As a pet owner, your responsibility is to keep your pet safe, and others safe from your pet. If you can't do that, you do not deserve to have animals. I have dedicated my life to serving animals and the owners who have them. It's not like I don't know what I am talking about. The majority of pet owners are good people and do their best. The minority give the rest a bad name. Unfortunately it is the minority who stand out in my mind this morning, and leave a very bad taste in my mouth.
I am frustrated this morning, with the members of our community who do not take responsibility for their dogs. A couple weeks ago I was writing about the horrific attacks on some friends' alpacas(you can check it out here), and last week caught a dog chasing our chickens. In light of the recent events, I debated about what to do at the time. My anger was still quite fresh from the alpaca incident, but I decided to take the dog to work and try to find the owner. It was an intact male Husky. I was lucky to have run home in the middle of the afternoon to pick up a forgotten item, and upon leaving noticed the chickens running madly through the cow pen. Otherwise who knows what would have transpired. Two chickens were injured, one seriously enough to warrant anesthesia, wound cleaning and stitches (she is still at the clinic recovering). The next day the owner was located and came to pick up the dog. I spoke with her about the seriousness of harassing livestock, and the fact that the dog was not welcome on my property. I thought it made an impression. Evidently I was wrong. Yesterday evening I was coming home with the kids around 5 pm, and we saw the same dog running down our driveway. We arrived home to find feathers everywhere, and after some searching, started finding chicken carcasses. As a mother, I have a really hard time seeing my children sad. As parents, we do all we can to protect our children. So imagine the scene... my children were sobbing as they walked through the trees finding and collecting the bodies of their dead pets. As a mother, I was not only sad but incredibly angry at the irresponsibility and stupidity of the dog owners. I won't write all that went through my mind, much of it is not fit for print. Just sitting here writing this I can feel my blood pressure rise and my teeth clench.
As a pet owner, your responsibility is to keep your pet safe, and others safe from your pet. If you can't do that, you do not deserve to have animals. I have dedicated my life to serving animals and the owners who have them. It's not like I don't know what I am talking about. The majority of pet owners are good people and do their best. The minority give the rest a bad name. Unfortunately it is the minority who stand out in my mind this morning, and leave a very bad taste in my mouth.
4 Comments
Daniel Sanders
1/21/2015 10:34:14 pm
Dr. Susie that is really sad and I am sorry for your kiddos. That is definitely worth a call the Sheriff's Office. Not that they can do a lot but the documentation may be needed for future incidents. My experience is once it starts it continues for the very reason you spoke of, human owners not doing their part. I would also want her to know what will happen to her dog should it occur again. Sorry again take care Dan
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Jane Romatzke
1/22/2015 02:56:01 pm
Dr. Susie, I am so sorry for you and your children. It is so tramatic to see the aftermath of an animal attack. As the owners of the alpacas who were killed, we share your anger as well.Some people can be very stupid and lazy. To ignore your warning is outragous...call the Sherriff. Hugs and condolences ....
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Madelyn Gaarde
1/23/2015 01:27:34 am
Susie, I am sorry to hear of this sad event and thus another rough week. It is so difficult to see our tender little children suffer when such needles pain comes into their lives. Hope there will be a satisfactory resolution to this.
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Marilyn Pipkin
2/1/2015 06:45:45 am
I am outraged that heartless people loose their vicious dogs on innocent animals and tear children (and adults) hearts out when their beloved pets are brutalized and killed. Are you pressing charges?
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AuthorSusie (and sometimes Jeff) Hirsch, parents, vets, small scale ranchers, and regular people, who must have a sense of humor to survive! Archives
January 2015
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