Is this wrong?

[molucass]

This is dog related but I want to post it here so everyone can see it.

Let me first say this is going to be rather long... Please read it though and give me your input if possible.

My sister and her husband are going through a seperation as of today. She told him to get out of her house. Well, as some of you know, my sister has a male boxer named Maverick. Well, they do not take care of him. He is left alone in their house, sometimes for a couple days and I don't think he gets fed very often. He is underweight and right now we are at her house while she is at work so that someone will be here if her husband comes over. He had no water, his water dish was put up where he couldn't get to it and empty. He had NO food out at all and his bag of food was empty. I went and bought him a bag of food and fed him. He doesn't know to eat out of the bowl. I had to hand feed him, and he would eat it off of the floor if I dropped some.
At one point, my sister brought Maverick to my moms house for a while because she works a lot and her husband doesn't take care of him while he is home. He actually got to eat and drink normally while he was over there, and once my sister finally brought him back home, my sister asked my mom what he had been eating because he was "too fat".
My sisters husband doesn't put Maverick in the crate when he leaves and my sister has already gone to work, and Maverick poops and pees all over the house, not to mention that they leave the bathroom door open and he gets stuff out of there and tears it up. One day he ate one of my sisters candles and not to mention everything else dangerous in this house he could possibly get to. Her husband gets mad at her for "letting him" tear stuff up when in fact he is the one that neglects the dog and doesn't put him in his crate.

As much as my sister is gone for her job and for the simple fact that both of them do play a part in not taking care of him, I think it would be best if he found a new home. Maverick actually belongs to my sisters husband because she bought him for him.

My question is, would it be wrong of me to take her dog? I could find him a wonderful home where he would be taken care of and not neglected like he is. My sister probably wouldn't agree to me taking him and thinks that Brandon should take the dog when he comes to get his stuff. I don't think either one of them deserves to own a dog at all.

My sister and I don't have the best relationship. We get along sometimes but we usually aren't on the best terms.

I wouldn't be doing it to hurt my sister. It's just I can't stand to see this boy treated the way he is. You can tell Maverick is just starved for attention. He just loves it when you pay him any amount of attention at all.

I'm going to try the suggestion and see if she will let me take him off of her hands by making her think I am doing her a favor. I just don't know how to go about it, because like I said she wants her husband to take him. If I was her and I was in the situation, I wouldn't let him have him. She paid for him, and if he gets taken care of at all, its by her.

Here is a picture of him that I took a few days ago. He doesn't look as skinny in this pic as he actually is. You can count his ribs and feel his back bone very well. He looks better already though after I gave him 2 bowls of food earlier.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a344/DeeboMom/maverick1.jpg

What would you do in this situation?

[Argranade]

I would tell your sister excacly how you feel and the situation of this dogs life, try to tell her in the most nice way that she's not taking proper care of this dog and it's unfair to the poor pup because it has to starve while it could be in a new loving home with plenty of food and water.

The dog of course should have a daily walk, so tell your sister if you could please find her dog a new home if she's not going to take care of it in a good manner because it's life is more important than maybe (she's) being too lazy to give it water and food everyday and take it for walks.

I hope the best of luck for you and that poor dog.

[molucass]

I didn't want to say anything before now, but since we are on the subject of Maverick and neglect, I will post it anyway.

A few months back, my sister was outside with Maverick and he was NOT on a leash. She was taking him to potty and I guess her phone rang, or she thought of something else she thought was more important than keeping her eye on the dog... Well, Maverick ran off and ended up getting hit by a car. Apparently she was inside or just not watching him long enough for him to run down the road, and onto one of the side roads down from her house. It's not a short distance either from her house to where I'm talking about.
His lungs were collapsed and he bit his tongue so bad that they first thought that he bit part of it off. He was thrown in to the ditch on the side of the road that had water in it after the rain, and his lungs had water in them from that.
He's fine now but he had to stay at the vets office for a little over a week. And, if I remember correctly, they didn't bring the dog to the emergency vet, they waited until the next morning before they brought him in. :(
If that doesn't prove it right there that they shouldn't own a dog, I don't know what does.

[cyber-sibes]

T Maverick actually belongs to my sisters husband because she bought him for him....My sister probably wouldn't agree to me taking him and thinks that Brandon should take the dog when he comes to get his stuff. I don't think either one of them deserves to own a dog at all.
... because like I said she wants her husband to take him.
What would you do in this situation?It sounds like your sister is telling you that Maverick is not her dog, but her husband's (who is obviously not capable of taking care of him either). Are you on good enough terms to ask him if you can take the dog off his hands? I think I would approach him first, because if he thinks your sister "took" his dog to give to you, he could get pretty nasty. Will definitely keep your situation in my prayers, poor Maverick deserves better for sure. good luck, be careful.

[animal_rescue]

Ack, I would take him! He needs a new home and yes you would definitely be doing the right thing in finding him a new home!!

[molucass]

No.. Brandon and I don't get along at all.. The thing is.. Brandon doesn't WANT to get along with anyone in our family.. I've tried talking to him and he might speak one word to me and then won't say anything else.
Brandon is very arrogant.. He thinks he is better than everyone else. He once told my sister that he didn't want her to have anything to do with her own mother...
I could go on and on about the things Brandon has done, but I don't really want to get in to it.. I would say some things I shouldn't.

I'll leave it with this though, he's so lazy he won't get off his butt and get a job. My sister has to work her a$$ off, work overtime, and etc. just so she can pay ALL of their bills.. He put his truck and 4-wheeler in her name because he doesn't have enough credit to get anything like that. He had a job when they got married, but I guess he figures since my sister makes so much money he can just sponge off of her for the rest of their lives while he sits around and does nothing.

[lizbud]

Sounds like your sister has her hands full right now and realy doesn't
have time to spend on the dog. :( It would really be helping her out to
take & rehome the dog.You'd have to show that the husband doesn't
want to care for the pup at all. Best of luck helping this dog get a better
home.

[dab_20]

It would be in the best interest of the dog -and your sister- to rehome the dog. Explain to your sister that giving him a new home would be good for him; she won't have to worry about caring for him or cleaning up his messes, either. I think when you bring it up, try and to tell her what she would rather hear instead of saying she's simply neglecting him.
I'll be wishing you and that handsome boy good luck.

[DJFyrewolf36]

Sigh, I really dislike it when a poor animal suffers due to situations hoomans create for themselves...

It sounds as if Mavrick needs to be put in a home that will spend time with him. You'd think with the husband being home so much he could take the time to train him or at least provide for his basic needs. No offense to your sister or anything but I think that they need to solve some personal problems before taking on the responsiblity of caring for an animal. Maybe you can convince Brandon the breakup will be so much of an issue it will force him to re-home Mavrick, then you could swoop in and "save the day" and help out, and no one in that situation could be realisitcally mad at you.

[Husky15]

Although your sister is to blame as well, it sounds like it is mostly her husband's fault. If he sits on the couch all day and doesn't work and she is out working her butt off, then he should be the one to look after Maverick. In our house, if everyone is away and I am home alone and I see Belle without food or water, it is my responsibility to fill it. And not only that, but Maverick is his dog, he was given as a gift. It is pretty bad when he is too lazy to even put a dog in a crate when he leaves. Somebody should knock some sense into this guy. No offence, but he sounds like a low-life to me.

But when Maverick was hit by a car and in such condition, he should have been taken to the vet right away. Pretty irresponsible if you ask me.

In my opinion, they don't deserve to have a dog, or any animal for that matter. If I were you I'd have the nerve to just take him without asking, but that can cause a great amount of problems. If you try a soft approach then maybe she will feel better to give him up, but it sounds like they need to have it laid out straight to them about how you feel and how poorly they are treating Maverick. I believe this is called animal abuse. If they don't give a care about their dog then it shouldn't be too hard to take him out of their hands, unless her husband just wants to cause a problem.

I think that if they say no, you should tell them that you can take legal action about this because it is animal abuse. It may sound mean to do that to your sister, but it would be worth it if Maverick got a caring home.

By the way, Maverick is an ADORABLE dog. I love him.

[Vela]

I think they are both responsible and I would take the dog. I don't think either one of them gives a crap about him and she couldn't love him or she wouldn't want someone who will let him starve to death to take him and not take care of him. Do whatever you can get away with safely for yourself and take the dog and find him a home. I would not ordinarily say take someone's dog, but with the situation the way it is, he doesn't deserve that.

[Pawsitive Thinking]

Take him now and find that poor boy a loving home