I am sooo mad right now...GOOD update #28

I could cry!!!
My co-worker just told another co-worker that her two dogs (both small breed dogs, and one is a senior) live outside. Sure, we live in California. But we have been having freezing (even snow one day) weather. She says they have a bed and two blankets. Oh, and she feeds them everyday.
I said (over the cubicle wall) "People like you shouldn't have dogs!!". She said her sister told her the same thing. Supposedly her husband refuses to allow the dogs in the house. I told her to make her husband sleep outside and see how he likes it.
I almost want to go to her house and steal the dogs. But she has two daughters that would probably be upset. But still!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ugh, I can't even concentrate on my work now. Maybe I'll see if my mom has an extra dog house I could give her.

That sucks. I say go get the dogs ;) I doubt if anyone will be that upset; they don't seem like the kind of people who would really even care.

Why not call animal control?

If she seems to want the dogs inside, but her husband doesn't, maybe you could help and her daughters convince them to keep the dogs inside! Remember what we all went through with Roxyluvsme13 - she lived with her mom, who thought Roxy shouldn't be an inside dog, and after much persuasion, she is now inside, has been for a long time, and is a healthier happy dog and household!

:( Yes that is very sad that they dont have dog houses.. Thats a great idea of maybe you can find the dogs a couple of if so used dog houses.. You might ask if they can put the dogs in the garage or something like that..

Well since I posted this I learned from another co-worker that she told her she doesn't even really like animals and doesn't care what happens to the dogs. :mad: So why not find them a good home?!?! Her answer to that would be because her daughters would be upset. Phooey!!!

Sandie - My friend/co-worker and I have thought about calling AC on her. And if I can't find a solution another way I most certainly will. But remember, she feeds them everyday. :rolleyes:

I'll talk to my mom on my way home from work today and see if she has anything I could bring back with me this weekend. Like an extra vari-kennel or something.

I will ask about the garage too, but I'm sure the husband doesn't want them in there either. :mad:

Thanks for the replies everyone. I will keep you updated on this situation. :)

That's a shame. Poor pups. I'll never understand why people have dogs and then leave them outside all the time. What's the point unless they're guard dogs??? :confused:

They have been saying all over the news how dangerous it is this week to leave animals outside because of our record lows. I was thinking last night how bad I feel for all the homeless people and the pets left outside it is just so cold here this week.

My friend in placerville is snowed in, can you believe that?

Okay, if she doesn't care about the animals, tell her her daughters are learning a bad lesson, and that it would be better for both dogs and daughters if the dogs got a new home where they can get better care. If the daughters love the dogs, I bet they will want that for the dogs anyway. If the dogs are being fed regularly, I doubt Animal Control will intervene.

Oh, I can't stand to hear stories like this! Just be careful, Cindy. A late friend of mine felt bad about a dog that she saw chained near the cemetery where she visited her mother's grave. The dog had no food or water so she had a bag of groceries in her car, took out the pack of hot dogs and fed a couple of them to the dog and gave it some of her bottled water. The police were waiting for her when she got home and they told her that they would arrest her if she interfered again. My friend was in her 70's at the time and she cried when she told me the story. I don't know the laws and/or if they differ from state to state, so a word of caution. Have a care, Cindy. And good luck. :love:

Oh Cindy I'm so sorry. It is frustrating :o Those poor pups. Maybe someone at ARF knows an answer? I think you need to convince her to rehome the dogs. It is a terrible example to those kids. Much better a short sadness for the daughters than the continuing sadness of these dogs. You should try Freecycle for dog houses to start with maybe. :( It's heartbreaking really. I hope they suffer the same fate sometime. :mad:

Update!

I found a large box at home and brought it to work. I told her I had it for her and she was receptive to it. I asked her about the garage and she said they used to go in the garage but they recently moved and are now renting and the husband doesn't want them messing up the garage. He does nothing with the dogs, she cleans up after them and the girls help feed them.
I asked her (several times) why she even has dogs. She said she likes dogs. And she even mentioned she was going to get a real dog house for them. She thinks the younger dog will chew up the cardboard box I brought, but she's going to use it for now anyway. I told her she'd better use it! And that if I knew where she lived I'd come check and make sure she is using it.

Oh, she also bought them Snuggie's for dogs for Xmas. She said she'll give them to them now. But again, she's afraid the younger one will chew them up. He chews everything.

Another thing that really peeved me was she said neither of them are house trained and that's why they aren't allowed in the house. Ok, so why would you get two small breed dogs and NOT house train them? Answer: because you know they will LIVE outside!!!:mad:

Oh well, I'm doing all I can in this situation. I will be asking her often about them to make sure they are okay. When I asked her why she had dogs I was waiting for her to say because the girls like them. My response to that was going to be - then what do you think will happen when the dogs die because they froze to death? But she didn't answer the way I thought she would.

So tomorrow I will be asking if she set up the box for them. I told her to cover the box with a tarp or blanket too. We shall see.

Thank you, everyone, for your input on this. :)

good grief, dogs have been living outdoors for centuries. You think the first tamed wolf came right in thru the doggie door and plopped himself in front of the fireplace? I've had dogs before. They lived outside and were perfectly content to do so (although I brought them in at feeding time). I know tons of people who still own dogs. Those dogs live outside too... and it gets chilly here (was 20 this morning). Bottom line, just because a dog lives outside doesn't mean it's gonna die. People don't keep their packs of hunting beagles in the house. As long as the dogs have a warm place to curl up and get out of the weather, they should be fine....especially if they're grown and have lived outside all their lives.

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Originally Posted by aTailOf2Kitties

good grief, dogs have been living outdoors for centuries. You think the first tamed wolf came right in thru the doggie door and plopped himself in front of the fireplace? I've had dogs before. They lived outside and were perfectly content to do so (although I brought them in at feeding time). I know tons of people who still own dogs. Those dogs live outside too... and it gets chilly here (was 20 this morning). Bottom line, just because a dog lives outside doesn't mean it's gonna die. People don't keep their packs of hunting beagles in the house. As long as the dogs have a warm place to curl up and get out of the weather, they should be fine....especially if they're grown and have lived outside all their lives.

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Well okay then. What am I worrying about then? :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by aTailOf2Kitties

good grief, dogs have been living outdoors for centuries. You think the first tamed wolf came right in thru the doggie door and plopped himself in front of the fireplace? I've had dogs before. They lived outside and were perfectly content to do so (although I brought them in at feeding time). I know tons of people who still own dogs. Those dogs live outside too... and it gets chilly here (was 20 this morning). Bottom line, just because a dog lives outside doesn't mean it's gonna die. People don't keep their packs of hunting beagles in the house. As long as the dogs have a warm place to curl up and get out of the weather, they should be fine....especially if they're grown and have lived outside all their lives.

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Most states have laws that say the outside dogs must have shelter
(dog house) for each dog, along with water & food. It doesn't appear
that these people have provided these minumum needs.

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Originally Posted by aTailOf2Kitties

good grief, dogs have been living outdoors for centuries. You think the first tamed wolf came right in thru the doggie door and plopped himself in front of the fireplace? I've had dogs before. They lived outside and were perfectly content to do so (although I brought them in at feeding time). I know tons of people who still own dogs. Those dogs live outside too... and it gets chilly here (was 20 this morning). Bottom line, just because a dog lives outside doesn't mean it's gonna die. People don't keep their packs of hunting beagles in the house. As long as the dogs have a warm place to curl up and get out of the weather, they should be fine....especially if they're grown and have lived outside all their lives.

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And Cindy said all they have is a bed and 2 blankets. That's adequate shelter from the weather??? :confused: It appears that these dogs do not have a warm place to curl up and get out of the weather. She wouldn't have been looking to find a dog house for them if they did!!!

A bed isn't a shelter to protect those dogs from the elements; it's a place to sleep. Some people just have no common sense. Do what you can to help, Cindy, b/c it appears that these people just don't get it.

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Originally Posted by Medusa

A bed isn't a shelter to protect those dogs from the elements; it's a place to sleep. Some people just have no common sense. Do what you can to help, Cindy, b/c it appears that these people just don't get it.

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Oh I am. :)

God bless you, Cindy, for caring about these dogs more than their owners seem to. Thank you.

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Originally Posted by aTailOf2Kitties

good grief, dogs have been living outdoors for centuries. You think the first tamed wolf came right in thru the doggie door and plopped himself in front of the fireplace? I've had dogs before. They lived outside and were perfectly content to do so (although I brought them in at feeding time). I know tons of people who still own dogs. Those dogs live outside too... and it gets chilly here (was 20 this morning). Bottom line, just because a dog lives outside doesn't mean it's gonna die. People don't keep their packs of hunting beagles in the house. As long as the dogs have a warm place to curl up and get out of the weather, they should be fine....especially if they're grown and have lived outside all their lives.

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Dogs may have decended from wolves, but they are not the same by any means. Thousands of years of breeding has changed dogs. Dogs are no where near as suited to living in the wild as wolves are. I am sure some can, but many breeds would never survive, they ALL decended from wolves. That's like saying your cats would be perfectly suited outside because they decended from lions and tigers.

I am not against outdoor dogs by any means, However, I am against people who keep their dogs out with no shelter, no food, no attention and no medical care.

Cindy, I hope you can help these poor babies. They don't deserve that at all.

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Originally Posted by aTailOf2Kitties

good grief, dogs have been living outdoors for centuries. You think the first tamed wolf came right in thru the doggie door and plopped himself in front of the fireplace? I've had dogs before. They lived outside and were perfectly content to do so (although I brought them in at feeding time). I know tons of people who still own dogs. Those dogs live outside too... and it gets chilly here (was 20 this morning). Bottom line, just because a dog lives outside doesn't mean it's gonna die. People don't keep their packs of hunting beagles in the house. As long as the dogs have a warm place to curl up and get out of the weather, they should be fine....especially if they're grown and have lived outside all their lives.

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I'm glad you no longer own dogs.

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Originally Posted by caseysmom

I'm glad you no longer own dogs.

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My dogs had big comfy doghouses to sleep in, and plenty of attention. They got exercised several times a day, every day, rain or shine. They came inside for feeding and when it was below freezing.

both of my dogs lived to a ripe old age despite living outside most of their lives. The beagle came inside as soon as she got old and we couldn't keep any weight on her, around age 10. She died in my arms at the vet's office of a seizure despite being on meds for many years. She was 15 and also had arthritis, and chronic pancreatitis, both being treated. Living outside or inside had no relevance to what ultimately killed her.

My Elkhound became inside also around age 10, after having exploratory surgery to fix a mistake a vet made when spaying her as a pup (used non-absorbable sutures inside, eventually causing a pocket of infection, making her sick). She was left inside to recover since it was winter and I didn't want her incision getting filthy. Then I moved to an apartment and she came with me. Despite being an inside dog at that point, she was old and began suffering from "old dog" problems: arthritis, senility, incontience, worn out teeth etc, all being medicated. She died at age 15 when her poor feeble old body just couldn't take it any more.

I ask you, do you seriously believe that being an inside dog all of thier lives would have made any difference in their lifespan? Don't inside dogs suffer the same health problems mine eventually did? Does spending your entire life indoors prevent arthritis? Pancreatitis? Senility? Epilepsy?

Now tell me again I was a bad owner. I guess I should have left my beagle in the drainpipe where I found her at 4 months old, blanketed in ticks. She clearly didn't deserve to spend her life in my back yard, she'd have been better off wandering in the streets until she was run over or attacked by other strays. Or sent to the local shelter which was notorious for being a filthy, disease-ridden hellhole. I guess I should have left the Elkhound wandering around the neighborhood living off of scraps and risking life and limb trying to get food from other outside dogs. God forbid I give her a forever home and lots of love and attention, albeit outside.

Truly the lady with the small dogs needs to get them a doghouse if they're outside. I think it's the law in most states. If she doesn't care about them then she needs to find a better home. On these 2 points we all agree. But don't you sit here and tell me that dogs should never be allowed to live outside, as I have known a lot of other people with outside dogs that are just as happy and healthy as your pampered indoor pooches.

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I think that's nice of you to try and get those dogs a dog house where they'll have something to keep them warm ;) It is sad that the dogs are kept outside-since they're small-I kinda think smaller dogs should be kept in-they are just so small and seem way more delicate-but I'm not against keeping dogs outside all the time. We have 4 big dogs a great pyrenees, a german shepherd and 2 lab mixes. They have to live outside cause we just couldn't keep them inside. Maybe if we had only 1 big dog then it could stay in, but we don't..so... We do have 4 small dogs tho and they all stay inside the house. We let them out everyday and they'll run around for 20 minutes or so and then come back to the door and we'll let them in. You know I'm not sure if this is the case w/ your friend or not but sometimes people can't keep their dogs inside-maybe someone's alergic to them? I dunno....I haven't read all the other post before this one, but I do hope everything works out for them and the dogs get taken care of better :)

aTailOf2Kitties - I'm not saying dogs can't live outside. I'm saying these small dogs should not be outside when the temps have been below freezing. We had snow this past Monday!! These are California dogs, they aren't used to these temps. One of the dogs is a senior, I believe he's around 10 or 12 years old by now.
I'm pretty sure she takes them to the vet. At least she told me today she did. But I do know they do not have adequate shelter for this weather. That is why I provided a box and will keep bugging her about getting them a "real" doghouse.

Genny - nobody in the house is allergic to them. The husband is an a$$ and won't allow them in the house or the garage.

if she can't afford proper doghouses, she should at least get some plastic totes with a doorway cut out of them. Those are cheap, easy to come by, and washable.

Oh the Channel 4 news last evening there was a feature on Michigan Humane Society cruelty investigators going out and picking up dogs and cats that had been left outside in the brutal cold here and had become seriously injured or even frozen to death.

They said that if a pet must live outside in this weather, it needs an enclosed shelter such as a dog house, with straw in it for warm bedding and insulation because towels or blankets can easily become wet and then freeze, leaving the animal with a bed of ice to lay down on.

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Originally Posted by aTailOf2Kitties

if she can't afford proper doghouses, she should at least get some plastic totes with a doorway cut out of them. Those are cheap, easy to come by, and washable.

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Good idea! I'll suggest this to her.

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Originally Posted by phesina

Oh the Channel 4 news last evening there was a feature on Michigan Humane Society cruelty investigators going out and picking up dogs and cats that had been left outside in the brutal cold here and had become seriously injured or even frozen to death.

They said that if a pet must live outside in this weather, it needs an enclosed shelter such as a dog house, with straw in it for warm bedding and insulation because towels or blankets can easily become wet and then freeze, leaving the animal with a bed of ice to lay down on.

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I will also tell her about the straw. Thanks for the ideas everyone! :D

My co-worker and her husband (surprise!!) made a dog house for the dogs this weekend. She even sent me a picture of it. She said the dogs LOVE it! They wouldn't even come out this morning to be fed. LOL
I am so happy now. I feel so much better! :D

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Originally Posted by Taz_Zoee

My co-worker and her husband (surprise!!) made a dog house for the dogs this weekend. She even sent me a picture of it. She said the dogs LOVE it! They wouldn't even come out this morning to be fed. LOL
I am so happy now. I feel so much better! :D

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And I feel so much better about this story too............and much of the thanks goes to you!!

Good job making those dogs have a safer, more comfortable life.

Oh awesome!!!:D THANK YOU for pursing this, Cindy!! I am sure those puppers are very thankful- and warm! :)
Bless your heart!

That's great news! Welcome home, doggies!

Cindy, thank you so much for making a real difference for these dogs, perhaps even savingtheir lives.

That's great news! Welcome home, doggies!

Cindy, thank you so much for making a real difference for these dogs, perhaps even saving their lives.

Thanks everyone. I probably wouldn't have been so persistent if it wasn't for Pet Talk.
Now my next challenge will be in the summer when it's over 100 degrees outside. :rolleyes:

That is fantastic! Sometimes, folks just need some educating.

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Originally Posted by Taz_Zoee

Thanks everyone. I probably wouldn't have been so persistent if it wasn't for Pet Talk.
Now my next challenge will be in the summer when it's over 100 degrees outside. :rolleyes:

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I am so happy to hear this update.:D:love:

Don't let people say that no one person can make a big difference in
a dog's life.:D

Fabulous news, Cindy! Ya dun good! Makes you feel wonderful, doesn't it? :D