I think that, as animal lovers, many of us are deeply moved when any of our furry friends is in distress. It is easy to become enraged, especially when we face such cases of cruelty or neglect, but for the sake of our pet companions, we must be brave and outsmart cruel (and often idiotic) people. On the other hand, even if it seems like a lonely task, you will be pleasantly surprised to realize it is not.
I understand what Battery9 must be going through, I saw it with a local golden -who was almost emanciated- because of silliness more than and neglect. I am almost sure the guy has no inkling his actions (or lack thereof) are actually harming the dog. He’s just not there to see what you do, nor has as much experience in dog care. At least that was in our case. He was persuaded to give the dog away to a relative who had more space and time for his doggy friend.
I also advocate the use of soft persuasive means. I have a little story to illustrate.
Last Sunday, I left my air conditioned refuge to seek more bottled water. Alas, as I exit my alley, in front of the local beauty parlor there is a dog locked up in a car with the windows closed. I can see people right next to the car, so I suppose they are just about to leave. I go to the store and comment on this fact to the attendant, who informs me that he saw on the news that the day before a dog had died in those same circunstances.
I turn around, set on calling the cops as soon as I get home if the dog is still locked up. Yep, there he was. Instead, I peek into the beauty parlor and ask if the owner’s there. “Oh, I forgot to leave the A/C on”, he says. I scare the beejesus out of him, telling him that the day before a dog died like that, that the fumes of the car can choke it, etc… He starts opening the windows a bit, then thinks it over and asks his wife if he can take the dog inside -a big, black, not too friendly one-.
If he hadn’t been there -he was not one of the people standing next to the car when I first walked by- I guess further measures would have been taken.
Another story. We have a little stray colony in our neighborhood, same cats who have been around even before I moved in 5 years ago. Unfortunately, most of our neighbors do not like cats, and have scolded those of us who feed them. I had tried with little success to catch the females -I didn’t want to see more corpses of kittens hit by disease, dogs or worse. Lately I lost sight of all the kittens and two of the oldest females, and I was expecting the worst. Sunday evening I met one of the other “aixin mamas” -people who feed strays. Guess what? Her daughter came from the States, and asked meetpets for the cat trap. Presto: she got all kittens and the mothers. The mothers will be released back soon, and the kittens -all except one- have found homes. We smile and have a good time with this little conspiracy we have -both of us have been scolded for our efforts- but we hope that with a bit of care, someday our neighbors will see the strays as we do: as our neighbors, too.
