Did I do the right thing? Sure hoping so...

Ok, this afternoon my daughter starts screaming that the neighbor's dog from the other end of town (town's 4 blocks long) is in my yard and trying to go after the chickens, so I rush outside to find the dog was, sure enough, trying to get into the chicken yard. I called him but he wouldn't come, he was intent on getting into the yard. So I told my older daughter to try to get the dog to follow her, and I told her to take him home, but he wouldn't listen. Finally the kids distracted him and he came over, tail wagging. By this point I was so frustrated that I had already called the sheriff's department and they said they were sending out the dog catcher. Well, we stood out there an hour waiting and waiting, and we were hanging on tight to the dog because he tried to go across the street into my other neighbor's yard, and she has chickens too. I didn't know if hers were out, and I didn't want to risk this dog grabbing a hold of one of them. So while we're waiting, we're petting the dog, and I realize he's rail thin. I mean I could palpitate EVERY rib, right through his double coat (he's some kind of collie/malamute mix, with other breeds mixed in), and I felt bad that he was so thin. This dog is the brother of the two puppies I took in last summer when this same neighbor let the dogs walk right out of her yard because she didn't want them. Those puppies were rail thin too. She got rid of all the pups that way, but kept this boy, I'm guessing cause he was so cute. I got rid of those puppies after they killed my only show quality hen at the time. This dog, his name is Brownie, I've heard stories of him going through neighbor's garbage looking for food, and my kids said they've seen him getting hit. Well, he isn't wearing a collar, but the hair around his neck looks like it was either cut or worn off, and my older daughter was petting his neck when she felt something weird, so she pulls his hair back on his neck and gasps. There is a HUGE gaping wound full of pus on his neck! So she looked around and found a few more wounds, but most looked as they had scabbed over. My thinking, after watching too many episodes of Animal Cops, is that he had a collar on, and it grew into his skin, and someone pulled it off. I fed him, watered him, and put him in a pathetically small pen (same one I use for my baby chicks) and we're STILL waiting for the dog catcher to come. I felt better after seeing the neck wound that I called. Especially since my kids said they have 4 more dogs at that house! I was aware of maybe one more, but not 4 more! I know this neighbor will find out quickly that it was me that called, and when they come down to complain, I'll be prepared. I took pictures of the wound in the dog's neck. It's a shame because he really is a sweet dog, very friendly, just incredibly HUNGRY. He probably looked at my birds and saw an easy meal. My poor birds panicked so bad though because they just suffered a dog attack a little over a month ago and it left them terribly traumatized. I still feel bad though. The neighbor that owns this dog is strange, but we've had no problems with her or her family, and I feel like I'm causing a problem. Lord, PLEASE don't let this come back to bite me in the butt...

I'll update when they come to get the dog. And I will be telling them about the other dogs at that house. I know they have a really old poodle that can't even walk around much. Poor thing's knees don't work anymore. At least I THINK it's old. Only saw it once or twice. It's back to waiting now to see when the dog catcher will show up...

 

It is now 7:35 and the dog catcher STILL hasn't come. The poor dog is sitting nicely still out in my yard. What bothers me is that not only are there so many dogs over there that are potentially not be properly cared for, but there is a small child in that house too. I really hope they get here soon. If she has the nerve to come down here and say anything to me about the dog, I'll flat out tell her it was trying to get into my chickens. And I'll hand her a nice 8x10 glossy photo of the gaping wound in the dog's neck. That dog clearly needs medical care. My dogs live indoors. They get baths, they get FED, they get flea meds (not that they've been working the last year or so). They are not expected to live outside all year long, chained to a tree like this dog's dad is, and like this dog.


Funny, the owners of the dog just drove past my house! They noticed the dog, slowed the car just a little, pointed, but kept going! You mean to tell me it didn't worry them at ALL that their dog has been missing since mid afternoon? Come on! Still no dog catcher. I'm getting irritated now.

 

8:31, still no dog catcher. Where I live the dogs are pretty much dispensable. Cats too. So no one really takes them to the vet for anything. I moved down here from Chicago, so I take my sick or injured animals to the vet when it's important. We worm our dogs (when I took in this dog's brother and sister last year they had worms REALLY bad), we brush them, etc. This dog looks like he's never seen a brush or a bath in his entire life. I'm including a picture of the wound. Sorry it's kinda gross and so full of nasty pus.

First, this is my younger DD with the dog. His name is suppose to be Brownie but he isn't answering to it:


And here is the hole in his neck. There's a lot of hair and he was moving around, but I got a decent pic of it:


They better not have forgotten about me. I can't imagine that they would still be out picking up dogs at nearly 9pm...