Today I lived a lesson that @Rhondak had told me.
The Lesson: Appalachian people are brainless, heartless, and senseless.
My family and I went down to my cousin house today for Easter. after sitting down and eating we all walked outside and I noticed a brown dog on the porch a house down from us. I asked my cousins about it. They told me that the lady had gotten the dog when her neighbors house burned down. She took him and put him on a chain in her front yard. His owners said that they would come back and get him in a couple of days...they never came back. Since then she has feed the dog and got him a "dog house". I really appreciate her doing that when she did not have to. The neighborhood they live in is a rough one, last Christmas someone was shot in the road, there are drugs and everything else down there. It also is the spot for stray and abandoned dogs. I have seen so many and though some people try to keep and feed them, almost always they are left on a chain for the rest of their lives.
Now here is where things get interesting. I heard the dogs story and my cousins informed me that the lady has trouble feeding the two dogs she has and now has another mouth to feed. They even take scraps over for the dog. Me being the dog lover I am, wanted to do something to help. I got the idea to contact a pitbull rescue. The dog is a pit mix of some type. I was going to write a Steemit post and try to raise money to send this dog far away from Appalachia's horrible epidemic. Somewhere that would give him a loving home and a cozy bed to lay on instead of the cold hard ground. I knew that I would have to ask the lady who is taking care of it, and that is just what I did.
My wonderful mom drove me back to her house after we left and I got the idea. I knocked on her door and asked her what she was going to do with it. She said that she was going to keep it. I told her that I wanted to raise money and send the dog to a rescue where he would get a loving home. Guess what she said..."Well I am going to keep him until I get tired of him." What? I immediately wanted to scream at her and tell her what I thought of that comment. I did not, only because it would cause problems for my family and myself. This lady who can not take care of these dogs will not accept help because she wants a guard dog. Let me tell you something, that dog is no guard dog. He didn't even bark when I walked up on her porch. She does not see anything wrong with what she is doing. She put him on a chain that does not have a swivel so it gets all tangled up, she does not have any water bowls out there for him or the other dogs, she can not even properly feed them, yet when given help she denies it. Brainless.
Now, what really got to me was the 'until I get tired of him' comment. I can not imagine someone saying such a thing about a dog. Sadly, around here it happens all the time. So many times people will give puppies to a rescue, but they will keep the mother to continue to breed her and then sell the offspring. So many scenarios of people just having a dog for their personal benefit. I believe if you get a pet it is because you want a best friend, a family member, and a companion. Not to these people. They treat dogs like trash and think that everything that they are doing is okay. These people just do not have a heart.
Lastly, one thing that this person and so many people lack when it comes to animals, is common sense. Now if I stuck a person outside on a chain that kept getting stuck, with no water, and little food, how do you think they would feel. Would that be "okay". No, so why can they not think about that. They just do not think about the consequences their actions have. That friendly dog will probably be left on a chain for a long time if not his life. He will not get to feel the love that he deserves, all because people just do not care.
I do appreciate what the lady did for the dog. She did give him a place to stay, when he would have been homeless. That does not excuse the fact that she would rather have him on a chain infront of her house, when he could get a great home somewhere else.
I am slowly learning that no matter how hard I try I can not save them all. I can try to help as many as I can, but there are always different things that can interfere with trying to help a dog. Pitbulls are so hard to get help for. Not all rescues can take them, rescues take the dogs they know that they can place and most times pits do not fall in that category. It is sad, but it is what happens, and sadly I can understand. Working @Tarc has really opened my eyes to what all goes into animal rescue. If you can not adopt the dog to a great home then you can not keep getting the dogs because you will be over run with dogs that can not get homes. Yes, you can rehabilitate and help the dogs, but that costs money and takes time, two things that are hard to come by in rescue. All I can do is pray and hope that the women realizes what she is doing is wrong and changes.
Thank you to everyone who reads and upvotes my post.