and know what it takes to care for their needs. It really is a sad fate that no one thought of when the laws were passed.

 

[farmgirlie1031]

I agree the slaughter issue has just made things worse. Now instead of horses at least no longer suffering because they could be slaughtered they are just suffering dumped and starving. I am waiting for the day I find an extra horse dumped in our pasture out here in the country because it wouldn't surprise me these days. I have 2 horses for sale but people just want them for $25.00 or FREE and I refuse to let them go for that as long as we can afford to feed them ourselves.

I'm also expecting dogs, cats, and chickens to get dumped here eventually. People see you have them and think oh they will take care of them and dump them. We got all 3 of our cats because they were dumped where we used to live.