I have a very sad story to tell :( and I need your advice to help me....
I have a friend who's got a friend with a dog. Let's call him (the dog owner) V. He's about 21 years old, your typical college punk.
One year ago, he brought a very adorable jack russell mix from PJ's pet store into his small bachelor room to please his girlfriend. After several months, they broke up and so the dog lives with the guy. The guy was never a fan of animals, let alone a person who actually have feelings for dogs.
Anyway, I never knew how he treated his dog, and everytime I go to class with him I ask him how his dog is doing. He always tells me how his dog is naughty, chews things up, barks and makes a lot of noises. I always give him textbook answers to these common dog behaviourial problems but he never seems to follow them. And sometimes i ask him if i can host his dog at my house for a few days so she can play with my daschund, and he was always glad to.
Anyway fast forward to last night. I was talking to V's friend and he told me V just came back to Toronto from a 4 day vacation. I ask him who's taking care of his dog during these 4 days and he said nobody. So I ask him what about the pooch's food and water? He said he is starving him for 4 days because he thinks she's too fat and his house was out of dog food anyway :eek: I'm like WTF? This is nuts, no dog can survive 4 days without food?? I ask him what about water and he said he drinks out of the toilet. I was outraged, and I called V immediately so I can take the dog home and give her some food and warmth. I then went to his apartment to pick up his dog, and surprise, he came back from his vacation and STILL didn't buy any dog food for her. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
So I took her home, and let her out to meet my home daschund, Piper. Piper is a really gentle guy, we never give him beatings and he is never ever aggressive to anybody or other dogs. Lily (the jack russell) was very insecure, barking constantly and never settling down when she sees Piper. I've never seen a dog this aggressive to another dog before. Me and my sister separate the dogs in separate rooms for the night but Lily barked the whole night as if something's bothering her. Needless to say I didn't get any sleep.
This morning I call V and tell him the dog is well and fed well. I told him about his barking problems and guess what V's solution to this was? He told me to give her beatings, not just a slap or a punch, but a KICK to the BACK END as if she was a soccer ball.. :( I couldn't believe it. I was like wouldn't this hurt the dog and he said nah, it's fine, she's always happy and jumping around after beatings. Just pet her good and she'll be fine, he said. I asked his friend if this is how he treats his dog, and they all confirmed it - Lily will only listen to commands and stop all mischief unless she get a beating. There is this one time, they said, when he beated her so severly she vomited blood. After a few days she was back to normal again so V thinks he saved the vet fees, they said.
So this is how Lily was raised - based on beatings. I could not bear myself to think how miserable her life would continue to be if I return her back to V tonight. But I have to get rid of the responsibility, because i have a lot of work due next week and I can't take care of a dog who will fight my other dog when unleashed. I thought they could get along.
He admitted it himself that he never liked the dog. So I asked him why don't you take it to the humane centre so other familes can give her a loving home, and he said those people are more cruel to animals (like, yeah, whatever!!!!!:rolleyes: ).
My sister is strongly suggesting that I surrender Lily to the humane centre tonight without V knowing. I dont know what I should do to save her life.
this is a picture of her.
http://members.rogers.com/keith.lau100/PICT0032.jpg She can be very gentle, she gave me licks on the face last night... :( She's the way she is right now because of the way she was raised.
Can you please give me advice?? What would you do if you were in my shoes?
PS- PJ's pet store IS THE EVIL. If they had the tiniest sense to protect their animals they should have done a through evaluation of the adopters before they sell their dogs. Apparently they did not do that with Lily's sale. They sold Lily to V for $800 canadian dollars.
