General Chat

Last night, my little sisters 16 year old boyfriend saved a dog from being hit by a car. The poor thing..I have NEVER seen a dog in such a bad state in my life.

She brought him back to our front door, he had (If you have a weak stomach, don't read) he had pus leaking from both of his eyes, no fur on his back and tail, no fur under his eyes, limping on all four legs and stank to high heaven.

We called the RSPCA, and their response? 'Lets get a description of the dog and try and get him re-united with his owner. The owner, has clearly abused this dog. He looking quite young an, bless him, after all that was wrong with him, was sitting in our door way wagging his tail.

After about an hour, being told to wait up to three hours for the only animal officer in our area to come and get him. (They get all this funding...where does it go??? Only one officer in Southend???) We also called up a 24 hour ermergency animal shelter who basically said to us, if you can't get him down here, let him go.

We have no car andthe place is nearly an hours walk away and we didn't know how far he could go.

Eventually, we got in touch with a vet surgery local to us, the closest we could find anyway, who came down and opened up just to take this dog in.. It was about a 20 minute alk, which was a lot better than the 45 walk..and he collapsed half way from his legs, yet he still stood up and carried on walking.

They took him in, said he was about 7 years old, that his stomach was completly empty and said that it did not look like he was on any medication and had no micro-chip or collar.

I called the vets this morning to find how he was doing, and I got told the RSPCA officer had collected him and they found his owner and gave him back.

I don't understand them, this dog had been clearly mis-treated, they are supposed to care about animal welfare and from what I witnssed last night, they really don't. I have heard stories, all be it not pleasant ones about the RSPCA before, but seeing it for yourself is a whole new thing.

Has anyone else had any similar experiences?
I am no fully against the RSPCA as of this morning, that poor dog had more strength and willpower than that whole organisation will ever have.

Apologies for the rant, had to get it out. :)

As you tell it, its quite harrowing, Elaine, but do you know how long the dog has been missing? could have been out for days, lost.....weeks even....
nice to know that you cared enough to help this unfortunate animal....

Bob

I believe it is the RSPCA's policy to give the owners a chance to put things right, on caution, for the animal first, before removing the animal completely. We don't know who owns this animal, it could be that an elderly person who has recently become ill could own it, in which case the RSPCA will give them all the help they need.

I also don't think they can actually just remove an animal from it's owner without the owner signing it over.

So as much as the RSPCA officer probably wants to just get the dog away into better care, there's always a story behind it, and their hands are tied.

sorry double posted

I am the last person to defend cruelty to any animal...I would ban anyone found guilty of it for life ( not to mention horse whipping them and more) BUT

It is possible that the reason this dog was in such a poor condition and that the owners were found so quickly is that it had gone missing and the owners had been searching...maybe for weeks... I don't know, but possible?
I know when we had our last dog , a rescued dog he took fright at church bells ringing and ran.... for 12 miles ...we luckily got him back , but had he not been spotted by a farmer who did not 'shoot first' but recognised the dog was traumatised 'Paddy' might have ended up in a similar condition....we had only had him 24hrs so he still had scars from past owners and was not microchipped.

So glad there are people like you who care so much :))

Rose xx

Elaine good for you for caring enough and getting the dog to the vet, and doing your best with the RSPCA. Unfortunately, you will probably never know what really happened. The fact you did do something is worth applauding.

Gail

I also applaud the fact you went to such lengths to help the poor little dog .

It is a difficult situation in as much as you have no way of knowing how long this dog had been missing and for it to have been reunited so quickly with its owner it must have been registered as " missing " , some one who had " mistreated " it probably wouldn't have bothered to try and find it ( in my opinion ) .

I had a similar experience earlier this year regarding my very decrepit old cat ( who has since passed away ) . Someone picked him up from outside my house and carted him off to a local vets ( they assumed he was a stray as he was very thin and tatty but he was nearly eighteen and had been very ill the week before and not eaten for days ) . Luckily I got him back !

I hope the dog owner gets him the help he needs .
Amanda.

It's just so frustrating seeing an animal like that.

If he had been a stray for a long time, surely someone, if not a member of the public, a police officer, anyone would have seen him and taken him somewhere.
The vet said that for his condition, he was not on any medication at all..

I called the surgery back and asked to speak to the vet who took him in and she said he was reported missing last night, meaning he had only been outside for about 30 minutes when we found him. So, for a dog who's had a home and who has no traces of any medication in his system what so ever, it makes you think about the owner.

Of course, I can't get a rough age guide from the vet because of confidentiality, but we have been told to keep an eye out for him as he is only living three streets away from me. Apparently, my neighbour said a couple of years ago, someone from the same road as the one the dog was in had three dogs removed from the home for a similar condition...so, makes you think...

Awww poor dog.

I wonder how they knew who owned the dog?
Like others have said they cant take dogs away unless they are in a life threatening situation. Maybe they have been given 24 to take it to a vet or sign it over.
Could have been in pretty bad health before and it got lost maybe weeks ago.

Good on your sisters boyfriend for helping the dog.

A couple of years ago a lady on here had her 3 dogs taken away for no reason.But we will say no more on that 'story'.

Marion

Marion, I'd forgotten about that one....best let sleeping dogs lie hehe

My dog got out when I'd taken her collar off to give her a bath. Totally my fault and I was distraught.

She could've walked around for days/weeks before anyone noticed her......makes me shudder to think of the condition she'd have been in if that had happened. Luckily she was home the next morning after a distressing night (for her and me) in the local dog pound.

As far as I can see the only difference between my story and the story of the dog you kindly helped out is that the other dog could well have been wandering all that time and only allowed itself to be caught when it's defences were REALLY low.......the owner in that case is no more cruel than I was. Just unluckier and probably worried sick xx

Elaine,
I too can not understand how they could allow an animal who has obviously been neglected go back to these disgusting owners! if the animal was only missing for 24 hours then its obvious the owners are not fit to own a dog.
I would be asking questions regarding the R.S.P.C.A, phone them up and ask them why they have given this poor animal back to these poor excuses for humans!

P.S All Dogs should be chipped,it should be law! no ifs or buts about it!

* if the animal was only missing for 24 hours then its obvious the owners are not fit to own a dog.*

That sort of attitude would over night increase the amount of dogs in animal welfare centres.....and is, in my opinion a complete over reaction.

really!! well you think what you like!dear.
I have seen way too many animals that have been in this state,how many have you seen?
P.S Is your dog chipped???

But did you see THAT one Rox? No, so unless you're the vet that dealt with it, there isn't really anything that you can say is there.


PS, Please don't bring Muffy's ability to look after her animals into question, nobody could look after any of her animals better than she does.

I do tend to think what I like Rox......it's a habit of mine :0)

And yes both of my dogs are microchipped......thanks for your concern.

before this gets too heated... none of us actually know the FACTS of this case...

There are any number of reasons why the RSPCA might have returned the dog to its owner ...it may only have been reported as missing to that vet shortly before...but reported as missing weeks ago to the police for example...

If it were in that bad a condition as you describe I doubt whether the vet if they were at all decent would have released it and whilst there might not have been traces of medication in its system that doesn't nec' mean no treatment was being given previously... my neighbours dog for eg had a skin condition and would bite it raw...but the vet other than saying give medicated baths and ointment would not prescribe till the results of tests were in.

And do we know the owners actually HAVE the dog back? the vet might have released it to them but the RSPCA might then have taken it later... when it was on home territory,

none of us know exactly?

The dog may well be on medication for all we know...........the vet wouldn't know by looking at the dog what if any medication was being given would he?

Having a"completely empty stomach"..........again according to the vet doesn't mean the owners had neglected the dog either.

When sweeping statements and accusations are made without all the facts being known...........I find it irritating.

That's exactly what I was trying to say earlier Rose, none of us has the full facts, not even Elaine, and it would be wrong of us to make any assumptions without them.