I am distraught.
Last year, some ignorant coward dumped a litter of 5 puppies at the business next to my house. My house was not there at the time, but it is now. 3 of the puppies were run over in the street but 2 survived. The guys at the wrecking yard put out food for the dogs when they thought about it.
When we moved in, we started feeding Maggie and Mae. They hang out at the wrecking yard or in our front yard with our dogs.
Maggie is a sweetheart. She is very friendly and touchable.
Mae is not. She IS a sweetheart and she would like to be friendly and touchable. She just cannot make herself let us touch her. She will sidle up to you and whine and whimper and follow you around and just darn near break your heart. She just won't let you touch her.
The only reason this is a problem is because puppies grow up to become dogs.
A little over a month ago, my daughter took Maggie to the vet and had her spayed. She would have had Mae done at the same time, but Mae will not come to anyone.
Mae came into heat, every male dog within 10 miles was at the wrecking yard (their Saint Bernard came into heat at the same time), and Mae is "with puppies".
Hence the quandary. What do I do?
I already own 3 dogs. I take care of 3 others. The county in which I reside does not have a shelter or an Animal Control Officer. I cannot get hold (literally) of Mae to take her to the vet. I cannot imagine, OK, unfortunately, yes, I can imagine, what will happen to the pups.
Any suggestions?
The most obvious, the one that sounds the worst but is probably the most humane, is to put her down. Given her refusal to let us touch her, this would entail shooting her. My heart is breaking and I can no longer think clearly.
Any suggestions?
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11 comments:
That sounds like a horrible situation. I have no idea how big Mae is but the pups could kill with that huge father. That's just terrible. Sorry I'm no help.
What a horrible position to be in for you! As terrible as it is...putting her down may be the most humane thing to do! If she is skiddish now...can you even imagine how she will be when her pups arrive?
I am sorry you have to face that. Good luck!
well, my dear, this is a tough one. i cannot imagine shooting a dog, and i think you can't, either.
you're going to have to get those pups away from her, though, when they're old enough--7 or 8 weeks. is there a local paper you can put an ad in? free sweet puppies? those puppies aren't doomed, if you can get them socialized immeidately.
but mae might be another matter.
if she's as sweet as you say--just untouchable--maybe she can be trapped in some way, and then spayed that would take care of the future-puppy problem.
can you ask your vet for advice?
he/she might have some ideas.
:( Sometimes there are no good answers....
Pensieve
Somehow you've got to catch that dog, regardless of what you decide to do.
Can you find a cowboy who can lasso really good? Her puppies could go to good homes - but as for her....sigh. Some of the worst sounding decisions are actually the best ones.
If she was a cat it would be so easy to say "catch her, spay her, release her to be a wild cat"...but wild dog? sigh.
We actually do have an animal control officer. His name is Javier and you can locate him by calling the police department in town. HTH
Wow, that is a bad situation. I don't have any answers...
Oh, I am so sorry to hear that! What a heartbreaking situation. I agree that it might be best to try as hard as you can to give away the puppies, and then continue on status quo. Maybe you can find a "dog whisperer" to get through to her? Poor thing. Do they have birth control pills for dogs? (I'm serious...)
Maria
People dump animals all the time around me too. I wish you had my brother living near you. He is a hunter and he loves animals, but he can "take care of" unwanted dogs for some reason. He can shoot them. He just has that ability. He is also a pastor. Can you find a way to live-trap the dog? My other brother has live traps. Then you could take her to the vet possibly.
Thanks for all your help, sympathy, and/or suggestions. I started to answer all of you this way but it go to be too much, so I just blogged an update.
Thanks again, y'all.
This is just terrible...I don't have any words of wisdom. Maybe check with your vet?
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