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This news story makes me so sad. Five puppies were found in a dumpster outside of Hickory, N.C. Outside of a PetCo, at that. If you’re going to abandon puppies, why not put them at the front door of the PetCo at least?
I know I’m preaching to the choir here – no one who reads this blog would even think of doing anything like that (you probably know you could just drop them at my front door.)
It’s just so horrible to see how people treat animals. I understand economic times are tough and dogs are not cheap – but to just abandon them is inexcusable.
I once saw two kittens get abandoned. I was sitting in my room, when I was in middle school, and I lived at the end of a cul-de-sac with a field across the street. I saw a car pull up and a person get out and walk to the middle of the field, place something down, then walk off. I watched them drive away and then I saw two things moving in the grass. Oh, I wish I’d seen that earlier and would have thought to get their license plate number. Jenny and I went to investigate, and there were two adorable kittens in the field. Our neighbor, named Jennie, had just had her pet cat die a few days before, so we went to ask her if she wanted them. She took them both, and they lived happily up the street from us for years.
Jeff found an abandoned dog by a dumpster years ago. From what he tells me, she was super skinny and starving when he brought her home – a fact I found hard to believe because when I met Penny, years later, she was fat and happy and loved by his dad and stepmom.
These are the stories with good endings. And I know the puppies found in the dumpster will be ok – people will see them on TV and snatch them up. But what about all the other dogs that need homes? I know shelters are euthanizing dogs all the time. The news story said the Humane Society almost had to turn away the dumpster puppies because they are at a lack of funding. These are hard times, friends.
Both of my dogs came from adoption groups – one from Recycled Pets in Rock Hill and the other from the Humane Society of York County. If I could handle any more dogs I’d adopt them in a heartbeat. I think about the day I adopted Breanna, at Recycled Pets. My roommate Shannon and I went to just “see” if any of the dogs called out to us. What a stupid idea – all of the dogs called out to us! There were tears in Shannon’s eyes when one of the older dogs snuggled up to her and she had to put her back in her crate. I knew Breanna was mine when I picked her up and she wrapped her little puppy arms around my neck and literally hugged me. She had a sister from the same litter, and I wasn’t ready for two dogs, so I had to just take Breanna. Over the years I have wondered what happened to her sister.
Nine years later, and she still has my heart every time she snuggles up to me. She is the best snuggler I know.
(this photo was taken with my iPhone the other night when she refused to lay next to me until I gave her her own blanket! Her dog bed was in the wash after Kishin threw up on it.)
Adopt if you can. Volunteer if you can’t. Donate money if you can. Anything to keep these puppies out of dumpsters.
Chris said on November 12th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Haha Bre wanted her own blanket. Funny when animals begin to act like people. My mom’s dogs get all up on the couch, it’s hilarious.
If you remember, JC was one of three abandoned kittens. The original adopters named him Theo (Alvin, Simon and Thedore chipmunks). From what I’ve heard since then, one of them was eaten (and/or killed) by a pitbull not too shortly after I got JC. Sad.
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Jessica said on November 12th, 2009 at 11:41 am
After volunteering in Greyhound rescue for several years, then subsequently adopting two greys of my own, and interacting with other rescue groups over the years, I understand the value of rescue groups and all the hard work they do to help pets. Josh worked with a German Shepherd rescue and it took so much of his own effort and time to help the dogs and to get– and keep! — volunteers that it sometimes didn’t feel worthwhile. Both of us say that we always regained perspective when we realized we were doing our tiny part to help those who can’t speak for themselves.
I am saddened so deeply every time I hear a story like the dumpster puppies story. Irresponsible pet owners are, in my opinion, one of the WORST kinds of humans. Some people are sadly just too selfish to realize that owning a pet is a huge responsibility and that they should never consider it if they can’t handle providing that pet with everything it needs. And that includes spay and neuter surgery… there are groups who help with providing low-cost surgeries for pets, and these discounts are available to any and all who ask!
Why any human being would think there’s an excuse in this world for dumping off helpless puppies is so beyond me. Grrrrrrr!
Elwood said on November 12th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Amen.
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crystal said on November 12th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
YES GRRRRR is right! We once had a group of about 8 4-wheelers riding out on back dirt roads and fields. We drove by a turnoff when we seen something move. We all stopped and turned around to find a little of 5 or 6 puppies (maybe 6 weeks old). 3 were alive, and the others had been run over. Clearly another 4-wheeler tire track. It was the worst thing. We all took our bottles of water and made makeshift bowls and they drank every bit of it. We scooped up the little fur balls (they had so much long fur you could hardly see their little faces, cute as pie) and went back to our trucks. Luckily 3 of the guys riding with us have hunting dogs, and they had supplies and food in their trucks, along with dog boxes in their truck beds to safely house the dogs until we could get home. They ate all the food and drank all the water. We got them their shots when we got home, and one of the friends with us took them to her mom’s who has a huge fenced in back yard and lots of grandkids that love to play with them. They are huge furballs now, and adorable and healthy!!!
Joanna said on November 12th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
I volunteered with a local humane shelter for 3 years and was even on the board of directors, helped out with their public relation needs, and assist with technical writing stuff so when you mentioned this story, I can’t say that I was too surprised. I have seen so much sadness from dogs getting dumped like this to them being fought to cats losing their homes because their owners have died and no one in the family wants to take them in. And it has changed me so much to the point that I seriously hated human kind for a time. It was then that I realized that I had to leave.
But good things came out of that experience like us adopting our dog Einstein and our youngest cat Sunny, who we weren’t sure would even survive her wounds, from the shelter, which makes me happy and has helped to heal me. I cherish my 4 cats and dog so much, because they have given me so much. Most folks think I’m crazy, but they haven’t seen what I have seen.
Such experiences can make you jaded for good, although I hope I have lost some of that edge. I’m sure I’ll never been the same, and it still angers me to know that people need only spayed and neuter their animals to keep the numbers down. Maybe then scenes like these would become less common. I can only hope.