The other day I was walking my chihuahua and a beautiful, jet black pit came bounding into my yard. She was a skittish girl, but sweet.
The problem is, she had NO collar on at all so I had to call the manager of the park we live in and she called the pound. I hated doing that, but I live in a TINY trailer and there is no room for another dog. I haven't been here long enough to know who has what dog so I had no idea where she came from
I HATED sending her to the pound, but I was afraid that if she was left to roam she would get hit by a car (the park is just off of a busy thoroughfare) or someone would hurt her just because of her breed (there is a LOT of ignorance regarding pit bulls).
If she had had a collar on with an ID tag or even a rabies tag I would have had a good chance of tracking down her owner.
Please people! Even if your dog is in a yard - or even inside - please keep a collar and tag on him or her. You never know when your dog may escape for one reason or another. Having ID on your dog makes it easier for you to be united in the event something happens and separates you.
My chi is inside all the time and the only way he goes outside is when he is on his leash, but I still keep a collar and tags on him at all times.
He is also chipped, but who has a scanner? It is easier to just have a tag.
It's possible she had a poorly made collar and got it caught on something and tore it off, but it's more likely she just didn't have one. I worry that maybe she was abandoned as pitties are, unfortuantely, prone to be. Rescues are full of them for a reason.
I would have also felt bad about having her taken off, but I would have done the same thing. She could have suffered a worse fate if she had met up with someone less understanding. Hopefully they'll either find her owners or get her some new ones.
03-02-2014, 10:26 PM, (This post was last modified: 03-02-2014, 10:27 PM by The Aspertarian.)
I did talk to the park manager the next day. She said that the owner had contacted her about the dog (after it was gone). She told him that the dog did not have a collar or tags and she said that he indicated she did not have either.
That concerns me. You have a dog running free in a semi rural area and this dog likely has not had her shots (or she would have a tag, right?).
The park manager told me that their insurance does not allow certain breeds to be in the park (BTW I HATE breed discrimination!) so the pit was not 'legal' in the first place.
I don't know. I find this whole thing very frustrating. If you are going to have a dog, make sure it is properly secured (several people came forward the next day and told me the dog is out 'all the time'), make sure it has a collar and MAKE SURE IT IS UP TO DATE ON ITS SHOTS!!
I see so many collarless, tagless dogs running loose around here. And they belong to people - who obviously don't care about their safety or health, not enough to move past their laziness and actually DO something. I started asking. I am thinking about creating flyer on RESPONSIBLE pet ownership and put it on everyone's door. LOL
The pit bull probably got loose in the park by accident. You should have waited for a while to see if the owner was running after the dog. Anyway, it's definitely important for me to keep my dog's tag/collar on so that he would not get lost easily. This is because if there is no collar, people will think that it could be a stray dog, and I would not want that for my dog. It's also safe for everyone when there's ID on a dog.
A couple of years ago, I moved to a new neighborhood. It's actually a step up from where I lived. One thing I've noticed is folks over here are cavalier about their dogs being under their control. They think somehow their dog does not need a collar or to be on leash because they are "such good dogs".
It used to be at least once a week we would have a run in while going for our walk. Sometimes it was like you said, a free roaming dog with no collar. Other times, the owner was right there but not paying attention. We'd be across the street and their uncollared or unleashed dog would come running across the street after us. Then, because there is no leash or collar, they can't get control of their dog. My dog is in full growl and defense mode. It's kind of scary.
Once it was a large dog over 100 lbs (I don't remember the breed) came running at us. I almost had a heart attack. As I have a 9 lb dog, this is a scary thing for me. In that case, I diverted the dog with my voice.
I have had dog owners yell to me "Don't worry! He's friendly!" What they don't realize is my dog isn't--especially when a strange dog runs up to her out of nowhere.
There is one dog in my neighborhood who is out constantly. Never has a collar. He is a chihuahua mix. Sometimes I see him run across the large street where the school is. I cringe because the traffic can be heavy there. Once I chased him home and figured out where he lived. I yelled out to the house that their dog was out front. When the woman came to the window, she was really blase about it, like "no big deal". If that was me and I knew my dog had gotten out, I'd make sure it had a collar and I'd be working on whatever way it is getting out. I feel bad for this dog for having such stupid owners. I usually try to chase it home when I can. I would feel bad if something happened to it.
So, you see, I have had this experience multiple times. So many times that I have rerouted our walk so that we don't hit the problem streets. I find it irritating that I must change my walk because other people are not responsible with their pets.
Anyway, I think you did the right thing. It would be worse to see a stray dog get hit by a car than to let it roam the neighborhood. Hopefully, whoever owned it would contact the shelter to see if a dog had been brought there.
The dog came running up to MY dog and that was a road I really did not want to go down. I did not know if the dog would be aggressive to my dog or not. And because she had no collar there was no way I could control her either.
I had to pick up my own dog and take him inside. I could not 'just wait' to see if the irresponsible owner would come running because I live in an RV and don't have a fenced in yard. Where exactly am I supposed to 'wait' with the dog?
I had things I had to do inside and did not have time to wait around with the dog to see if anyone came looking for her (which they didn't). It was hours before anyone even noticed she was gone (the manager told me this).
Even still, if you have a dog, put a collar on it WITH TAGS and get it chipped. That way, if something happens your dog can be reunited.
I suppose I should have just left her alone and not get involved, but there is a major thoroughfare less than a block away. She would have likely ended there and gotten run over. Or I could have just let the guys who were chasing her with shovels and rakes get to her. But I did not. I did what I thought was best.I ran across this video that has some very sobering statistics about lost pets and gives a powerful reason for having your pet chipped.
