SurvivingInfidelity.com^®

My area, rural, has had an overwhelming amount of DUMPED dogs and cats lately. The theory is -- people got animals during the pandemic and now don't want them or can't afford them so they are dumping them in the country. ALL of our animal shelters are overflowing to the point they are having FREE adoptions every weekend now, to try to find new homes for these helpless fur babies.

It makes me so angry! One woman was following a van and actually saw a man open the back door of the moving van and toss out three puppies, not more than 6 weeks old. Of course she stopped and she managed to get one puppy but the other two ran off into the dense wooded area by the road. She has had help to search for the other two puppies but so far, no luck. Probably eaten by coyotes. She took the one puppy to the vet who confirmed it was 5-6 weeks old. She got first shots and had it cleaned up from ticks and fleas and is trying to find a good home.

Beautiful animals are being dumped. Even expensive full breed dogs. People out here are doing all we can to try to save these animals. Some people are even setting up 'rescues' on their own property as the shelters are full.

HOW can anyone do this?? Just toss out a helpless creature? I have two inside puppies and 5 barn cats outside that I take good care of. I noticed someone had dumped a new cat for me to look after. So I've been feeding her. I didn't realize she was pregnant. Somehow she managed to get up into my house attic to give birth. I thought she had given birth so I was looking for kittens but couldn't find them. Last Friday night I kept hearing a kitten meowing and crying and finally realized in was down in my WALL, between the kitchen bar and living room! I was trying to figure out a way to get to it but ended up this morning having to have a 12x12 hole cut in the drywall of my living room to rescue the kitten. She is a beautiful, spunky Calico aprx 3 weeks old. The Mom seems relieved to have her back and is feeding her. It appears the dumped mom may have had only one kitten but I can't be sure as I just cannot climb up into my attic right now as the heat is so intense. It's been over 100 degrees for several days. If she had more, I hope they are safe in the attic and she will eventually bring them down. Then I can catch the Mom to be spade.

Animal abuse IS a felony but it's so hard to catch these heartless people as they seem to be mainly dumping animals at night. I just don't understand people. So sad to see a big, beautiful dog waiting for it's master to return after being dumped.

Oh girl you are wonderful.
I'm so glad you cut a he in your wall and saved that baby.

I am seeing the same thing here. Lots of full shelters, lots of adult dogs being dropped off due to people not wanting dogs that are tough to manage, need exercise, shed, eat, poop.

The first house we owned was about 2 miles from the county animal control. It was a tough to find the place, off winding gravel roads and often people would say close enough. And we ended up with no less than 6 dropped dogs and more cats. We kept 2 of the cats found homes for the rest. The dogs were more of a challenge. We tried to keep a few of the dogs, one was a mean Maltese n mean little white dog is what we called him. He bit me no less than 3 times. I found that asshat a home. We also found d homes for 2 others. One was a great dog. Unfortunately our house was full at the time. Couldn't afford another one.

We love animals as anyone who has followed me here knows. We help where can, my H drives to the other major city in our state almost weekly and he often transports dogs and cats from one shelter or foster to another. Sometimes we keep the animal for a few days. Its awesome to see them get adopted out to good families.

Anyway I hope you can do the whole TNR thing with the cats. Barn cats are great to have.

Thank you for helping all the strays dumped by their heartless owners. It reduces me to tears to think about all these animals being dropped off and left to fend for themselves. How can anybody be so heartless. Take them to a shelter or find them a home if your circumstances have changed and you can no longer care for them.

We just had a young cat that somebody dumped. She looked like she may have recently had kittens but we can't find them anywhere. I think a neighbor is going to keep her. She is so friendly and wants to come inside. I just can't imagine doing something so cruel.

I found a kitten a while ago next to a very busy road. I was able to catch it. I found a home for it luckily. Our ASPCA now charges a fee to bring them an animal. The only other place to take these animals is a shelter that may or may not have space. I live in a rural area and the shelters have limited hours and some are an hour away. In the mean time you have to have some place to keep the animal. It's becoming a real problem.

I love animals, but people…eh, take them or leave them. I will never understand how someone can just discard of something like it’s nothing. It’s just flat out cowardly and despicable.

I am with you 100%! My favorite type of animal is one that very frequently gets dumped. Rabbits! It's the worst a few months after Easter each year. Parents want to surprise their kids on Easter with a cute, fluffy little "play thing", or they want a "prop" for their Easter pictures. So they buy a rabbit, bring it home and basically abuse it. They let the kids handle it roughly, feed it the wrong type of food, keep it in a small cage or worse, let it roam their backyard where it's susceptible to dogs, racoons, hawks, owls and other predators. If the poor rabbit survives the first few months, the kids will invariably lose interest. Rabbits are not immediately snuggly and playful as many people seem to think. Some will never be comfortable with being picked up and held. They're one of the lowest species on the food chain and their instincts tell them to be on the alert and defensive all the time. People who don't know any better will swoop them up and let their back feet dangle, much like a bird of prey would do. Rabbits are programming to fight if they are put in that position. They will kick, twist around and pull up those strong back thumpers to scratch the heck out of your arms until you put them down. All it takes is one incident of being picked up the wrong way and they can be scared of people for the rest of their lives. Once this happens, the parents are dismayed that the rabbit isn't "friendly" and their kids don't have the adorable little toy they hoped for. They decide the rabbit is mean and strong enough to live outdoors on it's own, so they find a park or schoolyard, dump them and walk away. Some people even just leave the gate open and let the rabbit hop away. They think it's fine because, after all, rabbits live in the wild, right?

Wrong! Wild rabbits live in the wild. They are bred and built to withstand living outdoors. Their coloring helps them blend in with their environment which gives them a better chance of hiding from predators. And, their digestive systems can handle eating the vegetation they find outdoors. Their instincts help them determine which plants are OK to eat. Domestic rabbits are a completely different animal! They were originally bred in Europe for show and (gulp!) food. Their many characteristics (coloring, body shape and size, ear size and orientation - up ears or lop, face shape, etc.) were developed and refined over many years until the desired results were reached. As a result, domestic rabbits are a much more delicate animal than their wild counterparts. They cannot readily regulate their body temperatures and must be kept in a climate controlled environment (ideally indoors). They might be able to survive on a diet of whatever they can find outdoors, but not for long and they won't be healthy. They need a steady diet of good, quality hay, clean water and a variety of rabbit-safe greens. They are strict vegans and cannot digest fat. Too much calcium causes bladder sludge and kidney stones. Too much sugar (even from carrots and fruit) causes stomach upset and diarrhea. A rabbit that suddenly stops eating can become a life-or-death emergency within hours. Their health and behavior has to be constantly monitored. Dumping them outside to fend for themselves is a death sentence, not to mention incredibly insensitive and downright cruel! A dumped rabbit is going to live in a constant state of fear until either someone rescues it or it dies a horrible death.

I've had rabbits for years, all rescues. One was adopted from the humane society. One was adopted from a rescue. Two came from a large-scale rescue near my kids' school. Apparently a clueless science teacher dumped his pair of classroom rabbits in a wooded area next to the school. The male and female did what rabbits do best, and before long there were dozens of domestic rabbits running around. When I was alerted to the situation, I contacted the rescue where I adopted my girl bunny. The owner came out and was horrified. She contacted two other rescues and they worked together to get 116 rabbits to safety. My family fostered and eventually adopted two of them, and my sister adopted one. I currently have just one bunny who we grabbed from a dump situation in our old neighborhood. A women started noticing a beautiful black and white bunny in her yard. He seemed like he was used to people, but wouldn't allow her to touch him. She started calling around and was put in touch with me, the Crazy Neighborhood Bunny Lady. I had three rabbits at the time and wasn't looking for a fourth, but I said I would help her catch it and get it to safety. That guy was rascally! We used every strategy we knew to trick him, but he was crafty and gave us a run for it. It was 100 degrees outside that day and I was determined that he would be spending the night in our air conditioned home. We finally got him trapped in a pen and he knew he was caught! I put a carrier in the pen and he hopped right in, as if he knew he was going to safety. I posted about him on a some neighborhood groups and Facebook and I talked to my friend who owns a rescue. We determined he was probably an Easter dump. It was about eight months after Easter and he seemed to be around six months old. Remember when I said I wasn't looking for a forth rabbit? Yeah, well, we all fell in love with him. He was destined to be ours. We took him to the vet, thinking he was a female. Turned out he was a neutered male. Someone knew enough to have him fixed which is vital to a rabbit's health and behavior. Females absolutely must be spayed to avoid reproductive cancer, which happens to about 85% of unspayed females by about age 5. It's a horrible, painful death and can be avoided with a simple spay procedure early in their lives.

Our new bunny settled in nicely, but he's never liked to be picked up. He tolerates it when we need to get him from place to place, but he does not like being held and snuggled. He's not a lap sitter at all. Most rabbits like to keep their feet firmly on the ground (that whole "being swooped up by a bird of prey" thing). My bunny loves when people sit next to him on the floor at his level and pet him. He provides the best therapy when anyone's feeling sad! We estimate that he is now about 7 years old. Domestic rabbits can live 10+ years when kept indoors, properly fed and with good vet care. My girl bunny lived 14 1/2 years!

So, yes, I totally agree that people who dump innocent animals are cruel and selfish! They get a pet when it's convenient and discard them like trash when they no longer suit their needs. It's maddening!!!

I'ven never had bunnies but have lots of little bunny nest on the south side of my property. I try to protect them the best I can. Coyotes are plentiful out my way and they look for cats, rabbits and small dogs.

Our animal shelters are refusing to take any more dogs or cats. The main shelter has the capacity for 300 animals and they are at over capacity now at 400 plus animals. Thus the free adoptions.

Tush, my sister is a Maltese Mom. She's on her third. I cannot imagine a mean Maltest unless he/she was previously abused. They are normally so sweet. Glad you found a home for that one.

Last week there was a beautiful Golden lab that had been dumped at the local supermarket. He was so afraid of everyone and resisted anyone getting close. He would watch cars -- I'm sure looking for his master's car - the heartless SOB who dumped him. We were all taking food and water to him and even the grocery story was making sure he had food. Everyone has tried to get him to go home with them - even me -- trying to lure him with Vienna sausages. But no go. Sadly last Friday night he tried to cross the busy road and was hit and killed. Broke my heart. I would have gladly welcomed him here. Maybe he thought he saw his master's car and ran to try to catch up ....

If there is a hell, I hope there is a special WING of it for animal abusers.

The baby Calico rescued from my wall is SO spunky. She had been in there, meowing pitiful since Friday night. I've been sick and it was so stressful, trying to figure a way to rescue her. But my goodness is she spunky! And seems to love humans and wants to be held. Her Mom (who is SO stealth! and doesn't care much for humans) comes and grabs her, hauling her off and here she comes right back. She seems fine and is eating well. Tomorrow when I feel better I will get both of them into a kennel and bring them inside. I'm sort of hesitant to do that in case there ARE more kittens somewhere. Mama WILL get spade as soon as she quits nursing.

If you want to see something heartwarming, go to youtube and search for Tracysdogs. I think it's going to have to be the new rescue concept in saving dogs. They rescue dogs from kill shelters, move them to another state in a big bus where they have already pre-screened and matched up the animals with new owners. Then you get to see the pups united with their new owners! It's so good to watch and see all the lives this group is saving.

Shelters just cannot keep up. I donate $ whenever I can to try to help non-profit rescues. Donations help with spaying, medical care and microchip costs. Most of our city or state run shelters are kill shelters and healthy dogs and cats are being put down in huge numbers daily.

I hate hearing this! It's heart breaking! I wish I could take in kittens.

We could do outdoor cats here and make a shelter for them on our back porch. Dad in law and H are allergic (VERY allergic), so I can't have them inside. Outdoor cats work well if you have a shelter with insulation, blankets and a heating pad for the winter. And put a bell on them! They kill a lot of birds otherwise. Keeping up with anti-parasite meds also helps. I have a cousin who does this too as she lives in the country like me and needs help with mice and mole control around her house. The cats are quite happy and healthy as she has her shelter area in her garage with a cat door. I would do the garage for the cat shelter, but H doesn't want a hole in the door to the garage. I'll have to see about making another push for a kitty. My son would LOVE having a cat. It wouldn't be too difficult to care for it and keep it off some of the chair cushions on my porch- dad in law needs somewhere kitty free to sit.

It's so sad about the dogs. We're looking to take on another pup as companion and hunter for my H. My SIL has an ancient toy poodle mix that is likely to pass in another few months. I'll see if her and my friend (lab in similar situation) would be open to adoption.

I have a set of cousins who have a "communal" dog. The dog bounces between their house, her sister's house and their mom's house as needed and is quite happy and well adjusted. Gets loved on by all the kids! I know my dog's favorite person is my MIL and wouldn't mind a similar arrangement There's so many different ways to care and provide for a dog. It's sad to see these pets abandoned. Especially dogs. They are so loving and loyal. They're really so pure, I can't imagine someone abandoning their packmate after loving on them for a few years like that. It's up there with abandoning a kid.

Would you be willing to post the shelter info on Nextdoor and Facebook and Instagram? Sometimes awareness can help drive adoptions. I wonder too if there are senior centers who would welcome an older, mellow companion for their residents. People in assisted living arrangements often benefit greatly from having a pet around.

A very long time ago I was fishing a river when I came across a sodden cardboard box with some pitiful high-pitched mewing coming from it. When I opened the half-submerged box I found several kittens, most of them dead but three still barely alive. Some SOB had boxed them and tossed into the river to drown.
I placed the dead kittens in a bag but created a warm nest for the three live ones and drove to a vet. Unfortunately, the vet told me that the were too young, too traumatized and too far gone so they were euthanized.

The vet told me that for some years he had been offering cat-owners free or cheap euthanizing or rehoming of kittens IF they allowed him to spay the mother. He said that although many accepted, even more just drove off or put down the phone.

OK – So I might get it that in certain conditions animals need to be put down. I’ve had to do so myself personally. Had to kill a deer I hit with my car, had to shoot a horse (only time I fired a gun as a law-enforcement officer…). But in those situations, you do it as humanely as possible AND for the right reasons. Being an inconvenience is NOT a good reason.

That kitten owner? Well… first of all I think the mom needs to have the kittens for a certain time. That time can be used to rehome them. If that didn’t work out… you go to a vet. If you don’t have the money… you do what you need to do in as humane a way as possible. Boxing a litter and watching them float away on a river… THAT is cruel, dumb and inhumane.

--
I have a black lab that’s entering his ninth year. He’s the last dog I’m going to raise as a pup and for life. The commitment is too much especially as my kids will probably all be gone from home in the next 3-5 years. What I will probably do once this one is gone is foster older dogs. Dogs that might have 1-2 years left of a good life. I envision that if I do that then part of what I need to do is ensure the senior dogs know they have a home, know they are loved on, know they can give back love and have a deep sense of security and place. A home. Once they have that then it’s only a question of time – based 100% on how they are doing – before they will have me beside them when they are euthanized. I want the last thing they feel to be family, and the last thing they see love and caring.

My sweet baby girl Revvie - I remember the day I got her, I remember watching her grow up from a teeny puppy to a sweet old white-faced girl. I remember holding her in my arms and telling her how much I loved her when she took her last breaths on May 20 this year. I remember the million kisses I gave her and all the times I rubbed her soft little silly ears and all the times she saved my life and eased my heart. I remember all of that and always will and my life is immeasurably better because of the 14 years I got to spend with her and all the love she so freely gave to me. And I feel that same exact way about every pet I have ever had for my whole damn life.

People who discard pets are fucking scumbags. To discard a helpless animal and to ignore the purity of their love is completely unimaginable to me.

That makes me so fucking furious. When I was a kid, my mom wouldn't let us get a dog because she is allergic. Last year, I got my very first dog, a tiny yorkie and I was in love with that silly little pup the day that I got her. It still amazes me how happy and excited she gets whenever I get home, even if I've only been out for an hour. Anyone who would get rid of their pets like that isn't a human being as far as I am concerned.

What I will probably do once this one is gone is foster older dogs. Dogs that might have 1-2 years left of a good life.

I feel ya. At one point when the kids were still young, and we had a very busy household I had 3 dogs the smallest weighing in at 75lbs, 2 cats, 2 GP's, and chickens. I put a moratorium on more pets for a solid 10 years. So at one point we were down to 1 dog and 1 cat, and my female lab was about 5, and missed having dogs to play with. So we did the foster thing. We partnered with Dogs on deployment, you foster dogs of kids that are deployed.

It was fun, and definitely helped the soldiers. The one dog we had for 9 months and the dog was lab beagle mutt, and he needed some training, we got him trained up, and had him being a great dog when the kid came home. Unfortunately he didn't continue to enforce the boundaries and training we did, and we watched him a month later when they went out of town for a wedding and he was back to being fairly out of control.

Anyway I can see myself doing this. My female is now 13.5, and has renal disease, and is declining rapidly. I suspect she won't be here next summer, despite the home made food, that are renal friendly. But she still enjoys a few rounds of fetch daily, and loves meal time. There is a special place for senior dogs.

We will be getting one more pup though, although it will also be trained for duck hunting so will go to sleep away camp for several months at a time in it's first 2 years.

Jeanie, when I was living in TX I volunteered at an animal shelter for almost three years. I moved from NJ (not as many issues here) and received a sad education quickly on the dire situation in TX (Houston area). People refused to spay/neuter their pets, would be bringing in puppies/kittens every so often. Dogs thrown from vehicles. Dogs/cats dumped on the side of the road. Dogs with chains embedded in their necks. I could write a book about the excuses some of these pathetic human beings had for dumping these precious animals. The abuse and neglect is widespread.

Our shelter capacity was about 600. Spring and summers were brutal, the shelter did everything they could to overhouse these animals. Several adoption events every single weekend. Flights/truckloads of dogs to the Northeast. Probably 200+ fosters. It was never enough. I became friends with a woman who moved to the states from the UK. At times she was fostering 13+ dogs in her home. Another woman lived on several acres and probably sheltered 20+ dogs at a time.

When I took my daily walk in my neighborhood, I'd always carry a leash with me. Dumped dogs, dogs running loose, a completely different world than I was used to.

I'm back in NJ and the WH is still working in Houston. We keep tabs on a place called Melrose Park, dogs are dumped there daily, as soon as one or two are rescued, several more are dumped.

All my dogs have been rescues, I will never, ever purchase a dog when thousands upon thousands of good animals are euthanized yearly because of lack of adopters. One out of every four dogs purchased from a breeder ends up in a shelter.

We are retirement age and currently have an adopted shepherd who is almost ten and an adopted Australian shepherd who is 8. When these two cross the rainbow bridge, we will take in senior dogs (that's a whole other story about people dumping their pets when they reach a certain age). It's just so sad watching these animals see their families leave them behind.

annb and others, I agree how shocking it is that people discard their pets!

To add another dimension to this problem: somebody pointed out to us recently, now that our dear, precious Lab-Shepherd is in his geriatric declining years and we are forced to medicate with expensive thyroid and pancreatic enzymes, on top of his horribly over-priced eye steroids he needs 3 times a day to prevent blindness (he has a Shepherd genetic issue).

We've had more than one vet state our dog is almost at the point where his quality of life isn't 'worth' maintaining because lots of owners simply could not afford the daily care regimen our dog needs!? Duh....that's what the vets were trying to say to us: if you cannot pay for all this, you can always put him to sleep without feeling too much guilt? OMG I'd skip buying new shoes if it meant he got his meds! But I guess they do hear that a lot from owners.

Maybe some people just hope their old dog will "go off to die" because they are too chicken shit to do for it what needs to be done? No excuse. Just sayin'...

And we also have a feral cat breeding problem out here due to dumping, that is causing loss of native songbird nests. Our old boy has gotten real sick several times due to scarfing down a random cat turd and has cost us lots more money at the vet's to fix those issues, Aaaaarrrrgggghhh!

I can't have pets where I'm at now, so I volunteer to clean the cat habitat a local rescue has in a pet store.

The rescues here are beyond full, too. When the pandemic hit, vet offices closed and spay/neuter clinics halted - and that caused more animal litters, too.

This thread warms my heart as it's easy to see we are all animal lovers.

I did get puppies at one time - two tiny Chihuahuas. I bred them only ONCE because they were so sweet and loving and friends wanted puppies. I didn't sell them, I gave them to loving homes. One went to Ontario Canada and I visit him. One went to Mexico as a doctor friend of mine retired there and LOVED dogs and wanted to take one with him. He named him Prieto and that dog only understood Spanish as my friend opened a resort there and most spoke Spanish. When I lost the pair of puppy parents, I took in a huge Golden Retriever from a young couple with three kids who were having a hard time financially taking care of him. The kids still came to visit him and that made him happy. I had him until he was 15 and he was my best Bud. He loved to watch me mow and would move from shade tree to shade tree to watch me mow. I lost him in May '18 and STILL miss him. He's buried under his favorite shade tree by my drive way. I have a lawn chair and table out there and often sit and talk to him. My neighbors ALL loved him and he'd visit them too.

Then I took in two bonded rescues - a tiny long-hair Chihuahua and a Chi-weenie. They sleep with me and love me to sing the same lullaby to them every night as they get under the covers. They love car rides! They just want to be where I am. I had two Golden Retrievers prior to having the Chihuahuas so I love the Goldens. I plan to try to start fostering senior Goldens when I get my health back 100%. I sure miss having a big dog to sit on the porch with me and rub their back with my bare feet. We do have a great Golden Retriever rescue and so many there have lost their masters to old age or nursing homes -- and they need a great, loving, quiet home to spend their last days.

For some reason my barn cats seem to have no interest in birds. They do wear bells around their collars. In the country it's essential to have outside/barn cats to watch for snakes. My cats let me know if a snake is around - they make a certain noise and they will 'follow' the snake in the grass. They also keep down mice and they will work for hours to try to get to the moles and gophers that make a big mess in my lawn. They will 'guard' the gopher hole, just waiting for them to stick their heads up. Keeps them very busy. They mainly stay in the garage and I leave the garage door up just enough for them to go in and out, underneath it. I had to get a car cover for my convertible top on the Jaguar as they started getting on the car and trying to use the convertible top as a scratching post area. With the new survivor wall kitten, I now have six outside cats. If it's super cold, I have a heater in the garage for them. A couple of them prefer my well house and stay in there. They aren't super people friendly to anyone but me and that's okay. They have jobs to do outside.

I grew up on a farm/ranch and barn cats were a must! We usually had bigger dogs like border collies, Australian Shepherds, etc. I thought Chihuahuas were stupid, yappy dogs - ankle-biters. Then we rescued a couple. My middle DS brought them home. They were the sweetest dogs.

When I'm ready, I want another Cavalier King Charles and a Chihuahua.

Another big problem we have here is the ungodly sport of dog fighting. Mainly they use Pitt Bulls and breed them to be mean. While it's illegal, that doesn't stop these low-life people. When one of their fighting dogs is injured or too old to fight, they dump them. Maimed and trained to kill, they are almost impossible to rehabilitate. To make matters worse, these low-life people look for 'free dogs' or 'free kitten' ads because they USE those helpless animals to TRAIN the fighting dogs -- letting them rip them to pieces. Horrifying.

Let's face it, this world is full of mean, horrible people. I'd rather live in a world controlled by animals.