Numbers of Abandoned Dogs on the Rise

There are news sources that say the number of abandoned dogs is on the rise. They believe the cause to be economics, but I believe it is selfishness.

When people adopt a dog, they expect to have the dog for the rest of its life. At least, they should. But today people believe they can dump a dog on the street for any number of reasons.

In the last week I have seen five abandoned dogs wandering the streets in our area. One, a female Pit Bull Terrier, is living on the streets in our neighborhood. I believe she was dumped because she got too old to breed. Her picture is at the beginning of this article.

That’s a picture I took of her as she ate the food I gave her. She picked the bowl up and carried it into the street, then set it down and started eating.

She is so sweet, but so scared. She’s learned that we will give her dog food, so she comes to our home in the morning and in the evening. But she won’t come anywhere near us, so I put the bowl of food down and she comes and eats after I walk away.

It is so sad, but I wonder if she is happier now than before. She looks like she was used as a breeder, and in this area dog fighting is very popular so she was probably not treated very well by her owners. They obviously did not care about her or they would not have dropped her off in the country to fend for herself.

I have named her Perdita, and I hope that eventually she will trust me enough to let me come near her. I’m afraid, though, that she will end up coyote food.

We will probably have to call the animal shelter, since they have ways of catching dogs. She would be better off being euthenized at the shelter than being chased and killed by coyotes, or producing another litter of pups who would also be unwanted. Too bad her owner didn’t take her to the shelter. It’s too bad she ended up at a home that didn’t want her, that didn’t treat her right, and that, when she was too old to breed, dumped her on the street.

I wish people would not treat dogs this way. If there was no such thing as dog fighting, then perhaps there wouldn’t be so many Pit Bulls who are not wanted. It breaks my heart to see them abandoned and unwanted, and it breaks my heart knowing that she was most likely mistreated and never shown any kindness, wherever she came from.

I also wish that the California legislature bill that would have required dogs to be altered had been passed. That would have resulted in fewer unwanted dogs, and in a few years perhaps we would not have so many dogs being dropped off in our neighborhood and other neighborhoods.

What a selfish world we live in. Let’s hope my generation treats animals better.

To read more about Pit Bulls read my post about them here: Pit Bull Terriers - Not Natural Born Killers