Posted on 10/31/2011 9:52:06 AM PDT by Feline_AIDS
While visiting my cousin this weekend, I drove through South Carolina country roads for long stretches, because for some stupid reason, they live out in the middle of nowhere. No, they don't farm, keep livestock, or even own much land. They are also scared of the quiet loneliness of the country, so there's no good reason for them to be there. Yet I digress.
It was dark on my way in. I saw movement at the side of the road and slowed to see a yellow lab / retriever dog licking an identical dog who had been hit by a car and was lying just off the road in the grass. Just beyond them was a deer that had been hit, too. I called 911, informed the operator it wasn't an emergency, but a dog was by the road and one had already been hit, so I wanted animal control to come get them.
On the way home from church yesterday, we saw a dog running along the road against traffic. He was a mastiff. His hip bones were sharp jutting out of his back, and the rest of his skeleton showed, too. He was scared. I slowed down and he kept running along in front of my car, and eventually moved into a field by the road. Again I called animal control and told them where he was.
Now, I'm not a moron. I know that animal control will come and pick them up, give people a day to claim them, and if the dogs are unclaimed, put them down. The only reason I call animal control each time is that I think dying slowly on the side of the road after being hit by a car is worse than dying in an oxygen/CO chamber. Just like the time I was in a bigger city's interstate at rush hour and saw a deer that had just been hit by a car and I called the state police to ask them to send an officer out to shoot it, because it was writhing around on the side of the road.
As I understand it, South Carolina has very lax spay and neuter laws. As a result, there are uncountable unwanted animals trotting along the road and getting run over or being put down by over-crowded shelters. Not long ago there was a news story about a county animal control in SC taking dogs to the dump and shooting them, presumably because they were either unable to deal with the numbers or too lazy to do it the lawful way. This is not to mention the dog fighting, which the mastiff probably wandered away from, considering the way he looked.
So here's my dilemma. (1) Animals are property. In most of these cases, irresponsible owners let their unspayed/unneutered dogs wander around, resulting in unwanted puppies or dogs in the road, or dogs on other people's property, where they're a problem. (2) I don't think the government should dictate what we do with our property. (3) Animals, though, are capable of suffering in a way that the rest of my property isn't. (4) They also are at the mercy of good citizens. Don't think I'm equating animal life with human life, because I'm not when I make the following comparison. Liberals would have us believe that "fetuses" are property, too--property they can destroy if they wish. We think that human life is sacred and needs to be protected when vulnerable. Does the same not apply to vulnerable animals, too? It doesn't take much to see that animals are vulnerable when bad owners treat them poorly, which is different from liberal hand-wringing about distant possible must-save causes like global warm-cool-whichever's-convenient-ing.
If it costs $40,000/year to keep an inmate in prison, (that's just a recent general statistic I heard, and it may not be exact), could we find a way to recoup that loss and use that money to improve the way we treat our animals? Why not make inmates pay for their accommodations? Or at least part of them. (Unrealistic, I know.)
Best idea yet: why not take the money Planned Parenthood gets and use it to control breeding of a species that should be controlled?
So, does this make me a bleeding-heart liberal?
No you are not a lib you are just intelligent.
First of all even the counties that have the most lax animal laws say that a dog must be on a leash or in a fenced yard. That is “under control”. The dog warden does not want stray dogs biting humans....
which gets to the second law that even the most lax counties have.
All dogs must have a rabies shot. So that if a human or animal is bitten, at least you won’t get rabies.
Third. Even the most lax counties say you must always have food or water for you dogs (all this goes for cats too) and reasonable medical care if the animal gets harmed.
Forth Even the most lax counties say the dog should have some kind of shelter in bad weather. A dog house, access to a garage, what ever.
The last county in WV that I lived in was very lax but had these rules.
No county animal shelter should allow dogs to run stray. It is a health/safety risk. Plus it is cruel because the owner is not caring for the animal properly.
You did the right thing. Don’t feel bad. I raised such a stink once about a bad “no kill shelter” that by the time it was over, it was raided by police and the raid was on WOWK-TV.
I too was going to point out that the vast majority of animals on the planet suffer in ways that are completely independent of human compassion.
We live in a very rural area. Dogs that are allowed to wander are a threat to livestock and the tolerance for that is low.
My wife says that the first time a dog is found wandering the local animal control agency will fine the owner $25. The second offence is $75. The third time the animal is not returned to the owner.
“I’ve never heard of spay or neuter laws. Do they really exist?”
YES THEY DO! I can tell you of one place too! The animal shelter in Montgomery County Kentucky!!!
I got my dog from there after finding him on http://www.petfinder.com/index.html
The animal shelter in Montgomery County said I could not take him home till he had been neutered. So I had to drive back from WV the day he had his operation and pick him up, not from the animal shelter but from the vets office that did it. You have to imagine that I really loved this dog to do that! Poor doggy was stoned out of mind and scared from being at the vets. In the dead of winter I had to carry a 48 pound Siberian Husky to my truck! He got to go to McDonalds on the way home but did not feel like eating. Now however he KNOWS when we are at a McDonald’s drive through!
You are not becoming a bleeding-heart liberal. You are showing compassion and concern not shown by so many.
I live in the country as well and because I have a nice house, animals are let out close by. As a result of this, I am the proud owner of 9 cats and 1 dog...all its. It hurts to see animals that have been hit and killed, all because their worthless former owners dumped them like garbage. I know I cannot change the world, but I endeavor to make my corner of the world as pet friendly as possible.
We got our dog from some rescue folks - he was found as a pup wandering a rural road. They said they would give us $50 back when we mailed them the certificate that he had been neutered. Never did see the $50 - oh well.
Both of our dogs have been rescues (mutts). Both have been great. Where we live they have to wear tags that show they are licensed and up-to-date on their shots.
In my county, licenses are $20 higher for intact animals.
My animals are spayed/neutered through my personal choice, why would the city/state or local govt intervene on something like that?
Because the local government ends up spending a lot of money dealing with unwanted animals.
I think you are a good person for caring...labels be damned.
My problem is I have a tendency to NOT call animal control and pick stray animals up myself. I did call the humane society or something once while driving in the country in South Carolina. It was a horse being kept in someone's yard, starving to death. That was ten years ago, and I still think about it, wondering if anyone went to save it or if it suffered to death.
I have never met an animal who was as mean as many people who I have encountered, so while I stay away from people as much as I can, I will ALWAYS go out of my way to save an animal...who most likely is in distress because of something a human being did or didn't do. /rant
Oh that’s right! Ours are .50 for a neutered animal and like $3 or $5 for an intact one but no one pays those fees. That’s something they just don’t enforce in my city.
My neighbor had dogs running his cows, they will run an animal to death..You shoot, shovel and shut up but its perfectly legal in Michigan to shot any stray if you have hoofed animals.
My son shot a lab trying to get into the pasture with my goats...he had no collar, didn't know if he had shots, and we watched for a while to see if someone was out training him to hunt...cops told me its perfectly legal...no one likes shooting dogs, but city folks move out to the country and feel its fine for their dogs to be free to explore an area.
another guy had 3 dogs go througt an open window in his barn and slaughter his pygmy goats that were his kids pets...a running dog or worse a small pack of them are dangerous to little kids and other creatures...sad, but has to be done.
Same here. The sheep ranches in our area used to put out poisoned meat to kill the predators. Either they have stopped doing it or they have stopped putting up warning signs. The owners of the sheep ranch behind us spend a lot of time tracking coyotes now. Lot's of gunfire in the night.
I would sometimes let my turkeys out and they usually stayed on the farm, but one day I got a call from our neighbor that my turkeys were in his backyard and heading for the woods...I went over with a nice branch in my hand and as soon as the turkeys saw me coming, they turned around and headed home, It was funny, I was walking behind them and they just kept gobbling at each other...They knew they were in trouble...I was raising Royal Palm turkeys..
No you are not a bleeding heart liberal. SC just needs to tighten up on its animal laws. My vet said dogs and cats live much happier lives if neutered.
We have two rescue dogs and they are the greatest. They both managed to find the invisible sign in our front yard that says “limp up this driveway to a life of luxury”.
You complain vigorously (and rightfully) about people not controlling their dogs, but apparently your cats run loose? They poop in other peoples' yards too, and it POs those people as well.
“..that says “limp up this driveway to a life of luxury”.
LOL! Our cat found us... well my wife actually. And speaking of luxury - is a tad overweight. The wife says it is the prednisone. (Um - to make clear, the cat is taking the prednisone and is the one a tad heavy!).
And it is amazing how much these “free” or “cheap” animals cost!
Every problem does not need a new law. The last thing I need is another form of Rent-A-Cop showing up at my house checking for my dogs balls.
Yes
Stay away from SC and stay where the rest of the bleeding hearts are.
Thanks for all the great responses. (Except you, bert.)
Maybe I’ll write to their county government and see what they say. I might even drag my cousin to her local town meeting, since I live two counties away and thus am not a resident.
actually my cats do not leave my yard. I have three acres + and they’re either in the house or outside with us or in the barn locked up.
Long story short, I just spoke to my northern neighbor yesterday and asked him if he saw any of my 8 week old kittens ( rescues ) or cats in his yard ( they have 20 some acres ) and he said NO. In fact, he’s never seen my cats in his yard. Ever.
Someone had let my kittens out of the barn and kitten corral Sat night and I’ve just found the 2nd one DEAD by my front porch this morning.
And I know for fact that my cats do not go to the neighbors on the south side of us.
So No, my cats dont go in other ppls yards and I can say that with a 99.9% accuracy. I’m no saint and neither are my cats but I’m at least honest and trustworthy.
As an aside, there is no leash law for cats like there is for dogs, at least in my county. And cat’s cant maul a child like a dog can and that’s what I’m afraid of... one of those nonsocialized dogs mauling my youngest son.
Yes, both of my labs have their AKC CGC a/k/a canine good citizen certificate and one of them has her TDI ( Therapy Dog Inc ) meaning I can take her to places for thearapy visits so they’re “highly” trained & socialized and the one with the CGC/TDI also has her AKC Junior Hunting Retriever title. The neighbors dogs have none of those and the Mom even told me to keep my youngest ( my oldest is 20 ) away from her dogs because they dont like little kids.....all while in my yard. She came to fetch them.
Have a great day ~ the sun is shining and I’m cleaning up the yard for winter UGH.
Have a great day ~ the sun is shining and I’m cleaning up the yard for winter UGH.
One of the things I really did not like about colder climates. Then there's the cold itself. UGH. I moved to Phoenix and fixed that right up...What's Winter?
:^)
Oh, PS...sorry to hear about the kitteh. I hope it wasn’t because of Halloweenie.
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