Saturday, July 19, 2008

Dump A Senior Dog Summer? what?

So here it is.. dump a senior dog summer. What does that mean? Well last summer was the summer of chained dogs. This summer, it's dump a senior. That means that some people who have old, sickly dogs and want to go on vacation dump them on a country road and speed off.

Many of these dogs are blind, and in failing health but not on deaths door! They get collected by animal control, and thank goodness for the kind hearted of private rescues.

It makes me wonder about people, but it's also sad that there is nothing in our society here that states this is illegal (I believe it is filed under the same bylaw as if you were to dump a bag of trash on the side of the road - isn't that nice?). There is also no place for these dogs to go, so even if the owners wanted to do the right thing but didn't have the $200 it costs to surrender a dog to the SPCA, Humane Society or Animal Control (and even then they might just euth the dog), there's no plan B.

I get it if you don't have the money, people will just turn you away - I don't think that's right. Yes dogs cost a lot of money, but that doesn't mean animals are only for the rich. Sometimes the poorest homes offer the most loving ones.

There definitely should be some type of canine welfare in some sense, or at least somewhere for legitimate people struggling to make ends meet - instead of scoulding people for owning dogs in the "first" place; why not just everyone pitch in.. and help the dog??