Help me save these poor animals! Please!

[lovingisliving76]

Help me save these poor animals! Please!
I would like as much advice on this as I can get. I am in a bit of a sticky situation. My moms husband is REAL big into having many animals. From Dogs, cats, goats, rabbits, chickens, ducks etc etc. The thing is I don't think he deserves to have them. In 1998 my husband got stationed to Korea for a year. I didn't live near my mom nor did I have a good relationship with her due to some problems with them and my baby sister. Anyways, I moved to their area while my husband was away to try and build a better relationship with them. Well while I was there I saw things that really bothered me. But I didn't know what to do about them. Like they had rabbit cages in the back yard with a dog in one of them. A cockerspaniel I believe. It didn't even have a bottom to it just the wire. Not that a bottom would have made it better. I talked to them about it and my mom was neutral but her husband saw nothing wrong with it. After months I finally convinced them to get a big dog house and make her an area she could be on a tie out at least. They had goats and everything. The goats were always on a chain like dogs are. None of their animals had complete shelter from the weather. It broke my heart as an animal lover myself. Due to health reasons her husband was unable to "care" for the anmals as "well" as he use to. Not that I think that was real care. They ended up getting rid of most of them. Well now I live in Germany and they have moved. I was talking to my mom on the phone not long ago and somehow we got to talking about animals. She said they now have around 120 animals of all kinds!!! I from personal experience have seen how their animals are cared for or the lack there of. So I am frantic to find a way to help the animals. ANy advice?? I don't personally want to report them, because my mom isn't the one buying or caring for them. It is her husband. Plus I am not there to see first hand how the animals are living now. What do you all recommend? I really need advice on this one! Thanks for reading this long post !

[Kristl]

i had a similiar situation, although it was only with one animal. i know it's a tough decisoin to make! maybe you could sit your mom's husband down and explain your concern. also to your mom too. do they live on a farm, they'd have to to have that many animals! if you feel you cant report it yourself, maybe hint around to someone who would. sticky situations make for tough decisions! what i decided to do in my situation was give it a couple weeks, if they dont realize it by then, well, i'll have to do something.

[cyber-sibes]

That IS a tough one. I know you don't want to report your mom. Is there someone living nearer to them that could lodge an anonymous complaint? Or perhaps you could send a letter to the local humane society so they could look into it. If the local authorities get involved, they'll have to clean up their act or cut down on the number of animals, but at least it'll get looked into for the animals' best interests. And it won't be from a family member, it will be someone with authority. With that many animals, I'll bet there are health codes that they need to abide by. Those animals deserve to be given proper care.

[lovingisliving76]

Originally posted by Kristl
i had a similiar situation, although it was only with one animal. i know it's a tough decisoin to make! maybe you could sit your mom's husband down and explain your concern. also to your mom too. do they live on a farm, they'd have to to have that many animals! if you feel you cant report it yourself, maybe hint around to someone who would. sticky situations make for tough decisions! what i decided to do in my situation was give it a couple weeks, if they dont realize it by then, well, i'll have to do something.

I have talked to her husband before, but I guess different people view animals in different ways. What we think is abuse or neglect others may see as "normal". Although I don't. He didn't seem to see a problem as long as they had food and water and a place to sleep. They don't live on a farm. Not even CLOSE to being a farm. Just a house in the middle of town with a building in the backyard that they keep the little animals up against in cages. A good example of their lack of common sense... He told me he had a dalmation that was deaf that had a problem with barking and digging holes in the yard. I asked a bunch of questions and the dog was barely over one yr old and was chained to a (get this) lawn mower that was beneath the trampoline that she also tore up. I asked what did he expect. Beside the dog being deaf and needing special attention etc, she was chained in one place under a trampoline and boredom has to creep in quickly. Among many other things. Thats just his way of thinking I assume. I did after several phone calls convince them to give her to someone that could make her an indoor dog and who could help her with her handicap. But he normally isn't very attentive to suggestions. Thanks for yous reply! :)

[lovingisliving76]

Originally posted by cyber-sibes
That IS a tough one. I know you don't want to report your mom. Is there someone living nearer to them that could lodge an anonymous complaint? Or perhaps you could send a letter to the local humane society so they could look into it. If the local authorities get involved, they'll have to clean up their act or cut down on the number of animals, but at least it'll get looked into for the animals' best interests. And it won't be from a family member, it will be someone with authority. With that many animals, I'll bet there are health codes that they need to abide by. Those animals deserve to be given proper care.

I totally agree! The way I've been thinking about this lately, is that even though my mom is not involved in the whole thing, she is somewhat responsible for standing and doing nothing about it. She is the type that loves animals in that oh he's cute kinda way. But she doesn't really like having any herself. So if at worse I have to report them and they both get in trouble, hopefully they won't be allowed to have animals anymore. Or at least maybe they will learn something from it all. I don't know. I just know something has to be done.

[bckrazy]

I would report them. They don't have to know that you reported them, just make a call (or, have a friend call). I mean, what is more important: 120 animals lives, or your stepdad getting mad? You sound like you are really a good person, and this sucks for you. Even if your mom isn't buying the animals, she is allowing this to happen, and making excuses for him. If they have more than 4 dogs, the ASPCA will take the others away, especially if theyre in such poor condition. They will probably take most of the other animals away, or they might possibly take them all and make it so that your stepdad cannot own/buy any animals for the next few years. That sounds like its what they need, if you cant take care of animals and you view them like property that can be tied to a lawnmover for their life, then you don't deserve any pets at all...

I was kind of in a similar situation, one of my best friends in junior high had a black lab. They kept him a crate 24/7, from when he was 4 months old (when he started to chew/act up like all puppies) to almsot 1 year old, he had horrible oozing hock sores, he was undernourished, covered in waste, and cried and barked constantly, and he had no protection from the rain or anything. The second I saw him, I first asked if I could buy him from them. she and her family were completely stuck up, they had plenty of money to care for their dog if they wanted, and they refused to sell him to me so I could get him to a vet. So I reported them, they took away the dog and fined them over $1000 and that girl who I grew up with hates me now. I dont really care, I wouldnt want to associate myself with those kind of people anyway. I realize this is your Mother, and she is probably a good person too but just doesn't know what to do about her husband. Actually, she might be relieved if some one came and took all those animals away... it must be very expensive, atleast, to feed 120 animals :rolleyes: