Freddie.

[sonrisa_78]

 
On Monday Ed called me on his way home from work and told me to meet him about 10 blocks from our house with a bowl of dog food and some water.   While riding his bike home from work, he came across a dog who was so emaciated and weak that he could barely stand.  The dog was wandering aimlessly, and while he had tags, none of them gave his name or

Comments

[carrieb]

My 2 cents may not be worth much. I would contact the investigators. If things are that bad in the house, the investigators will probably contact the appropriate agencies to get this elderly couple the help they need. It sounds like they need a serious intervention. Poor doggie.

[torapines]

Oh no.

If this dog is in such shape, I fear the human residents of that home are in as much need of help, if not more. If you're offering to bring food or care to the dog, maybe you can contact someone who can do the same for the owners?

If/when you do, you can certainly say, "I'd be happy to help by providing some help for the dog. Maybe I could come by to walk him on a lead, trim his nails, bring some extra food?"

[wallybat]

that is a conundrum. but i do agree with the others that contacting agencies to get them help would be best. the might turn out to be honery old goats who refuse help, but then in the end they might take the dog and get him a better home if it turns out that place is nearly uninhabitable.

i'm sure those folks love their dog but maybe just cant' handle it's care any longer.

[ericakathryn]

I'm with the others who express concern for the people, too. If the house belongs to VA, then the people living there probably aren't in great shape themselves. Maybe contacting officials who can help both people and dog is the best course. I would say you could be neighborly and try to bring the dog food and such, but you might easily get sucked in to providing much more help for not only the dog but the people too. If you're willing to do that, good for you! But I know you've got a busy and complicated life, especially when Ed is in class, so it might not be a good idea.

[disenchant]

I agree that something must be done. I like your idea of ringing the doorbell and asking about the dog. Then you can get an idea of what the conditions are so you can make an accurate report. Maybe you could walk over with a small bag of dog food as a gift.

I have very little faith in our "agencies of authority" system. Usually there is some law or something or other that prevents the right thing from being done. I leave as little as I can to the government. One just has to look at the number of children released back to abusive families. We have a habit of thinking that calling the right authority will take care of it.

See if you can find a better rescue shelter. Private and not-for-profit agencies will make more noise and get more done. The animal shelter I worked for did "rescues" and we fought to get many abused animals out of the hands of their owners. Find someone who is willing to get as fired up as you are.