Working with 2 rescues means a lot of rewarding stories and a lot of heartbreaks. After last week's meeting with an abandoned dachshund at a local shelter who lost the will to live, it didn't take long to get another call.
On Wednesday night, we got an email and a call from our friend Melissa that manages one of the rescues that we work with. She informed us of a senior dachshund dropped off at a shelter by the dog's owners, and abandoned. The dog appeared in decent health and was stressed from being abandoned by it's heartless family.
FIRST: If you're a dog owner and your dog is a senior (as in this case) either call a RESCUE or don't eat yourself and feed the dog. This little female Dachshund is supposed to be 18 years old, and YOU can't afford to buy food for the dog, Chances are you need to lose weight anyway. This is Dog who cannot fend for themselves and provides you with unconditional love.
SECOND: If you ever consider abandoning a senior dog to a shelter, you're a miserable, pathetic person. I have zero patience for people as heartless as that. Karma will catch up with you, and when you're senior, you're likely going to suffer miserably, and you don't deserve assistance.(Can you tell I'm angry here?)
THIRD: The Bigger Tragedy of it all
- We couldn't get to the shelter for a couple of days because of pre-scheduled things (and work) to get the dog, so another Rescue worker was going to pick her up at 2:30pm on Thursday. At 1p.m. I got a text message from the rescue that said the shelter euthanized this poor dog! I was livid. I understand that the little dog had "labored breathing," but we have a 16 year old dachshund with a heart condition (who has had it for 2 years) and has experienced labored breathing when he gets stressed. Of course any dog turned over to a shelter at an older age, and away from the family they knew their entire lives, would be stressed. "Labored breathing" isn't a valid reason for euthanizing a dog, so I wanted more details on what happened.
SO, I emailed the shelter. I can't understand why this dog, that appeared healthy, was killed when a rescue was coming in to take her out and foster her. Other than stress, I'm trying to understand how a dog's health can go from content to suffering and not worth saving in 12 hours.
END RESULT: I got a call back from someone at the shelter who was rude to me and said "we don't have time to tell everyone who calls about the reasons why we put dogs down. Go talk to your other rescue person." Then she hung up. Totally different from the helpful person I've worked with there before. I finally got ahold of the other rescue coordinator who told me the "manager" of the shelter said that this dog's stomach appeared bloated, so she made the decision to euthanize the dog -saying "it looked like the dog suffered from bloat." Well, our 16 year old dachshund, Sprite has a big tummy, but he doesn't have bloat. The other rescue coordinator said that she thought the shelter manager was having a bad day and would not change her mind about euthanizing this little dog. I can't tell you how angry I was at the shelter manager and how sad I feel at the same time.
I hope this little dog has found peace after going through a truly horrible end.
**ANOTHER TWO DOGS - I got another email about another Dachshund at a different shelter. This one appears to be abused, though. The vet report indicated "likely internal bleeding," and said the dog had previous back surgery. That dog is 9.5 years old. The report said that the dog lived with elderly parents, and their grown (apparently unemployed, mooching, lazy, nasty) daughter who lives with them, never let the dog out when it needed to go the bathroom. She abused the dog, so the elderly people gave it up, now that it's in bad shape. *If I EVER catch anyone abusing a dog, they will be VERY sorry. This dog doesn't look like he has a chance to survive much longer, given the state of health.
After discussing that dog, our coordinator informed us of a 10 year old female Dachshund abandoned in Mass. that is being transported to Maryland. That dog was given up by her family after 10 years, because they "couldn't care for her." SO, we're waiting to get details on her and may foster her. * BOTTOM LINE: I really hate people who abuse and abandon their senior pets. These dogs give unconditional love and have bonded with families, only to be thrown out as seniors. The stress and horror these dogs experience is brutal. I only hope the families that do this to their dogs experience the same anguish.
**CAN YOU FOSTER? - If you can open your home for a couple of months to care for an abandoned dog, the Dachshund and Weimaraner Rescues DESPERATELY NEED FOSTER HOMES. - Contact me by email, or through this blog. I don't care what state you live in.
Rob
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