Poor care or abuse?

There is a dog in my neighbourhood who was once the cutest puppy imaginable. Then he caught mange and scratched off all his fur. Now he has an eye infection and seems likely to lose his right eye.

He has owners but they look pretty impoverished, I think they took him in and imagine they are doing him a favour by feeding him. It seems harsh to ask animal control to go round and get heavy and I suspect they’d just throw the dog out. (I’ve never seen them hit him etc. - just not pay for medical care)

Does anyone have experience of asking a vet to visit and offer their services to a family? I’m happy to be an anonymous benefactor … Any other suggestions?

I have no idea about asking a vet to get involved. But my feeling is that if you could improve the dog’s diet, it might help. Since the family is poor, he’s probably getting crappy-quality food. Would it be possible to drop by and feed it some real meat and bones (you could pretend it was left-overs), and throw in a half of a multi-vitamin? Omega 3s and 6s also capsules would be great. Mange is caused by a mite that lives on all dogs, but when there is a problem -stress, poor diet- the mites can get the upper hand, and multiply like crazy. And an improved diet will help a lot and might even give your furry friend a help fighting the eye infection.Good luck.

We can get this dog treated. And we would happily accept any offer of financial help towards his treatment.

Give me a call after 10 a.m. tomorrow: 0920 620 109 / 02 2833 8820.

And thank you for caring about this dog! You are right in that, in most cases, it’s a matter of ignorance rather than deliberate cruelty.

Sean

If you call animal control they might round him up as a stray, and after a week in the pound, they would kill him. Please consider the other suggestions listed above!!!

Several years ago, there was a very poor man, caring for 18 puppies. He had rescued the pups when the mother whose foot had been cut off in a trap was in too much pain to feed her 9. He put them with his female…long story short.

He had too many dogs, and did the best he could. He had NO money.

Bought the mother extra food, and as the pups grew…puppy food. They had a wonderful start till distemper hit. :frowning:

Another of his rescues had scabies…and you know how that goes.

We took the pup to the vet on the sly…scooped the little bugger when noone was home. Then on my daily jogs she got her meds wrapped in cheese.

Ask the vet what you can do, buy the meds…explain them if you can…if they care, they will accept. Just be very diplomatic about it.

I totally agree. Just don’t be all haughty or judgmental about it. I’ve taken dogs to the vet along with their caring but ignorant and poor owners. I approach them and kindly tell them that my vet could have a look at their dog for free and that I’ll take him/her there. So far the owners did not express embarassment, nor did they feel it wasn’t my business to begin with. Happy dogs, happy owners-, happy me :slight_smile:

Here’s the little guy (I think they said his name is Xiao Guai):

I visited his owners this afternoon, and in fact Xiao Guai is very well looked after, as his owners adore him to pieces and have taken good care of him for 15 years. He had an accident that resulted in the eye damage, but the vet says he is too old to handle an operation, and there’s not much that can be done anyway. The eye seems deflated, but there was no sign of infection or soreness. Xiao Guai does have a skin condition - I think a fungal infection - and has been shaved to expedite recovery.

The owner was very happy to talk to me (she spoke very good English) and I got the impression that she is indeed a very good caregiver. She told me how much everyone loves the dog, and she asked me to email her the pictures that I took.

Basically, Xiao Guai is in the middle of treatment for the skin condition and nothing can be done for the eye. He is in very good hands, and is well cared for. He’s also a perfect weight for his size, and I imagine he has a good many years in him - all happy and healthy.

Animals Taiwan is always happy to provide intervention in cases of animal neglect, and that this one was a happy ending is a great result for us. It’s good to know for certain that the animal in question is being cared for so well. I wish all our cases were like this.

:wink:

So many thanks to Stray dog for checking out this little guy. I’m afraid I’ve never owned a dog and so I’m not really too clued up on them. I had hoped he just needed anti-biotics for his eye. I’m sorry I put you to so much trouble but I feel SO much better knowing all that can be done IS being done for him. It’s better that someone who knows more about dogs could check him out.

Many thanks for all the responses - the dog has been on my mind a lot. Animals Taiwan is doing brilliant work.

I second both points. And a hearty thanks to you for coming on here and looking for help for this little creature. It gives me such a good feeling to know there are people out there who actually care and will do something about it. I’m so glad this story had a happy ending.

[quote=“Stray Dog”]Here’s the little guy (I think they said his name is Xiao Guai):

:wink:[/quote]

I am sure that you also gave them the heads up on diet and the skin condition that is so common here; spread the word. We obviously took your advice to heart and I am constantly amazed how much information there is about the R.A.W… diet.

Saving dogs one meal at a time.

Chances are, they’ll be grateful for help or advice, if offered diplomatically. A few months back, our neighbours had a pup in a cage waaay too small for it, crying pathetically in the rain. My husband said that we should give them one of our old dog cages that we’d bought to transport our three when moving. I responded that no, they wouldn’t be happy if these stupid waiguoren just started acting all holier than thou.

He persisted. Turns out, they had rescued the pup and had no clue how to care for a dog. They gratefully accepted the cage, and advice to keep her out of the rain. (We’d rather she ran free in their yard, but after so many years here, we’ll take what we can get.) These days, they take her for walks and ask us if we have any questions. If I had persisted in not wanting to help for fear of looking bad, that dog would be living a much more miserable existance than she is now. They even spayed her.