Jake and I have rescued two neighborhood puppies now. Fortunately, both dogs knew where their house was, so I just walked near them, and they showed me home, and then I knocked on the door. Both owners were totally startled that their little babies had gotten out. I have to say.. this kinda shocked me.
Jacob and I have had 3 dogs. Our first, Tölpel, was adopted him from the pound right after we got back from our honeymoon. He's the sweetest dog in the world. But he was a runaway. They found him on the side of the road, and after trying to find an owner for a year, they finally turned him over to the pound. That's where we found him.
Then we got Kunos. He was a Basset-hound-Labrador mix and he could just steal your heart away with his adorableness! Also a runaway. We took him to try to find the owners so he didn't have to go to a pound or rescue. I posted information on every website, every shelter, I could find to find this dogs owners. Unfortunately, he ended up eating a large amount of fabric and we couldn't save him, but he warmed our home (and brought quite a lot of excitement, having two male dogs in the house!!) for a time.
And now, of course, we have little Jazz who's mommy wasn't taken care of... she was in a 100% kill shelter before PawfectMatch rescued her and then gave her to us.
But with respect to the first two dogs - both were runaways. Or in the case of Tölpel, I suspect he was a wander away - he doesn't really run unless there's a rabbit. Both of those sweet sweet dogs should never have come to our home. Both should have had long lives with their original owners. And how many dogs in our own neighborhood have almost had the same fate of life in the pound, hoping someone would rescue them?
Jake and I chose to get Jazz from a rescue instead of the pound. When we realized how many dogs are euthinized, we thought a going to a rescue would really save 2 dogs, because now they have room for another one.
I guess the point is, not everyone wants pets. Pets are not people. I get that. But if you're going to go through all the trouble to HAVE a sweet and loving pet...
- Please don't leave them unsupervised in the backyard where they could possibly dig under a fence or run through an electric fence. Know where your dog is. I'm not saying none of ours have ever made a bolt for it. But we were there and went and found them.
- Please keep your dogs up to date on their vaccinations and microchip them. That way if they do ever get away, they can be returned to you and won't end up in a pound!
- If you are thinking of getting a pet, please consider a shelter. In this area, I know of http://catangelsnc.org/ and http://www.pawfectmatch.org/ which are both great shelters, but there are so many great shelters and so many wonderful pets needing a home. And it's in these shelter's interest to find a pet that matches your personality and activity level, because they want this to be a permanent arrangement.
