Helped a dog running along a busy highway...

[MeatKing]

So I'm driving down the road, an 80 kl/hr... (Sorry don't know the conversion) Any ways.. Pick up this stray dog, it is crazy skinny, never saw nothing like that

Read the tag, call owner # is on one of the tags...

She calls back, but at this point I'm on the phone with city by-law.. And am now looking very carefully at dog.. Picked up my BFF and some dog food from her. He is rotting teeth, crazy skinny and need to be seen by a vet.

So I handed him over to by-law

Feel bad, cause I have never done that.. I always return animal to owner, but dog was in such rough shape.

I listened to her message from me, and she said. "so you found my dog? Where are you? So I can come get her."

She just sounded so not happy to have found her dog, which by the looks of him, you would thing he was gone for awhile and you'd be estatic.. That someone had him...

So I handed him over and by-law said they would follow up with health of poor dog..

 

[anderson8505]

I suppose it's possible that the dog had been missing for some time? Or maybe I missed something in your post.

I'd let her know at least that you turned the dog over to authorities, she can deal with them if they do anything about the condition of the dog where you live. I know here animal services would require a rabies vaccination and probably drop some advice about health issues to her. I'm real glad you stopped and got the dog, probably saving it from injury or death.

 

[MeatKing]

I was with by-law when they talked to her Via phone. the dog had just gone missing the same day.. When by-law questioned her about health of dog, she said he was old and on his last last legs...

If that is really the case, I fell bad for getting by-law invould and putting her through that

 

[fuzziebutt]

If the dog was on it's last legs, it sure didn't need to be spending them on the highway. A dog at death's door won't run away from home, it will crawl off to die. You did the dog a favor, no matter what. Even if it's put to sleep, it won't be dying hit on the road, or starving in HER yard.

 

[desertdarlene]

You did the right thing. Perhaps, after a vet checks it out, they may restore its health and put it up for adoption. You never know. I'm sure they're not going to give it back to that woman in the very least.

 

[magicpigeon]

Quote:
X2

 

[dewey]

There's no telling without knowing more what the situation was. You did a good thing by picking up the dog. We can only take action based on what we know at the moment and there's no fault at all in that.

I would have given a little bit of time for the owner to contact back so as to try to find out more about the situation. It sounds a bit odd that the owner did not seem relieved that somebody found the dog, yet sometimes people can have a lot going on with dire family issues and can sound flatline about everything, even humans & animals that they love and give proper care to.

Someone in my family lost a very old dog that was a beloved family member from a tiny pup, and that somehow escaped (or was taken, as we suspect) out of a secure, 6' solid block fenced backyard with a gate that was never open, whom had never in all those many years left the yard willingly nor had ever opened a 6' tall gate latch. She was very old & had health issues that were under vet care which were carefully attended to daily to ease her last days, yet if someone found her I'm sure her end of days symptoms would have been suspect.

I took in a very aged, ill dog at my (licensed, public) boarding kennel & vet clinic for weeks & weeks, providing it vet care and everything else at my expense after her owner, a total stranger that I did not know from Adam literally died in my arms roadside, with her very distressed dog looking on...others that happened upon the scene were afraid to approach because of the imposing dog but I sensed no danger, just distress, and lent comfort as the owner passed....the police at scene well after the fact turned the dog over to me who had a private boarding kennel (at my request, instead of it turning it into AC where the environment would be harsh) this aged dog that had been in the wrecked vehicle with the owner and close enough to us both that the dogs breath could be felt on both our faces when the owner tragically died in my arms...it tooks weeks for family to claim the dog because they were dealing with the death of their human loved one.

Points being that sometimes things happen with caring owners and they care deeply about their animals but spoken emotions don't always reveal that. The first calls I received about the dog in my care were flatline, though they cared deeply.

Sometimes nobody ever knows what's going on with an animal's owners and sometimes there's not time to wait to find out, but I think you did the right thing in scooping the dog off the street. I've done that many times myself. If the dog you found was truly old and in its last days and has had proper care, there's no doubt it will be turned back over to the owner as it should be in that case.