I had an interesting experience yesterday morning. I had the day off from work, but I taught a yoga class at 7am, and when I came home decided to take Shay for a run. It was about 10 when we were approaching our street and I saw a dog walking in the middle of the road without an owner. My first instinct was to turn down a different road to keep Shay from seeing him, but I felt bad for the little guy and tried to approach slowly so I could see if he had a collar on. Sure enough he did, but there wasn't anything I could do for him as long as I had Shay with me, so I decided to run home quick and drop Shay off before trying to help the lost dog who was approaching a pretty busy street. It crossed my mind that trying to approach an unknown dog isn't necessarily the best idea, but I just kept thinking that if it were Shay, I hope someone would stop to help him!
I got in my car and drove back down to where I last saw the dog, and I spotted him walking down the sidewalk of a busy street! I slowed down, but he ran off, so I followed him, parked, grabbed Shay's leash and got out of the car. I approached him and talked to him, and he was friendly and I could see that there were tags on his collar. I got close to him without any grrr-ing or threatening looking behavior, and finally was able to peek at his dog tags, but it was just a rabies vaccination tag and his registration, no address, phone number, or name!
At this point, the dog was really friendly with me, so I put Shay's leash on him and walked him back to my car, where he just hopped right in. I felt weird having some stranger's dog in my car, but I couldn't just leave him there! After calling the phone number for the vet on his rabies tag, they were able to look him up by the ID # on the tag and tell me the house where he lives. Turns out the dog lives on my street, just on the opposite end of it. I took him back and knocked on their door....and knocked again...finally someone came.
This guy answered the door, looked at me, looked at the dog, and mumbled "oh...um, thanks.." and pretty much closed the door in my face. What?! I barely got 2 words out to explain what had happened! I was shocked, I feel like I would pretty much do anything for a person who rescued Shay! I certainly didn't expect anything in return, but I thought he might at least want to know what had happened!
Anyway, take this as a lesson to protect your furry friends! First of all, make sure they stay in your yard- duh! But things happen and I get that, so make sure he has the proper identification. Luckily the owner had a rabies tag on him, but it would have been smart to also put some information about where he lives/his owner's phone number on his tag!
Here is a picture of the little guy in my backseat. I really doubt my neighbor reads this, but if by chance this is your dog, you're welcome.
I was just on the other end of this. It wasn't my dog, but the dog of the family I nanny for. The woman returning him ripped me a new one for being irresponsible. And I wasn't even the one that left the gate open! But thankfully Brinkley had his tags on him and I took the heat like a good nanny should. I've also been in situations where I find the dog. I am all about microchipping, but it makes me wonder how convenient that really is. Maybe the dog you found was microchipped, but you would've had to bring him to a vet, hope that vet has a reader...and then maybe get the owner's information. Sounds like a long process when good old fasion ID tags do the same thing. Ha! But good on you for your kind deed. You are that dog's hero!!
ReplyDeleteWe have a neighborhood dog that knows how to open their screen door. It's become a monthly thing. Good news is the dog knows our house now because we always give him treats and then walk him home. I take it as a good sign because the dog's name is Karma. :) You've got lots of good karma. Too bad the owner didn't appreciate your help as much as they should.
ReplyDeleteTo quote Stephanie Tanner: "How RUDE!"
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, you get a gold star in my book! I would be unbelievably thankful if you brought my dog home. Hopefully good karma will be your reward rather than proper thanks from your curmudgeonly neighbor!
You are a true hero, whether your neighbor realizes it or not. I would have given you the biggest hug and offered to do anything for you for saving our family pet. Who knows what have happened to him on that busy street if you wouldn't have stopped to help him home.
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