The last couple of nights we have had a lot of really hard rain. I love snuggling up in my bed with my warm dogs under the covers and furry, purry cats nearby and hearing the sound of rain on the roof. I love it when we start to have rainy weather. I know, that sounds weird. But I do. I actually like the rain. I’m not opposed to a nice sunny day, mind you, but I do enjoy those rainy, blustery days.
The last couple of nights, my heart has been heavy thinking about all those cats and dogs that don’t have nice warm beds to sleep in on blustery nights. I think of Cleo when I found her, lost in Promontory Park at the end of October with her pitiful broken leg trying to find shelter from the elements. I think of Zinger, just a little baby kitten, dumped or abandoned at City Hall trying to stay warm someplace and to find something to eat. And I thank God that I can give them someplace safe and warm and dry for them to spend their nights. My girls, who think the world is coming to an end if they have to sleep outside the covers for a night have no idea how lucky they are.
The dog that lives behind us is one of those dogs that doesn’t have a nice place to sleep. My heart breaks for this poor dog; whose name I think is Belle. We’ll call her Belle for the purposes of this discussion, anyway. Belle is one of those sad cases of someone getting a cute puppy (some kind of pitt mix I think), installing it in the backyard, and coming out to yell at it. No playing, no walks, no training, no love. Greg & I have watched her for the past 8 months or so be neglected this way. When the kids/parents do come outside she jumps all over them in excitement and then they hit her for jumping up. She can’t help it. No one has taught her how to behave properly. Mostly they just ignore her completely. She has no place to get out of the elements. There is an old car she lay under when it was really hot this summer, but I think they’ve blocked that off now. So last night I looked out right before going to bed and here was Belle, curled up in the smallest ball she could possibly curl into in the dirt under the 4 inch overhang. It was cold and pouring down rain. My dogs didn’t want to be outside for the four seconds it took them to pee, let alone all day and all night.
I can’t get this poor dog out of my mind. I feel so bad for her. I don’t know what to do. Really, these people shouldn’t have this dog at all. They don’t love it. They just leave it outside and treat it worse than their lawn furniture. They live right behind us, so I don’t want to start a problem by calling Animal Control on them, but this dog can’t keep on this way with the weather turning worse. I’ve thought about just taking the dog or talking to the people and seeing if they would turn custody over to me, but I don’t want to have to find her a home and take responsibility for a problem that isn’t my own (believe me I have enough of my own problems). What do you all think I should do?
2 comments:
call animal control anonymously. It's neglect. If they are leaving her in the elements without some sort of protection, it is neglect. Are they at least feeding her? the only other thing I can think of is watch the paper for a free igloo or doghouse and then give it to them and tell them it was yours and you didn't need it anymore.
I think Deb is right with the anonymously calling animal control. AS you say, you don't need a problem with the neighbors, but should think of the dog first. Please keep us posted on Belle.
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