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I think it is very common, but I think they get the owner to sign the dog over. I cannot wrap my head around how someone can just dump a dog at the vet to be PTS because it is in inconvenience. Do people not understand that this is a little soul and a beautiful creature with feelings? Someone on one of my dog groups was just stating that she overheard a woman talking about putting down a Papillon because the owner works long days and barks while she is gone. Seriously.
I remember a long time ago - this would have been back in the late 70s, still in my teens - taking one of my pet rabbits to the vet for treatment. While I was in the waiting room a rather well-dressed woman walked in, toting a cat in a pet carrier. He was absolutely magnificent, large green eyes peering out, beautiful full, long-haired coat...just gorgeous. When the woman was asked why her cat needed to see the vet she proclaimed, "I want him put to sleep". The receptionist asked what was wrong with him and she stated, "My children are now both at college and I don't have any desire to take care of a cat; he needs to go". Sadly, back then (at least, at that clinic) they didn't even question if someone wanted to have an animal put down because of inconvenience; they just accepted payment and did it. I've never forgotten that...how cold-hearted the woman was, how her home and furnishings were probably of much more value to her than a living, breathing creature, how this loving, beautiful animal was being betrayed by the ones who he trusted, and how I so desperately wanted to stop it from happening, but couldn't.
Things have changed since then in most vet clinics; sadly, peoples' attitudes still can reflect that 'an animal is nothing more than disposable property' way of thinking. It happens with dogs, cats, rabbits...anything that we consider to be a pet.
*When I had to have my cat of 16 years put to sleep a few years ago, the vet who administered the drugs was crying along with me during the procedure. She later told me that as hardened as she sometimes has to be in her job, she still does what she can to find unwanted pets new homes...and she told me that, as much as she only ever wanted one cat, she was now up to five, taking in those who no one else wanted. She's the kind of people I admire.
I think it is very common, but I think they get the owner to sign the dog over. I cannot wrap my head around how someone can just dump a dog at the vet to be PTS because it is in inconvenience. Do people not understand that this is a little soul and a beautiful creature with feelings? Someone on one of my dog groups was just stating that she overheard a woman talking about putting down a Papillon because the owner works long days and barks while she is gone. Seriously.
I worked in a vet office for a period of time. You would not believe how many people can dump an animal at the vet to be PTS because it's an inconvenience. I saw enough of that to realize that I didn't want to work in a vet's office anymore.
Very sad. It's good to see that some have happy endings though.
We got our first two dogs as puppies from the pound. The third we got by chance. We saw him running down the street with a leash on. I grabbed him and was happy to see that he had a collar with a phone number. I called the number and the lady told me that she worked for a rescue organization and that this dog was a foster that kept on escaping his foster home. She told us that he had previously been abandoned in a yard along with two other dogs. After some more conversation we asked if we could keep him and she said yes. He's a very loving dog with some naughty behaviors that stuck from his puppyhood but we sure are glad that he found his way to us.
My vet had a cattle dog that was dumped there after it was hit with a car. He cherished that dog. It became his running partner.
The same vet called me once when a family brought in a young golden they had rescued from a bad situation. They thought they would give her a good home then found out she needed A LOT of money in treatment (heart worm +, spay, entropian in both eyes). Their solution was to put her down. He called me instead and we got her into rescue. I took her to a monastery near our home for her heartworm treatment (can't get any quieter than that!). When she was well I brought her home and spent a few days getting to know her. It was only a few days. One trip to my dads nursing home and she was adopted. She became the resident nursing home dog. She went from a back yard breeder life to living in a nursing home with dozens of residents who doted on her. Happiest dog in the world!
My vet had a cattle dog that was dumped there after it was hit with a car. He cherished that dog. It became his running partner.
The same vet called me once when a family brought in a young golden they had rescued from a bad situation. They thought they would give her a good home then found out she needed A LOT of money in treatment (heart worm +, spay, entropian in both eyes). Their solution was to put her down. He called me instead and we got her into rescue. I took her to a monastery near our home for her heartworm treatment (can't get any quieter than that!). When she was well I brought her home and spent a few days getting to know her. It was only a few days. One trip to my dads nursing home and she was adopted. She became the resident nursing home dog. She went from a back yard breeder life to living in a nursing home with dozens of residents who doted on her. Happiest dog in the world!
Reading this makes me think of work and that it's a good thing children can't be PTS or parents would do it. I work in a mental health facility and people dump their unruly children there frequently. Imagine if you can an out of control 6 year old in a mental hospital. It's very unlikely that a 6 year old to be so severely disturbed that they need to be admitted to an inpatient psychiatric unit and in this instance it was all behavioral, created by mom and dad.
If people can do that to their children it isn't surprising that they dump their pets. HOW they can do it is another matter. I adopted a beautiful cat from a vet's office, he was left by a woman who rescued him after her pregnant neighbor threw him out. He'd been an indoor cat until his owner got pregnant. He was all black and the neighborhood kids were chasing him. He was one of the sweetest cats I ever knew.
As sad as it is that people dump their pets, children and other family members it gives me hope to know that there are also people who are willing to care for them. Once we had an adult patient who was going to be in the hospital for a few weeks and couldn't afford the shelter fee. The psychiatrist and other staff took turns fostering the dog until the patient was discharged. You never know where you'll find compassion and kindness =)
When author David Rosenfelt asked Debbie Myers out to dinner after a blind date at the movies, she told him she needed to go home and give her dog some medication. At first, he thought she was giving him the brushoff. However, she went home, took care of her dog, and rejoined him for dinner. He ended up falling in love with Debbie --- and her dog, a Golden named Tara.
After Tara crossed the rainbow bridge, it was a year before they could consider another dog. Someone suggested volunteering with a shelter. So they did.
Then, one day a man came into the shelter with his three sons to turn in a one year old Lab mix they just did not want any more, intending to take home another puppy. Debbie overheard the conversation. Debbie being an outspoken force of nature, the family left without a puppy. David and Debbie found a rescue to take the thrown away pup.
Eventually, after a long day at an adoption event sponsored by the shelter, Debbie fell in love with a mutt named Charlie, who came home with them, followed by Phoebe, Sophie, Harry, and a move from an apartment to larger living quarters. Each dog was old or unlikely to be adopted for various reasons and facing euthanasia.
Ultimately, David and Debbie became their own rescue, forming the Tara Foundation, pulling mostly old or special needs dogs from shelters and finding them homes --- or not. Four years after Charlie came home with them, they had twenty seven dogs. The pack topped out at about forty two, though David says he considers over forty to be "eccentric." Mind you, these are house dogs, not kennel lodgers.
Then David and Debbie decided to move from California to Maine. Of course, David had to write about it. The result was Dogtripping: 25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers, and 3 RVs on Our Canine Cross-Country Adventure.
I just finished it. It will make you laugh out loud. It will make you cry. And you will feel good that so many throw away dogs were saved by one determined couple.
I also recommend Rosenfelt's novels, regional mysteries that are easy reads. His Andy Carpenter series features a Golden named Tara, who will never age and never die.
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How do you move 25 dogs from California to Maine?
