Yesterday while hubby and I were walking the pooch we came upon a stray dog. He's smaller than our dog so I called him, "Little Guy." Since he was in our subdivision at first we thought he was lost, particularly because he had a collar, but he had no tags and now we think he's probably a stray. He's very old (probably 14 or 15 I'd guess), thin, losing hair on his back and tail, walks stiffly, it looks like he has cataracts, and I think he may have trouble hearing, too. When we found him his toenails were so long he could barely walk. We wonder if he was abandoned because he's old, as terrible as that thought is. Yet he's a very sweet dog: We brought him home and fed him, and hubby was able to clip his toenails so that helped, at least. Our backyard is fenced in (for our dog) so he's safe there. Our dog was interested in him at first but since he isn't playful she just ignores him now, which is fine.
Little Guy was quiet at first but now he wants to be with us and we're not letting him inside, so he's been barking; he barked off and on for a good portion of the night (keeping us awake) and he's been doing the same through the morning. I don't blame him but unfortunately there's nothing we can do about it, we just have to hope he quiets down on his own and our neighbors don't lynch us in the process.
Our subdivision has an e-mail list so I sent a message to it about him, but we aren't surprised that we haven't had any responses. We aren't prepared to keep him so we'll take him to the animal shelter as soon as we can; of course it's not only a weekend, it's a holiday weekend, so we won't be able to take him to the shelter until they reopen on Tuesday. We have to take him to the county shelter and we live at the edge of the county; naturally the shelter is all the way on the other side, about as far as it can be from us and still be in the same county (about 25 miles away). Naturally.
Getting through the next two days is going to be tough (hopefully he'll quiet down and we'll get some sleep). The thought of stray animals always breaks my heart and makes me sick to my stomach. I hate the thought of taking him to the shelter where they'll probably end up putting him to sleep, but we know it's the right thing to do. At least he'll be taken care of and die humanely there, rather than starving or being hit by a car. In the meantime we'll deal with the inconvenience and keep him safe, fed, and give him attention when we can, which I guess is the best we can do.
We are dealing with a stray puppy right now! She showed up last Sunday and is cute as can be. However, one of our dogs tried to attack her (which caused me to fall in the process), so we are trying to find a home for her. It makes me so sad to think about taking her to the animal shelter. At least the one in our area is a no-kill shelter. :(
ReplyDeleteThat does look like an older dog...sad that his owners have been separated from him. The shelter is probably the best option and I hope he calms down for the rest of the weekend. I have hosted my share of animals and know that it can be hard but you are a good person for doing it.
ReplyDeleteawwww. he's cute. though i understand not being able to keep him... hopefully the shelter is a good option! that is so hard- you are good to care for him in the meantime!
ReplyDeleteHaving grown up in the very most rural part of a rural community, we seemed to have stray dogs turn up pretty often. People are so stupid to just throw animals out like that. If nobody adopts them, they often times turn wild which is what happened to a group of dogs that showed up at our house and killed our childhood pet a few years ago. It's not only cruel to throw animals away, but it can be dangerous to others.
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