Dog w/out collar running around: called animal control

[Dembadon]

Yesterday afternoon I noticed a dog running up and down our street, occasionally wandering through and around neighbor's yards. I'd never seen this dog being walked in the neighborhood before, so I went outside and got it to come into our back yard. I immediately noticed it didn't have a collar with a city license or identification, so I called the animal humane society and filed a "found report." Animal Control sent someone to pick up the dog and said they'd hold it for the owner to (hopefully) come and claim it.

About an hour after the dog was picked up someone knocked on our door, and it turned out to be one of the owners of the dog. I told her I called animal control and gave her the physical address and phone number so she could go claim her pet. However, she got upset with me for calling them because she was going to be fined for having a dog over 4 months of age without a city license.

I told her calling animal control might've saved her pet's life and that it was irresponsible of her to think it's okay for her dog to run free; it could cause an accident, bite someone, or be run over and killed. She walked away cursing and I haven't heard anything about the incident since.

I have very little patience with people who're careless with their pets. Has anyone else experienced a similar situation? How did you handle it?

 

[lisab]

You did exactly the right thing! And you likely saved that dog's life!

I don't blame her (too much) for losing the dog in the first place - puppies are wiggly and squiggly and impulsive and quick. Worse than toddlers even! And she was probably emotionally stressed from losing her dog. It's happened to me before, it frayed my nerves. So I don't hold it against her (too much) that she was so crabby.

But she *clearly* knew she was breaking the dog license law, and she even knew the specific age at which the dog was required to be licensed. She was in the wrong here.

I'm glad you took the time and effort to help that dog ! Maybe she'll come around and realize the same thing...but only maybe.

 

[eigenperson]

If someone finds your lost dog and there is no identification, what do you expect that person to do? Just hold onto the dog forever and wait?

Obviously that dog is going to end up at some kind of animal shelter.

Seriously, I don't know what goes through people's minds.

EDIT: My parents once found a lost dog. It had a dog tag and the owner came by soon after we called. Apparently the owner hadn't yet realized that the dog had gone when we called her.

 

[Dembadon]

You did exactly the right thing! And you likely saved that dog's life!

I don't blame her (too much) for losing the dog in the first place - puppies are wiggly and squiggly and impulsive and quick. Worse than toddlers even! And she was probably emotionally stressed from losing her dog. It's happened to me before, it frayed my nerves. So I don't hold it against her (too much) that she was so crabby.

One thing I didn't mention about our conversation was her saying something along the lines of, "We let him out to go to the bathroom all the time and he eventually comes back." I agree they can weasel away every once in awhile; my dog's done it a couple times. Had that been the case, I would've totally understood.

But she *clearly* knew she was breaking the dog license law, and she even knew the specific age at which the dog was required to be licensed. She was in the wrong here.

I'm glad you took the time and effort to help that dog ! Maybe she'll come around and realize the same thing...but only maybe.

I sure hope so. We live by some very busy streets, not to mention we're about 1/4 mile from I-80.

 

[strangerep]

However, she got upset with me for calling them because she was going to be fined for having a dog over 4 months of age without a city license.

No good deed ever goes unpunished.

 

[Choppy]

I used to have a dog who was an escape artist.

As a result I feel extremely grateful whenever someone goes out of their way to help out with a wandering dog like that.

It seems extremely odd that someone would complain about you sending the dog to animal control. That's complaining about your on-flight movie options after your pilot safely executes a crash-landing.

 

[Evo]

One thing I didn't mention about our conversation was her saying something along the lines of, "We let him out to go to the bathroom all the time and he eventually comes back." I agree they can weasel away every once in awhile; my dog's done it a couple times. Had that been the case, I would've totally understood.

Wow, they don't deserve to own a dog, they sound completely irresponsible.

 

[edward]

It is not just the dog license law. In Arizona we have a big problem with rabies. Dogs must be vaccinated before they can be licensed.

Over the years I have taken in a number of stray dogs if they are friendly and will come up to me. Some have collars and some don't. Posting a picture of the animal on Craig's list is the latest and easiest way to deal with the issue in Tucson because animal control takes forever.

BE CAREFUL, never assume anything and believe me I learned this the hard way just several weeks ago. A Pit Bull and a Dogue Bordeaux wandered up to my back door one morning.

They were perfectly friendly and appeared harmless so I put them in the back yard. I went into get my camera and when I came back out the two dogs were fighting viciously. I told my wife to call animal control. She did and they told her there was a waiting list.

There was blood all over the place, and I am talking puddles. During a lull in the fighting the pit bull licked it up. I have pictures but believe me you don't want to see them.

Next my wife called the Sheriff's department. They told her that they have no jurisdiction unless a person has been bitten. They suggested calling Animal control again and getting a priority assignment.

Guess what ??, Animal control has no priority assignments. Animal Control suggested that I open my gate and turn the dogs back out into the neighborhood. There was no way I was about to turn those two dogs loose into my neighborhood.

By then the dogs were fighting and the blood was flying again. I called a local emergency vet clinic and they told me that they would take the dogs if I could bring them in.

I got a couple of hot dogs and pushed 40 mg for the smaller dog and 80 mg for the larger one into the the meat. (ok so now I am a criminal). The dogs gobbled down the dogs.

About two hours passed and the dogs were very very placid. It was dark by then and my son and I were getting ready to load the dogs into the back of my truck. Just then a vehicle from animal control pulled in. The guy got out and told me that neighbors had reported what sounded like some kind of animal abuse had been going on. (why didn't I think of that?? ! dogs fighting = no priority, animal abuse = priority)

The guy from animal control made several comments about a big fuss over a couple of very calm dogs. Yeah, well they were so calm they could hardly walk because of the valium which I did not dare mention.

The Animal control officer had just left when a Sheriff's car pulled in. The deputy got out and asked me if I owned a gun. "Yes sir I do own a gun" I said. OK so now I am thinking oh crap because at one point I had told my wife in a very loud voice ( I was not exactly calm through this whole ordeal) That the most humane thing that I could do would be to shoot the dogs. (neighbors again?)

Next the deputy asked, "where is the weapon sir"? I told him it was inside locked in a gun safe and it had been there all day. By now I am winding down a bit stress wise. The deputy then asked, where the dogs were. I told him that they had already been picked up. Yet he still searched my back yard looking for dead dogs while mumbling something about animal control. He came up with one very large canine tooth.

As he finally started to walk away the deputy turned and said: "Next time this happens you should call somebody".

 

[jim hardy]

Edward, print that out and send a letter to the editor, copy to your mayor.

Good thinking on those sedatives.

We have a mountain lion in the neighborhood who's solved our stray dog problem.

 

[SteamKing]

The OP's letter didn't explicitly mention sedatives, only the doses given to the dogs.

Welcome to the wonderful world of bureaucracy. The Sheriff's office only cares if you might have a gun in the house. You could be running an illegal smuggling operation, but that's OK if you're not otherwise armed. If you're fighting dogs, that's Animal Control's bailiwick, but the Sheriff's office doesn't care because dog fighters are scrupulous about obeying all the other laws. It's probably better you found out first hand about these attitudes before you have to dial 9-1-1 for a personal emergency.

 

[edward]

The OP's letter didn't explicitly mention sedatives, only the doses given to the dogs.

Welcome to the wonderful world of bureaucracy. The Sheriff's office only cares if you might have a gun in the house. You could be running an illegal smuggling operation, but that's OK if you're not otherwise armed. If you're fighting dogs, that's Animal Control's bailiwick, but the Sheriff's office doesn't care because dog fighters are scrupulous about obeying all the other laws. It's probably better you found out first hand about these attitudes before you have to dial 9-1-1 for a personal emergency.

Oops, I may have edited out that the sedative was valium. While I was on the phone with the emergency vet clinic I posed a hypothetical question about the dosages of valium and or Benadryl. I was a bit under at 1mg per lb., especially on the big dog, but that was all I had.

 

[Nugatory]

I got a couple of hot dogs and pushed 40 mg for the smaller dog and 80 mg for the larger one into the the meat. (ok so now I am a criminal).

What's the crime here, if you came by the Valium legally? Now, if it were the neighbors' children that were fighting, I could see some legal problems...