This morning, as we were getting ready to leave, this was running around in our front yard. It’s a pug mix, terribly dehydrated and starving. He was putting on the fake limping act to get attention and the second my wife opened the door, he ran right inside. It’s in the 30s outside right now and overnight it was down in the 20s.
At least he found people that are going to take care of him and nurse him back to health.
He’s been downing gallons of water ever since he got inside. No food yet, at least not as I write this part, but we’ll get him eating. His skin was incredibly loose, there’s a big flap of skin under his neck that gets soaked when he drinks, although it’s normal, he just needs to get filled out. I have no clue what happened to him but he looks as though he could have been beaten. He’s got a lot of scabs. He also could be albino, I haven’t gotten to take a close look yet because he’s soaking wet and leaving trails of water all over the house. Did I mention that it’s been raining all night?
I hate people. Who could do this to an innocent animal? Clearly, this dog had a collar on but was thrown out into the cold. It’s now been a couple of hours and I’ve gotten him calmed down. He eats lunch meat so far, I just need to get something into his stomach, but we’ll get him transitioned back to dog food as soon as we can. I’ve seen him sniffing at the dry food that’s always available but so far, he hasn’t tried any. I tried for some moist food and he didn’t seem to know what it was, but at least he’s eating and drinking. He looks at trash cans like that’s where the food is. You just know that he’s been seriously abused. We’ll put food down him, a little at a time, until he seems satisfied. I’m now pretty certain that he’s deaf, he doesn’t respond to loud sounds but we’ll have the vet check him out. That will take a couple of days, during which we’ll keep working on him.
He’s also doing exactly what I figured he would. The last dog that we got, he was abused too. He got abandoned multiple times in the first few months of his life and the instant he saw me, he bonded to me closely. Now, I get followed around all the time. It’s gotten better over time, that dog, named Dogmeat, isn’t terrified he’s going to get left behind, but now I’ve got a little white dog following me everywhere. I’ve had a dog bed next to my desk for Dogmeat and now the new one has claimed it.
For the rest of the day, he’s going to get a bath because he smells really bad and he’ll keep getting fed. Luckily, he’s got no breaks, no open wounds and he doesn’t seem to be in any pain. I figure in a month or so, you’ll never even know he was this bad. Right now, you can put your hands all the way around his middle. It’s really sad but he’s a fighter. I know he’ll be fine.
It just makes me hate people even more. If anyone thinks I’m wrong about that, go look at that poor face again. You’ll hate the people who did this to him too.
Edit: Unfortunately, he didn’t make it. His system was so compromised that he couldn’t be saved. After about 7 hours here, he had a fatal heart attack and collapsed on the kitchen floor. At least his last couple of hours of life were filled with love and comfort.
this made me love people because you being a good person are helping this poor animal. I think if we focus too much on the darker side it can become a heavy focus on our life. Thank you for helping the poor doggy.
He’s a sweetheart. He’ll fit in here just fine.
“I hate MEAN people.”
Kind of fixed that for you.
Me too.
Or just, “Mean people suck.”
Empathy is a physical phenomenon. I don’t watch those deliberately heart-wrenching PSA’s for abused animals or deformed children. The empathetic response is triggered and the emotional reaction it causes is most unpleasant.
I cried when my mother died. I cried when my father died. But I never cried so long or so hard as when my dog died.
Do you read De Waal?
Animals don’t fuck each other over for a percentage. They do what they have to do to survive. They aren’t mean unless someone does something to them to make them that way. Most animals are much better than most people. This dog, who never even had a name, didn’t deserve what happened to him. He deserved a better, longer life than what he got. That’s what pisses me off.
In addition to having three poles with 10-12 feeders for the birds in my backyard, I have recently taken to feeding the squirrels that are blocked from climbing those poles.
I buy bags of unshelled peanuts and, after about a month of regular feeding, they recognize and accept me; and now I can hand a peanut to each squirrel as it comes to my back door. They come in small droves. Some will “wait in line” until they get their peanut. Others, however, chase and attack the other squirrels to jump the line.
One little guy has a stump of a tail. He is not brave and I have to toss the peanut to him. But he always gets the biggest one I have to give at the time.
Kind of like people.
It takes all kinds.
We occasionally get squirrels and rabbits and feed them when we do. They can’t get to the bird feeders so we put a bowl of nuts on the ground for them and away they go.