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Old 04-13-2012, 08:51 AM
 
561 posts, read 1,506,986 times
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I live in a rural area and have six dogs of my own, three that wandered onto our property and three I adopted. It's not unusual for dogs to be dumped here, and if they find my home, they have a home for life. The rule of thumb is no collar & poor condition means it's a dumped pet.

So this friendly, medium sized female starts dropping by; she's malnourished with no collar. I feed her a hot meal (which she devours almost instantly, plus some cookie treats) every time she visits.

About three weeks ago I noticed she was pregnant, but I had to go out of town. My DH didn't see her during the 10 days I was gone, but she showed up the very evening I returned, and she wasn't pregnant any longer. It was going to be a cool night and I was worried about her puppies. So I fed her and walked with her down to the road in hopes of following her back to her den and check on the puppies.

She led me to a neighbor's house. I didn't want to be prowling around their property without announcing myself, so I knocked on their door to see if she belonged to them. I really didn't expect that she'd belong to anyone considering her poor condition, so I was very shocked when they said she was theirs, belong to their daughter who I think is young after seeing a small bicycle in the yard. I asked if she had recently had puppies, and they acknowledged she had, in fact, delivered seven puppies and had them nestled under the porch. Yes, they were there and the mother slipped under the porch to be with them.

Well just color me shocked beyond belief! Can't they see how malnourished she is, that protruding bones is not normal???? Perhaps they feed her every day, maybe she has worms or some physical condition so she can't gain weight, but she's devoured every meal I've fed her and I don't scrimp on the portion! They told me this was her second litter, that they had planned to have her spayed, but she got pregnant again and, oh, did I want one of her puppies!

So now I'm upset that she has a home, such as it is, and I can't have her join our pack and be well cared for. My six have all been spayed/neutered and are inside with us. Now I realize how little animals rate with some people. I'll feed her anytime she comes to visit, but I don't think there's anything more I can do. Living in a rural area has it's drawbacks, there's not much in the way of animal welfare. If I did report them/her, they would know who. Again, it doesn't pay to p*ss off people around here -- it's an everybody knows everybody kind of place.

So, no matter how good my intentions, sometimes it just doesn't work out the way I want. For now I'll keep feeding her each time she visits. I've thought about taking all the puppies when they're old enough to a no-kill shelter about an hour plus drive away, where they might have a good chance of getting a good home.

Most importantly, I can't praise enough the benefits of spaying and neutering pets. Not doing so only perpetuates the cycle of unwanted dogs and cats!
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Old 04-13-2012, 09:28 AM
 
Location: West Virginia
13,914 posts, read 39,139,322 times
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Some Females that are preg/nursing have a hard time keeping weight on. I had a few I put weight on IF I planned to breed them. Others I cut back on their food cause they gain weight & look preggers when they werent LOL Maybe you could offer to get her fixed when the pups are weaned?
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Old 04-13-2012, 10:25 AM
 
Location: West Palm Beach, FL
1,457 posts, read 4,042,742 times
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I've heard the same too as Katie1 stated about losing weight. You just might want to offer to take the puppies to the shelter when they are old enough, because if they don't get rid of them I'm sure they won't get spayed/neutered either. Thank you for caring about them!
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Old 04-13-2012, 10:47 AM
 
Location: Chapel Hill, N.C.
36,499 posts, read 53,850,010 times
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I know it must be heartbreaking to see this going on. I don't guess there is much more you can do than continue to feed her, take the puppies away and maybe secretly have her fixed.
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Old 04-13-2012, 11:03 AM
 
Location: ๏̯͡๏﴿ Gwinnett-That's a Civil Matter-County
2,118 posts, read 6,351,707 times
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I always wondered the kinds of places where all these stray dogs were coming from.

I come across many unloved dogs on our walks, that have no collars but I honestly have no idea what I'd do in your situation aside from assume that if the dog is loose on my property another time with no collar, my memory isn't what it used to be... I'd probably find it a new home in another area. But that's me. And with my foggy memory and all....
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Old 04-13-2012, 11:23 AM
 
1,322 posts, read 3,459,695 times
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Nicely said Ynot. Thank you for the timely reminder!
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Old 04-13-2012, 12:02 PM
 
Location: North Western NJ
6,591 posts, read 24,794,327 times
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quite frankly id be taking all the puppies if theyd let me (if there giving them aay free i dont see why they wouldnt, but if there going to try and make a quick buck of them...well) and taking them to the shelter.
then once i know the pups are weaned and safe next time moma came around she too would be off to a no kill shelter at least an hour away, no collar no tags and shes been "seen wandering around my property for the past few months" they let her wander they obviously dont care and theyd have no clue, dog could have been shot by a local famrer, hit on the road or taken in by a kindly stranger...if they come a loking "sorry havent seen her in a while, you might want to try shecking with the shelter

a dog in good condition wandering round gets returned ONCE with a warning keep it home or somethings going to happen...
see it again its officially abandoned property inmy eyes and you can go relaim it form the shelter if you care enough.
In this case the dog is clearly NOT in good condition so all bets would be off...since theres babies involved id give her a few weeks to get those babies weaned (minimum of puppies being 6 weeks old, 8 weeks being better) and then sorry folks, cant keep yoru dog home?! mabe someone else can.
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Old 04-13-2012, 12:13 PM
 
2,540 posts, read 6,215,444 times
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Bless you for caring. Unfortunately, even tho they say they'll get he spayed, they probably won't want to invest the money in it. Keep doing what you're doing, and maybe ask around to find homes for the pups.
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Old 04-13-2012, 12:39 PM
 
Location: St. Croix
737 posts, read 2,580,647 times
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Trap them all and get them outta there. As you said, no animal control in your area, so you're good to go. Just make sure they're old enough and take them. Like you said, who are they going to call? Your pets are safe and looked after, so be done with and best wishes.
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Old 04-13-2012, 03:15 PM
 
Location: ๏̯͡๏﴿ Gwinnett-That's a Civil Matter-County
2,118 posts, read 6,351,707 times
Reputation: 3547
Someone suggested taking the dogs to the nearest non-kill shelter. I think if the dogs (there's going to be a lot more if they survive) show up and you hang on them for a period of time and make reasonable attempts to find the owner such as calling the nearest animal shelter and advising them that you found a dog and also putting a "found" ad in the local paper, you can then take them to the shelter without feeling like you did something wrong. If there's laws about this in your area, it would be best to find out what they are.

The problem is once these dogs get a new home, guess what the little girl is going to get for christmas... another set of intact dogs.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SunsetBeachFL View Post
who are they going to call?
I understand where the OP is coming from. When the dogs go missing, OP is going to be the one they go looking for. The best case scenario, is they'll drag their name through the mud all over town. The worst case scenario is they'll show up with guns and demand their little girl's dogs back.
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