August 28th, 2007 by Mrs Eaves
While at the bus stop this morning, I heard our neighbor call out, “Watch out! Here comes a strange dog!” I looked up the road, and sure enough, a dog was approaching, attached to a chain and rope that was no longer attached to anything but the dog. The dog came and sat on our sidewalk, looked at us and wagged his tail - his whole body, really. He didn’t seem aggressive in the least, but not knowing his history, I instructed the kids to get on the deck and called Bos out of the house for some assistance.
Bos lead the dog over to our fence, tied him to our tree and gave him some fresh water. The dog very obviously belongs to someone, as evidenced by the chain and rope (I could go on a HUGE soapbox about that, but not today). Finding his owner seems a daunting task, however, and we just don’t really have the room to keep him here until the owner is located, so my first reaction was to call Animal Control. We looked it up here and called the after-hours number, which is actually the police department. Bos spoke to the fellow, who was surprised that the PD is the after-hours contact for Animal Control. The guy said to call Animal Control, but that they probably wouldn’t answer the phone until after 1:00 PM. Sigh.
The thing is, I don’t want to send this dog to Animal Control. If his owners don’t have the sense to check the shelter when they realize their dog is missing, I fear that his fate would be most unpleasant. Then again, we really, really can’t keep the dog, even on a foster-home basis. So what do we do? What alternatives are there to Animal Control?
I am going to contact S.A.R.G. (Shelter Animals Rescue Group) and see if he qualifies to be placed in one of their foster homes. Other than that, do any of you folks out there know of any options?
***
Update: Mailman to the rescue! Our awesome mailman just knocked on my door to let me know that he recognized the dog and that he belongs to some folks a little ways up the street. He’s going to let them know that the dog is here. Woot!!
August 28th, 2007 at 9:23 am
Wow, he’s beautiful. You’re right, tho, about his likely fate at animal control… Many have no choice but to euthanize pitbulls. There’s a pitbull rescue here in Cookeville called “Bless the Bullys”, so if you have no luck on that end, I can try to find a place over here for him… Hopefully his owner will reclaim him.
August 28th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Oh gosh, what an adorable pup! (And the pic on Camera Shy, OMG!) I wish I could help, but I’ve got no room either. Is there no one we know that CAN foster him while the owners are sought? Did you go look for posters in case they are looking?
August 28th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Thanks, Suzanne. I may indeed need your help. I don’t think that he’s 100% pit bull - he’s a little larger than your average pit bull, but not as muscular/stocky.
Catherine, I haven’t had a chance to look for posters yet. I will look when I go pick up Lugnut at preschool today.
Every time I go check on him, he folds his ears back and wags at me. He is so darn sweet. I have a call into SARG and am waiting to hear back.
August 28th, 2007 at 10:15 am
the golden rescue we used didn’t require the dogs to be full-bred goldens. it may be the same with the pit bull rescue. if so i think a rescue would be the way to go (assuming you can’t find his owners). that way maybe they can set him up with a foster home until he gets adopted. he is a beautiful dog!
August 28th, 2007 at 10:50 am
What does Nessie think about the situation?
August 28th, 2007 at 11:00 am
They’ve not officially met each other, though they did share a bark from a distance. I want to be cautious since I don’t know the stray’s health history or if he would be aggressive to other dogs. Like I said, he seems really, really sweet - but you just never know.
The lady at SARG suggested that I take him to the shelter, because that would be the first place his owners would look. I’m going to call them this afternoon, and will probably take him there with the understanding that they contact me if no one claims him. If no one claims him, we’ll just have to try something else.
August 28th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
He looks like an American Bulldog. I would do an internet search for where you live for Bulldog rescues. If they will take him, they will then notify the local shelters they have him. He’s gorgeous though!!
August 28th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Our local newspaper runs free “Found” ads. Maybe your’s does too?
August 28th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Thanks, guys! Looks like we may have found the owners. Yea!
August 28th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Woot! I was having visions of you, Pigpen, and Ladyfriend all combining to try to pawn this thing off on me…
August 28th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
dude, my next line was “AT needs a dog.”
August 28th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
Sumgirl, that was gonna be my next line as I was reading down too. It is a beautiful pup, glad you found his owners. I once found a stray goat in the road. My husband was not happy when I put it in the backyard until I could find its owners. Apparently it was a male on the prowl and male goats pee on themselves to be more attractive to female goats. Seriously disgusting.
August 29th, 2007 at 6:17 am
he looks like Petey from the Little Rascals :)
August 29th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
So Ms. Eaves - details. How did you find the owner and what’s the story on the dog?
August 29th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Sure thing, Beaver. Here’s the rest of the story:
The owner did not show up yesterday to claim the dog, so we kept him overnight. This morning, Bos went to the address provided to us by the mailman, but no one answered the door. Earlier this afternoon, I caught up with the mailman, who had tried to contact the folks yesterday but was unable to get ahold of them. He said that he would try again when he got to their house. Around 3:15, a man knocked on our door and claimed the dog. The dog seemed genuinely happy and excited to see the guy, and I have no doubt he was the owner. So, all seems well.
It’s good that the owner finally showed up, ’cause I was on the verge of having Bos build us a dog run in the back so we could keep him. Such a sweet, sweet dog.
August 29th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
*Whew*
I’m glad the owner showed up, too. It’s already like how many clowns can you get in a vw over at The Cemestos Gardens. The house would pop if we tried to squeeze another critter into it.
August 31st, 2007 at 9:42 am
Weird, I have a similar looking pit bull traipsing through my backyard this week with a coiled up lead hanging off his collar. I can’t figure out who owns him.
I live in East Knox btw, not OR.
August 31st, 2007 at 4:58 pm
I think any day is a perfect day for a soapbox about chaining and penning a dog for life! Dogs who live ostracized to a chain or a pen suffer very lonely lives…and all the while they want nothing more than to be with us. It’s quite sad, really. To see how you can help a dog living chained or penned near you, visit http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org