Billy (name changed here) is a court ordered surrender to the FLSPCA. The court order which included another dog was the last in a long string of problems these dogs encountered at the hands of their former owners. They were running at large and had been picked up by dog control several times. Each time the owner claimed them and was then told they suffered from heartworm, (a disease that can kill). The owners did not have them treated. Billy was taken into foster care where he lives with two other dogs and has learned to be a house dog . He is walked several times a day, has lots of attention and toys. He also has been treated for the heartworm by the SPCA. This fosterer had previously adopted a dog from the SPCA and then adopted a mistreated chow mix he was fostering.
Bonnie is alive and well in foster care because some kind person reported her terrible situation. She was only 3 months old and was tied outside to a tree without shelter, without food or water. She was emaciated, full of worms and fleas. Another kind person was on her way over to the puppy with a can of Spam, possibly her own meal, when Bonnie was rescued by the SPCA. She has been in my foster home for two weeks now and has simply become what a puppy is supposed to be—healthy. happy,trusting amd secure, and in the process of learning about many things.
Blaise, a pitbull mix, came to the shelter with no history and no name. Now he has a name of his own and his history includes a foster home. The same foster home took in a Jack Russell terrier that had been surrendered by her owner.
Charlie is a yellow lab that was on the brink of death with bloody bites covering every part of his body. He was lying motionless outside. He had been used as a bait dog for dog fighting by dogs also owned by his heartless owner. All dogs were rescued and the pitbulls had to be euthanized. The owner has been convicted and ordered by the court to not have a dog for three years. One wonders with this kind of penalty, which is commom, how such a cruel person is supposed to change in a specified amount of time. And, unless someone is watching, what is to prevent such a situation from occurring all over again.
Charlie has been slowly nursed back to health under the care of a veterinarian. His terrible wounds are healed and he is now looking for an angel of his own to either foster him or adopt him. He is young. He is still a special needs dog who will require more medical care at home and the kind of love that will continue to help him recover psychologically.
Not all dogs that are confiscated or brought in by dog control or by court order go into foster care. Many come directly to the shelter where, altho they live in a kennel, they have warm beds, plenty of food, toys, and people to walk them and give them affection.
Puppies are particularly at risk for mistreatment, even cruelty. I believe there are several things that lead to such mistreatment. The first is that many many people get a puppy without doing any basic research or giving much thought to what that puppy will need from them in order to grow into an easy-to-live-with dog. This is especially true of people that buy one from a pet store or a back yard breeder or even online. Some see a cute puppy and take out their VISA and make an impulse buy.
Shelters and rescue organizations not only screen potential adopters for these reasons but also give the adopter lots of puppy rearing tips and information. People without these advantages are the ones that will probably give up on the puppy when it pees or poops on the floor since they have no knowledge of how long it takes to house break a puppy and how often one must get up and take the pup outside. And puppy rearing must be done with only positive reinforcement- no hitting or yelling or the results will be unfortunate for both the puppy and the owner. Puppies cannot “hold it” until they are several months old.
Another drawback to a happy trained puppy is being stuck in a crate for long hours. Puppy rearing is time consuming and requires a lot of patience. It requires puppy proofing the rooms the pup will live in or else there will be things chewed up because that is what puppies do. But the rewards of living with a happy trained puppy are great!
Another thing that leasds to mistreatmnent is the anger some people feel toward a baby animal when it doesn’t do what is expected—anger that they don’t control. Learning about puppies can always help. There are many websites and books about puppy rearing. . And the rewards of living with a happy trained puppy are great! As Charlie Brown said, “Happiness is a warm puppy!”
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