What Would You Do? Is This Dog Abuse?

Some years ago I would drive pass a house twice every day in a rural area a couple of miles from my home. A collie cross was always chained to a wooden dog house in the front yard. The thousands of times I drove past it was chained and never seemed to move from the one spot it was laying.It just watched the world go by. I happened to walk past once and being a dog lover I called out hello fella. It responded by violent barking. I felt so sorry for this dog. I always wanted to knock on the door and say something. I didn't know what I would say. Eventually the tennants moved out and were gone forever. I wondered what happened to the dog and was it in a better situation?
What would you have done? Mind your own business or had the courage to say something?

 

Just seeing a dog being chained does not automatically mean that it is being abused. I have seen a lot of dogs which are chained and are very well looked after with proper food and proper exercise. If I see an actual case of dog abuse, I would want to do something.

 

It was a sad sight to see a dog continuously chained. I wish I had the nerve to say something. There are acres of farmland in every direction. This dog would lay on the frost in the mornings. It was bored. I hope this dog found a better home.I think it was suffering. Chickens get a better deal these days in this country.

 

I would mind my own business. My dog is mostly an outdoor dog. She is a great guard dog and makes sure to keep the people who want to cut in our lawn away. She is outside most of the time, but is able to come inside when she wants to. She always has water and shade and is fed twice a day. I also always get out and make sure she has some playing time, going for a walk and chasing a frisbee everyday. As long as the dog wasn't starving and had water I am sure he was fine. I think of it this way, the owners had care for the dog enough to pay for its food, right?

 

I agree with victor, a chained dog does not mean abuse or neglect, although a bit sad. Neighbors of mine a few years back had a large mixed breed dog that they also kept chained. This dog however had poor shelter, a tarp hung in a tree, never had fresh water and I rarely seen it fed, which would explain the poor shape she was in. I did call animal control after a bad snow storm that left 3 feet of snow behind. Clearing out our driveway we discovered her standing in snow up to her neck and not being able to move. Animal control came out and took the dog into custody and told the neighbors to either surrender her or they would be fined. They gave her up, which was the best thing for her. These people did neglect the dog. There is a difference.

 

That is a clear case of animal abuse. So what happened to the dog after that? By animal control, do you mean animal shelter? I have heard horror stories about what happens to dogs which end up in animal shelters?

 

Where I live we have animal control. They response to animal abuse, neglect and abandonment issues. They work for the best interest of the animal. All animals go to a no kill shelter to be screened for aggressiveness and medical issues. If all goes well they are put up for adoption, sadly if not they are put down, humanly. The quarterly township news letter printed that out of 53 animals only 4 needed to be put down. 3 for health reasons and 1 for a aggressive nature, that could not be rehabilitated.

 

I have turned people in for animal abuse before. Your story doesn't indicate to me that anything is necessarily wrong, though. Being chained may not be everyone's choice, but it doesn't point to neglect either. If he was being fed/watered, then he was probably okay. And his barking at you? That's pretty standard for dogs to bark at strangers, don't you think?

 

I guess being a collie cross and owning one I know what they are like. Most of these dogs want to be active and this one certainly didn't have the ability to do so.I guess I got a bit sad and would hate to think Mishka did not have the love we give her.

 

That's definitely understandable. The dog may get more activity than you realize. Or maybe it really doesn't get that much, but it doesn't necessarily put it in the same category of abuse as a dog that isn't getting fed, is beaten, etc either. There's a big grey area in there.