“They don’t deserve their dog back.”
I see this at least once a day on some post about a stray dog. Sometimes they say this because the dog didn’t have a collar. Sometimes it’s because a dog was tied up in front of the library. It could be because a dog looks too skinny, or dirty, or frightened, or injured. Even when I don’t see someone making this comment explicitly, I know a lot of people think it.
I’m certain there are circumstances where a person doesn’t deserve to get his dog back, but you have no way of knowing that from a picture on Facebook. If you found a dog, and he seems skittish, you can’t jump to the conclusion that he was mistreated by his owner. If you find a dog that is dirty, sick, or injured, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the owner is the person responsible for the dog’s condition.
Pictured here is Fozzie. On the day I found him, he was dirty and wet, and he avoided people at first. I did not assume his owners were bad people, and I spent 2 months trying to reunite him with his family, unsuccessfully. It’s possible that they truly were unworthy of him, or maybe they dumped him. It’s also possible he had an owner who loved him, and she had a stroke and was forced to move to assisted living, and her family did not take proper care of Fozzie. I never found his original owners, but I can’t make judgements about their fitness as owners just based on Fozzie’s condition when I found him.
We found Fozzie in 2012, and since that time, he has been trained as a search dog, and he has found dozens of lost dogs, saving many lives. One of the dogs he found, James, was very frightened, terribly skinny, and limping. James was hiding under some shelves at a beach cabin. Someone who just found him at random might have jumped to the conclusion that James was neglected or abused. I knew that his family had been searching for him constantly for ten days, and they had even gone to the lengths of hiring a search dog to find him. James made it back to his family, and he has received the best care possible.
Fozzie was an escape artist when I first found him. The first time he escaped, he jumped over my arm when I opened the car door. He scampered around the park for about ten minutes, just enjoying being free and running around. I was able to coax him back after a bit, and soon after I got him back in the car, a coyote came trotting through the park, right where Fozzie had been moments earlier. After that, I got a GPS tracker for Fozzie, just in case. This turned out to be a good investment because Fozzie managed to sneak past me on six other occasions in that first year with us. One time, when I opened the car door at home, I thought he was in the back but he was really on the floorboards by the front door, and he bolted when the door opened a crack. As I was bringing up the app on my phone and getting the position of his tracker, I happened to see him up the hill, two blocks away, and he had gotten there in just about fifteen seconds. I got in the car and drove to his location, where he was playing with some neighbor dogs. Some people who learn that I lost my little poodle on seven occasions might say that I didn’t deserve to get him back. Of course, I disagree. He wasn’t running away because he didn’t love his family of people and dogs. He just liked to tear around the neighborhood every once in a while. After the first time he ran, I was able to recover him in less than five minutes on each of his subsequent escapes.
If Fozzie had lost his tracker, or the battery died, and he had been lost for days, then he would have become very dirty, probably with brambles caught in his fur. If I hadn’t recovered him quickly, it’s possible he could have become injured. If someone had found him before I did, they might have claimed that I didn’t deserve to have him back because I was an unfit owner. Certainly, I made mistakes, there can be no denying. In my defense, I did take extra measures to prevent his escapes and to recover him quickly. He had a GPS tracker, license, and ID tag. I took precautions to prevent him from bolting, but he outsmarted me on a few occasions. If someone found him and made the irrevocable judgement, based on circumstantial evidence, that I didn’t deserve to have him, they would have deprived Fozzie and me of a great life together. Someone jumping to that conclusion would have prevented Fozzie from becoming a great search dog and eventually saving the life of James, the lost dog.
Each time Fozzie escaped, no one could be blamed but me. With many lost dogs, it wasn’t even the owner’s fault the dog got loose. Sometimes it happens when a meter reader doesn’t close the gate, or a toddler leaves a door open. Sometimes it happens when the owner is out of town and the dog is in the care of a trusted friend. Dogs get lost during car accidents, or they can be spooked out of their yards by an attempted attack by a predator. A stray dog can become injured or skinny in a fairly short time. If you find a dog without ID, or skinny, or skittish, or injured, it is possible that the owner of the dog is partially or completely to blame. It’s also possible that the owner of the dog did everything right, and loved that dog more than anything in the world, and the dog got loose through no fault of the owner. If you see a picture on Facebook, or you find a dog on the street, you just can’t know, from first impressions, that the owner is responsible for the dog’s condition or his situation. If you prevent a dog from getting back to his owner because you have made assumptions, you could be keeping a great dog from a wonderful owner who never did one wrong thing.
Imagine if your dog got loose because someone broke into your car or your house. Imagine if a neighbor kid went into your yard without your knowledge or permission, and left the gate open. You may love your dog more than anything, and treat him with the utmost care, but you could lose him through no fault of your own and he could be on the streets, becoming skinny and scared. If someone were to keep your dog from you because they assumed you were unfit, that would be grossly unfair, and it would prevent your dog from living a great life with you. The next time you see a stray dog on Facebook, or you find a dog on the street, please don’t jump to the conclusion that the dog’s owners don’t deserve him back. You simply can’t know that. Please make every effort to help a dog get back to his family, just as you hope that, if you ever lost your dog, people would help him get back to you.
I see this at least once a day on some post about a stray dog. Sometimes they say this because the dog didn’t have a collar. Sometimes it’s because a dog was tied up in front of the library. It could be because a dog looks too skinny, or dirty, or frightened, or injured. Even when I don’t see someone making this comment explicitly, I know a lot of people think it.
I’m certain there are circumstances where a person doesn’t deserve to get his dog back, but you have no way of knowing that from a picture on Facebook. If you found a dog, and he seems skittish, you can’t jump to the conclusion that he was mistreated by his owner. If you find a dog that is dirty, sick, or injured, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the owner is the person responsible for the dog’s condition.
Pictured here is Fozzie. On the day I found him, he was dirty and wet, and he avoided people at first. I did not assume his owners were bad people, and I spent 2 months trying to reunite him with his family, unsuccessfully. It’s possible that they truly were unworthy of him, or maybe they dumped him. It’s also possible he had an owner who loved him, and she had a stroke and was forced to move to assisted living, and her family did not take proper care of Fozzie. I never found his original owners, but I can’t make judgements about their fitness as owners just based on Fozzie’s condition when I found him.
We found Fozzie in 2012, and since that time, he has been trained as a search dog, and he has found dozens of lost dogs, saving many lives. One of the dogs he found, James, was very frightened, terribly skinny, and limping. James was hiding under some shelves at a beach cabin. Someone who just found him at random might have jumped to the conclusion that James was neglected or abused. I knew that his family had been searching for him constantly for ten days, and they had even gone to the lengths of hiring a search dog to find him. James made it back to his family, and he has received the best care possible.
Fozzie was an escape artist when I first found him. The first time he escaped, he jumped over my arm when I opened the car door. He scampered around the park for about ten minutes, just enjoying being free and running around. I was able to coax him back after a bit, and soon after I got him back in the car, a coyote came trotting through the park, right where Fozzie had been moments earlier. After that, I got a GPS tracker for Fozzie, just in case. This turned out to be a good investment because Fozzie managed to sneak past me on six other occasions in that first year with us. One time, when I opened the car door at home, I thought he was in the back but he was really on the floorboards by the front door, and he bolted when the door opened a crack. As I was bringing up the app on my phone and getting the position of his tracker, I happened to see him up the hill, two blocks away, and he had gotten there in just about fifteen seconds. I got in the car and drove to his location, where he was playing with some neighbor dogs. Some people who learn that I lost my little poodle on seven occasions might say that I didn’t deserve to get him back. Of course, I disagree. He wasn’t running away because he didn’t love his family of people and dogs. He just liked to tear around the neighborhood every once in a while. After the first time he ran, I was able to recover him in less than five minutes on each of his subsequent escapes.
If Fozzie had lost his tracker, or the battery died, and he had been lost for days, then he would have become very dirty, probably with brambles caught in his fur. If I hadn’t recovered him quickly, it’s possible he could have become injured. If someone had found him before I did, they might have claimed that I didn’t deserve to have him back because I was an unfit owner. Certainly, I made mistakes, there can be no denying. In my defense, I did take extra measures to prevent his escapes and to recover him quickly. He had a GPS tracker, license, and ID tag. I took precautions to prevent him from bolting, but he outsmarted me on a few occasions. If someone found him and made the irrevocable judgement, based on circumstantial evidence, that I didn’t deserve to have him, they would have deprived Fozzie and me of a great life together. Someone jumping to that conclusion would have prevented Fozzie from becoming a great search dog and eventually saving the life of James, the lost dog.
Each time Fozzie escaped, no one could be blamed but me. With many lost dogs, it wasn’t even the owner’s fault the dog got loose. Sometimes it happens when a meter reader doesn’t close the gate, or a toddler leaves a door open. Sometimes it happens when the owner is out of town and the dog is in the care of a trusted friend. Dogs get lost during car accidents, or they can be spooked out of their yards by an attempted attack by a predator. A stray dog can become injured or skinny in a fairly short time. If you find a dog without ID, or skinny, or skittish, or injured, it is possible that the owner of the dog is partially or completely to blame. It’s also possible that the owner of the dog did everything right, and loved that dog more than anything in the world, and the dog got loose through no fault of the owner. If you see a picture on Facebook, or you find a dog on the street, you just can’t know, from first impressions, that the owner is responsible for the dog’s condition or his situation. If you prevent a dog from getting back to his owner because you have made assumptions, you could be keeping a great dog from a wonderful owner who never did one wrong thing.
Imagine if your dog got loose because someone broke into your car or your house. Imagine if a neighbor kid went into your yard without your knowledge or permission, and left the gate open. You may love your dog more than anything, and treat him with the utmost care, but you could lose him through no fault of your own and he could be on the streets, becoming skinny and scared. If someone were to keep your dog from you because they assumed you were unfit, that would be grossly unfair, and it would prevent your dog from living a great life with you. The next time you see a stray dog on Facebook, or you find a dog on the street, please don’t jump to the conclusion that the dog’s owners don’t deserve him back. You simply can’t know that. Please make every effort to help a dog get back to his family, just as you hope that, if you ever lost your dog, people would help him get back to you.