not the actual dog
What would you do if this happened to you? True case.
You see an emaciated Chihuaha stuck outside of her home in the city of Reading. No leash. No fencing. You have seen this dog repeatedly walking around outside crying and begging to get inside that warm house but never allowed.
The friend you are visiting who lives near this feeble dog knows this poor girl is literally outside nearly all of the time. Her owners don’t care how much she cries and begs because they don’t want her inside.
One day, you come face to face with this sweetie. The visibility of the hunger is obvious because her bones can be plainly seen.
The woman who came face to face with this poor dog knew something had to be done, but what?
What would you do? Would you make an attempt to talk to the owners? Would you report the neglect/abuse to the local shelter or would you take the dog and give it the life it so deserves?
Imagine living in the city of Reading where the two dogs of choice seem to be the Pit Bull and the Chihuaha. So many are bred and sold or given to others. I’m surmising when these new owners realized the responsibility associated with taking care of a dog such as feeding or leaving it outside to do its business is apparently too much and then the dogs are left outside for prolonged periods of time or all of the time.
That was the case of this dog. Her owners no longer cared. A Chihuaha is not a dog who can handle being outside for a long time but this girl was intentionally.
A friend of mine encountered this dog. She had a decision to make. She is an animal advocate and has spoken to people about taking proper care of their dogs.
Case in point: Once again, in the city of Reading, she saw a woman walking her Chihuaha on a leash but holding the leash so tightly that the front legs of the dog weren’t touching the ground. My friend talked to the owner to explain in a respectful way about the proper way to walk the dog.
My friend works around animals and has seen alot. As I said, she had a decision to make. She wanted to help this dog. It was blatanly obvious the owners no longer cared, if ever, about the whereabouts of their dog or her physical condition.
Another case in point: Friend and fellow animal advocate,Tamira Thayne, CEO and founder of
Dogs Deserve Better.
Tamira Thayne saw the poor physical condition of a 19-year-old German Shepherd mix named Jake, later named Doogie, outside an East Freedom-area home in September 2006. She took the dog to a veterinarian and never returned him to the owners.
Doogie is the dog on the ground who basically didn’t move
She was later charged with theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property. She went to a jury trial and her defense was that she was justified in taking the dog to save its life. Doogie was slowly dying a miserable death while chained to a dog house but that was taken into consideration- saving the life of an animal.
In less than 30 minutes, the jury found her guilty. She received community service and probation. Tami is currently seeking a pardon.
Ironically, the owners of Doogie were never charged with animal cruelty for allowing this dog to starve. Justice prevails…NOT!
Another case is me. I found a Chihuaha in Reading. An old Chihuaha- 17 yrs. old. Had very few teeth. He couldn’t walk very far. I went door-to-door seeking his owner to no avail. No one knew where he belonged. I knew if I took him to either local shelter, he would be euthanized. So I held onto him while still trying to find his real owner. I never did. So I kept him. Or should I say, I asked my Dad to keep him safe while I looked for a new home. I couldn’t keep him because I already had one dog living in an apartment at the time. I wasn’t allowed two animals.
I asked my Dad if he would keep him. And he did. Tiny, who later became completely toothless due to absessed teeth- can you imagine the pain-lived for another two, happy years.
So goes the rest of the original story:
One day when my friend saw this helpless dog, she said her condition was dire and felt she wouldn’t have lived another week. So she grabbed her and took her.
As she placed her in her car, the frightened girl didn’t make a move. Not a peep. Nothing. She thought she died. She was alive.
This once, attention and physically-starved dog now has a permanent home where she has not only been fattened up but is the “queen” of the home. She has a family who loves her and takes superb care of her.
Do you agree with what my friends or I did? When you have worked in the animal welfare field, sometimes you MUST take matters into your hands to save a life. These dog would have died a horrible death if left outside either by starvation or being run over by a car or worse.
I understand laws but when it comes to saving a life…any life….would you break the law to save that life?
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?