Monday, April 9, 2012

Found Dog: What would you do?

Marley was enjoying a romp at the park and I realized it was really late.  I gathered all of our things and as I reached the gate I realized there was a dog inside the double gate structure.  I looked around for the dog owner and after a few minutes realized nobody was heading in our direction.  The dog was scared and kept trying to get out.  I went in and checked the dog for a collar, which he was wearing but had no tags.  We let him into the park, to keep him from escaping and allow other people to enter and exit.

I asked everybody if they owned the dog.  Everybody was shocked the dog had been abandoned at the park; however, nobody offered to help.  By this time it is quite late and I have no idea what to do with a large abandoned dog.

I start calling everybody I know asking for assistance.  I keep hoping somebody will say, "I'll be right over, I'll take care of it."  Nobody does, however everybody has a lot of great ideas.  I call the county shelter and their after hours response leaves a lot to be desired.

At this point the park is pretty empty and I decide to take him to the Emergency Vet to check for a microchip. I've also heard a rumor that they will keep found animals overnight.  Turns out the dog does not have a microchip and the Vet will not accept the dog overnight.

Found dog: Blue eyed border collie
The receptionist takes a few photos of the found dog and my contact information and wishes me luck.

I find myself sitting in the reception area wondering what to do?  I don't know this dog and while he seems calm, I know he is scared and therefore unpredictable.  I do not want to expose Marley or Bob to an unpredictable dog.  

What would you do in this situation? 

2 comments:

2halves said...

For health and safety reasons, I would not expose my dogs to a random unknown dog. We have 4 dogs in the house. Adding random 5th dog could be a disaster! Possibly for the stray! :)

I think what you have done so far is great. If I found a tagged, reasonalbly well behaved dog I may keep it until owner contact is made - crated, in the garage, etc.

Untagged dog, though? I would take it to animal control. Probably also post on craigslist that I found it and took it there. If I lost a dog, that would be the first place I would go.

It may also be that the dog was not dumped by the owner. Someone else may have found the dog in the area and put it there thinking the owner would look for it there.

Kim said...

There are so many possibilities on how the dog got there. It's amazing how many dogs they discover haven't been abandoned, but got lost somehow and can spend days and weeks on their own before a caring person like you takes them in. In my town there was an older dog that got scared on a walk in the forest, pulled away from her owner and was gone. She was found after 13 days on her own. Another was a dog that escaped from a fenced yard and was gone for 6 weeks! His owner didn't give up and found him, still running free...everyone she talked to who saw him assumed he was a stray and few tried to catch him.

I would leave his information with every local vet you can find, along with any shelters. If you can find one, a BC rescue group might be able to take him or I would take him to the county shelter, or a no-kill shelter option if you have one. Shelters exist for this very reason and I don't feel guilty about taking animals there. It gives the owners some time to find their pet. Think about the process you would go through if Marley got lost away from home.

Good luck! I hope the little guy finds his home!