Thread: They are taking my dog!

First let me say I'm not going to argue with anyone here. I am an animal rescuer. I work with a rescue in NC and we do great work! I don't appreciate everyone talking about these people as nutjobs. We work extremely hard to get these dogs into good homes & away from shelters & abusive situations. Most of the money we use comes out of our own pocket. We have no one on the payroll, no one gets a salary. All of the money comes from donations or out of our own pocket.

It sounds like you've done a wonderful job with both dogs except for leaving them unattended outside. And you did the right thing giving back the dog that was jumping up on your kids. Had you wanted to take the time to do so you could have trained & worked with the dog not to jump on your kids. But I can understand you may not have had the time to do so. But trying to bankrupt a rescue for the sheer pleasure of it because they gave you a hard time about the dogs they obviously have worked hard for & care a great deal about is ludricrous. Also if you didn't want to agree to the terms set down by the rescue then you should have returned both dogs instead of trying to bankrupt the rescue. You took these dogs according to whatever agreement you had with the rescue and you should abide by the terms you agreed to. I think you're wrong and you're being selfish. This is my statement about the situation and that's it.

First off: I totally agree with all you guys calling the maniacs nut-jobs. How stupid is it possible to be? Dogs enjoy being outside and a few hours every day never hurt a dog. These nut-jobs would probably kidnap huskys from alaska and place them in a heated room, thinking they did the animals a favor.

I fail to see how leaving a dog unattended outside is a problem. All my dogs, who have lived long and happy lives, lived outside unattended. They had what they needed, they got played with daily, and that's that. I've seen abused and sad dogs in my life, and mine were the exact opposite.

Rescues are a good thing, but there are some wackos out there. If it makes any difference, I've rescued almost 100% of the animals I've ever owned, including parrots and a greyhound.

I'm not at all conversant in that area of the law, but I'd be very surprised if they had the right to enter your property - if they had the right to take your dog back, I would think they'd have to take legal action to do so (after sending you a demand). I don't know if there is a repo man analogy here but I doubt it, because nonpayment isn't the issue. Second, I'd be surprised if "to their satisfaction" was deemed to be open-ended - I would hope there'd have to be some reasonable basis for not being satisfied.

So I would guess having been stood up to these guys will back off. Hope so anyway. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Bandit

It sounds like you've done a wonderful job with both dogs except for leaving them unattended outside. And you did the right thing giving back the dog that was jumping up on your kids.

I am still at a loss as to how leaving a dog unattended in a secured yard when the temperature is moderate, with water, constitutes abusing the dog. Secondly, the second placed dog was not just jumping on the kids, but nipping at them, which appears to be out of character for a golden retriever, and I doubt manifested itself suddenly. It sounds like the resuce group failed to note some problematic behavior before placing the dog.

Doing rescue work is fine, but dogs are animals and not people. Leaving a dog in the yard on a nice day (meaning not in the snow, rain, extreme heat) does not constitute abuse unless you subscribe to the warped logic that dogs should be treated as people. To have a holier-than-thou "activist" preach to you after you have opened your home to an abused animal and have done nothing but provide love, affection, and care is enraging and these people need to be shown that they cannot run rough-shod over people who have passed their screening process and paid serious fees to adopt a dog. Just becasue Fido doesn't have his own room, a heated dog bed, chilled spring water, and freshly ground Kobe beef does not mean the dog is being abused. I have no doubt that the originators of the breed would laugh in the face of these do-gooders and what they consider "mis-treatment" for a dog bred for hunting/retrieving, being outdoors and enduring long hours of exposure to extreme weather (hunting is not usually done during balmy weather).

I have a Samoyed...a dog from above the Arctic circle, a breed that is believed to be one of the sources for the other Arctic breeds...a dog trained to lie in wait in the ice and snow for walrus and seal, its tail covering its face to filter the Arctic wind; a dog bred to heard reindeer across the frozen tundras of Siberia. Based on the logic of this rescue league, I must be abusing my dog, becasue he goes outside in the snow, ice, and rain without doggie galoshes, a fur hat, or a winter coat. These people would have a coniption fit if they saw me harness him to a sled with 5 other dogs (I guess the polar explorers Amudson and Shackleton were dog abusers too...).

Instead of flipping out on the phone and making accusations and threats, the busy-body at the rescue league should have calmly asked for more details. If she still felt that leaving a working breed dog alone in a secured yard with water and food on a nice day constituted abuse, then I could only recommend therapy....or some exposure to reality...may spending some time with people who actually use the breed for what they were bred.

We are dealing with just another type of extremism....