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Luker 06-22-2010 11:35 AM

Finding a Dog (Ethical Question)
 
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So I'm heading home from the lake last night about 10pm in the middle of nowhere Alabama on a 4 lane hwy (about an hour from my home). I spot a little spaniel darting in and out of traffic so I pull the car over... after some coaxing with a little popcorn she comes over to my car and lets me pet her... her hair was matted/dreadlocked and full of mud, she was absolutely crawling with fleas (in her eyes, ears, everywhere), was a little underweight (but not bad), and had no collar on. I put her in the car with me and took her home... gave her a 2 hour flea bath and cut all the dreadlocks and clumps out of her coat. There were so many fleas i couldn't kill them all so shes at the vet getting shots, flea treatment and a little grooming right now. I've named her "Stokely" and I'm pumped about my new lake buddy :)

That being said, 99 out of 100 of my friends are stoked about her... but I have one buddy giving me tons of sh*t about it... saying i took her away from somebody. My argument is that they clearly neglected her and don't deserve to have her anyway. If I were to put out signs and somebody calls, should i send her back to a terrible home? My question is... what's ur take? I'm I morally wrong for picking up this dog?

Here she is all cleaned up and clipped... and I'm keeping her, but I still am curious what everyones take is :)

zo1 06-22-2010 11:39 AM

F your buddy

Good job picking her up and helping her out

psudy 06-22-2010 11:40 AM

Put up posters, and evaluate the parents if anyone calls. She might have just run away and been in the wild for a while.

diamonddad 06-22-2010 11:42 AM

Thats great what you have done. She is very sweet looking.

Its possible that she has loving owners that are sick about loosing her -- she may have gotten spooked and she may have been on the run for a number of weeks.

I think you should scan craiglist for lost dog announcements and put one up yourself in the minimum. If her owners were neglecting her they would likely not post or pay attention.

baitkiller 06-22-2010 11:49 AM

If she is at the vet have him scan her for an ID chip. Left shoulder I think.

psudy 06-22-2010 11:59 AM

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I want rufus back!!!

MattieK27 06-22-2010 12:06 PM

Get her scanned at the vet. If she has an ID chip, the owners info will come up. If she doesnt have a chip, and there wasnt any tags, shes rightfully yours. Now if the ID chip scan comes back with owner info and you choose to keep her, then thats not the best move. She could have run away, and gotten the mud and fleas while roaming the wild, no fault of the original owner.

Just my opinion, I know if my dog got out I would hope she would be returned to me once scanned.

deuce 06-22-2010 12:18 PM

Agree with those suggesting you try to find out if there are owners looking for her... A colleague of mine just went through this, though his dog was only gone 4 days.... He was SICK for those days.... He actually teared up when telling me the story of them being reunited(he isn't someone you'd expect to see shed a tear). I could not imagine going through it myself.....

Good on you for getting the dog healthy....taking her in.

Luker 06-22-2010 12:19 PM

Totally agree... I already told them to scan her (I'm at work and a friend is dropping her off) and if somebody popped up through the scan I would def take her back to them. But I'm prolly not gonna go as far to put up flyers... she has clearly been out roaming for a while without any care, and she'll live a rad life with me on the water everyday, traveling around doing wake road trips and what not :) I had a chip in my Redbone and would have appreciated it if someone had found and returned him to me... so I would definitely return the favor... Anyway... I was just curious. Thanks for the replies :) Makes me feel a bit better!

06-22-2010 12:20 PM

Sounds like the dog just got a way better owner. I know things can be relative when it comes to quality of care/ good home. Sounds like the dog was not being cared for very well and fleas like that can kill the dog. Good job.

brettw 06-22-2010 12:33 PM

The only way I'd give her back to the owner is if I could find out they were looking for her, and she was as in bad shape as she was because she was lost for a good period of time. If that's the way they kept her, I wouldn't give the dog back.

guido 06-22-2010 12:33 PM

Totally agree with all these guys. Try to make sure that there isn't somebody out there looking for their pet. If nobody comes forward, then the dogs all yours. It wouldn't take long for a dog on it's own to look pretty grubby and gather up a bunch of flees.

I'd be completely heartbroken if I lost my dog. Luckily she's a love and barely allows herself to get out of sight.

That said.... You've done a great thing no matter what. There's a good chance that dog would have ended up road kill if you hadn't stopped for it. You've earned yourself some great karma points.

chris4x4gill2 06-22-2010 12:48 PM

She's a beauty! Luker, you know as well as I do, around here she msot likely got dropped off because someone decided that cute little puppy was more work than they realized. An owner that takes time ot chip a dog, obviously cares for it and would want to see it returned, but I think you've got yourself a new buddy.

pnichols 06-22-2010 1:35 PM

I used to have a Cocker Spaniel, and it's very easy for them to start looking rough. You really need to brush them every day. After a camping trip or a hike, mine would start to look pretty rough too. It seems like everything would stick to her fur and with her bod so low to the ground, she would snag everything in her coat. From the looks of that pic, I would say that it hasn't been too long since she was groomed. If you do end up keeping her, you'll need to wipe around her eyes and clean her ears almost daily. They are notorious for having eye and ear problems, and keeping them clean will help prevent some of that.

liquidmx 06-22-2010 1:42 PM

Yah I am with the suggestion of putting forth the due diligence to find the rightful owner. Should the rightful owner come out and claim the dog they should be willing to re-imburse your expenses too if they in fact are the dog's owner (IMHO any good dog owner would be grateful to receive a dog that was as well taken care of as you have done). I would also use an email over phone number on the flier. Worst case scenario you saved a dog and were reimbursed for your expenses.

behindtheboat 06-22-2010 1:49 PM

Sooo, off subject a bit here, and Luker mad style points for what you've done. I had my dog chipped, but I don't think it would come up, as I still have not gone online and "activated" the account, thus paying the yearly fee. Does anyone know the truth on all this, and before getting her chipped I thought it was just an automatic thing, seems the one the Vet does requires activation and payments

pnichols 06-22-2010 2:19 PM

^^^activate it only if she gets lost

wake77 06-22-2010 2:46 PM

Man, I say keep her. Her owners should be treating her with Frontline or something similar, that would have lasted longer than a few days or even a couple of weeks if she had simply been on the run for a few days. Her fur would not be terribly matted either.

Bravo for what you have done.

behindtheboat 06-23-2010 5:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wake77 (Post 1600413)
Man, I say keep her. Her owners should be treating her with Frontline or something similar, that would have lasted longer than a few days or even a couple of weeks if she had simply been on the run for a few days. Her fur would not be terribly matted either.

Bravo for what you have done.

I've seen dogs at the dog park, owners obviously caring enough to take them there, with matted coats from going in the water, brush, etc. She could easily have run away and been away for a few days and become like that. Not that she did, but not everyone can afford all the maintenance items, but they still love their dog

wake77 06-23-2010 6:52 AM

I can maybe understand the matted coat, but covered in fleas? Frontline, etc. is not that expensive and is crucial to ensuring a healthy animal, as fleas can carry various diseases. If the owners skimped on that, good chance they skipped on heartworm medication. Those aren't maintenance items, those can be the difference between life and death, especially this time of the year.

Luker, check any area pounds or vets and ask if anyone has been inquiring about a lost spaniel.

Luker 06-23-2010 7:19 AM

She had all sorts of worms and parasites including heart worms. She was spade at a stray shelter a while ago (as indicated by a little tattoo) according to my vet, and has had it pretty rough for most of her life (2-3 years old). He checked her for a chip with no luck and said she's probably been in and out of shelters for a while, and with the amount of fleas on her coupled with the fact that she has heart-worms, it shows nobody has taken care of her. No listings on Craigs for a lost cocker in the area... and she thoroughly enjoyed her afternoon on the dock and sunset wake session on the boat. Slept like a dream last night after a little meet and greet playtime with her new group of wake puppies (most of my crew have dogs).

Gonna treat the heart-worms soon for a cool $500.... and spent $300 yesterday for all the vaccinations and de-worming... but at least she's happy and can rest easy knowing her life will be on cruise control from now on ;)

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

brettw 06-23-2010 7:25 AM

She's all yours for sure now. Enjoy your new dog and it really is great what you've done for her.

wake77 06-23-2010 9:04 AM

Congrats on your new friend. Way to be a savior.

jeff_mn 06-23-2010 9:13 AM

I have that exact dog (male english spaniel). He is the best dog ever. If she was underfed, running in traffic with no collar on - you are doing her a great favor. Don't worry about your buddy.

Enjoy her. Probably going to be the best dog ever. Ours is.

fly135 06-23-2010 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luker (Post 1600656)
Gonna treat the heart-worms soon for a cool $500....

Are you sure this is necessary. My vet has recommended the normal preventative treatment that kills the larva, not the adult worms. He told me that young dogs can tolerate the adult worms and the treatment prevents new ones. The adult worms will eventually die off and killing them is dangerous to the dog.

wakeworld 06-23-2010 1:21 PM

Interesting dilemma! We had a similar situation back in '05 after the Cedar Fire went through our neighborhood. We found a yellow lab trotting down the middle of the road tying up a quarter mile of traffic following him. He had no clue. We were coming the other way, so we got out and got him out of the road. We took him home, put up signs and put an ad in the paper. We did everything we could, but got no reply. Six months later we decided we're going to keep him and took him to the vet to get him shots. The vet did a scan for the chip (didn't even know they had such a thing at the time) and we found the new owners. They had since been divorced and the mom said we should keep the dog because their kids were in high school and neglected him anyway. The dad insisted on getting the dog back, so my kids had to go through the heartbreak of losing "Digger." I still haven't told my kids that Digger again got out of this jackass's yard a week later. He was hit by a car and killed. On a totally unrelated note (unless you believe in karma), the guys house burned to the ground about a year later.

aliwake 06-23-2010 10:53 PM

She is the cutest thing!! nice work on the rescue. Glad you know she's yours for good now.

westsiderippa 06-23-2010 11:16 PM

Luker, High five brotha!!!

biz 06-24-2010 6:29 AM

#1 Put up flyers
#2 Craigslist - if someone responds have them CLEARLY identify the dog
#3 Call the local SPCA to see if anyone is looking for a dog matching the description
#4 Call local vets to see if anyone is looking for a dog matching the description

You may say that this is a lot of work for someone that abandoned a dog but you need to be aware that the dog may not have been abandoned. He may have escaped from a back yard, got off a leash... there are hundreds of things that can go wrong.

Think about how much you enjoy your new pals company after only a short time. This pales in comparison to an owner that has lost their dog and the grief of losing a companion.

I found a super cute Italian Greyhound in my neighbohood last year. Great dog! I put up ads on CL and flyers in the neighborhood. I got a few responses on CL. It was heartbreaking to see how many owners have lost their dogs. The CL posts did not work but the flyers did. I had the dog returned to their proper owners the day i put the flyers up. Now the people that were the owners were dirtbags (not even a thanks for finding their dog) but that is another story. In the end i knew i had done the right thing.

bhyatt_ohp 06-24-2010 6:56 AM

Luker has done the right thing. Bravo sir.

Not sure about you guys, but I keep a check on our animals (2 ocicats and a minpin). They aren't left tied up in the elements to get off the leash by chance. If we can't find them, we immediately drop everything to search for them. They have collars with our number on them. They are groomed and treated with all shots and preventative meds for fleas, etc. The previous owner obviously had no business owning this dog. There may be hundreds of things that could go wrong where this dog could have been lost, but also hundreds of ways the previous owner (if they truly cared) could have prevented them from happening in the first place.

behindtheboat 06-24-2010 8:26 AM

Agree to an extent, but sometimes they just get loose, and go crazy. My pup used to be great off the leash, then moved into having a nice back yard that she enjoys, but now she can't be let out off the leash because she knows it's jail break time and to go crazy. That, and she watches this rabbit all day through the fence, and goes straight for where it's at

wake77 06-24-2010 8:29 AM

The dog has heartworms. It would be a travesty to return that dog to its owners if it has any. Luker did the right thing.

End of story.

behindtheboat 06-24-2010 10:52 AM

^ may be why they got rid of it too

huh01 06-24-2010 12:59 PM

Luker that's awesome, clearly the dog has been neglected in the past. Sounds like she's gonna have a way better life now!!

kstateskier 06-25-2010 6:38 PM

Maybe I just have good dogs, but I can't imagine losing either of mine. They are never out of my site if they are out of the house. They stay in our yard, but if for some reason they took off, there is no way I would let them get out of site. Mine are such babies though that if they are more than 10 feet away from us they come running back!

bennn 06-25-2010 9:31 PM

Good work luker... that dog's gonna love its new life

denverlove 07-07-2010 8:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baitkiller (Post 1600284)
If she is at the vet have him scan her for an ID chip. Left shoulder I think.

It's implanted between the shoulder blades.

I work at an animal shelter. We get dogs like this all the time in our lost and found. No one ever comes for them. And if they do, our investigations department talks to them about how to properly care for their dog and they will do a check-up visit at their home.

Props to you for getting the dog in a safe place and taking it to the vet.

You attempted to find an owner... I vote that she's yours to keep!

As someone else stated... consider getting her microchipped and keep the MC information up to date. If you move or change a phone number, always update it.

GOOD LUCK!! :)

denverlove 07-07-2010 8:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by behindtheboat (Post 1600386)
Sooo, off subject a bit here, and Luker mad style points for what you've done. I had my dog chipped, but I don't think it would come up, as I still have not gone online and "activated" the account, thus paying the yearly fee. Does anyone know the truth on all this, and before getting her chipped I thought it was just an automatic thing, seems the one the Vet does requires activation and payments

THIS IS SO IMPORTANT! I work at an animal shelter and we get lost animals in ALL the time that have microchips that are "unactivated" or as we say, "unregistered." We will call the microchip company, which will tell us there is no owner attached to the microchip. They will give us information of the distributor of the chip. We will call the distributor and see where the chip was sold... breeder, animal shelter, pet store. We will call the place where the chip was sold to try to locate who bought/adopted the dog. MANY times they no longer have information on the microchips or the breeder/pet store has gone out of business. At this point, it is considered a "dead end" and we stop attempting to find an owner through the microchip.

Yes, there is typically a fee and a fee to change information. But this is worth it if you love your pet and would like them back if they ever get lost and lose their collar (this happens ALL THE TIME!)

behindtheboat 07-07-2010 8:56 AM

Thanks! Makes sense, I'll get on it today!

fatsac 07-07-2010 10:43 AM

Great story! Happy you found a good dog. Those Cocker Spaniels can be a little smelly at times but sure have a great temperment.
I worked on a farm years back where the owner had a cocker named Winnie. One hot afternoon after castrating bulls all day, we couldn't find the damned dog. I was in fear she ran off or someone scooped her up on the nearby highway.
Sure enough, we found her back at the shoot, gobbling all those testacles like nobody's business!

Luker 07-07-2010 11:39 AM

Stokely is now officially my best friend LOL she is insanely loyal and follows me EVERYWHERE... Shes super chill and rocked out for about 24 hours on the boat over the long weekend with zero complaints... No barking, got her house broken, sleeps like a log, and loves the hell out of her daddy.

Hands down the sexiest, most laid back chick I know, and I didn't even have to buy her a drink or pay for her dinner ;) Just throw her on the boat and she's happy... if only all girls were that easy

wake77 07-07-2010 2:07 PM

Always glad to see a neglected animal get a good home.

guido 07-07-2010 4:10 PM

Uh oh, man.... It sounds like you're as whooped by your dog as I am. Ha, ha. They're great, loyal, companions. Glad you found her. Sounds like you've done right.

Mike (fatsac).... Thanks for the touching story. LOL!


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