Post by: Frances144 on December 02, 2006, 01:25:57 PM
We do livery of horses and ponies to a "friend" and she has left her ponies in a storm, with flooding to rot in their field. Yes, Shetland ponies are fine in a field most weathers, but she had starved this old pony all summer and it was like a toast-rack coming into a bad winter. She then did not bother to look at it while the storms raged on and it is now dead in the stream.
She was told and buggered off to town for us to sort as "she didn't know what to do". Aaaaaah!
Living here is tough, very tough in winter and you cannot leave animals to fend for themselves - you have to check and keep checking that they are alright and go out and sort it if it is not.
I am cross that some people just drift through life expecting the world to fall at their feet while they go shopping.
We told her time and time again to move her ponies to a more suitable field but no, she knew better (been here 6 months - we have been here 10 years) and now one is dead. Word will get around that it is one of our's and it is her neglect, stupidity and laziness that has caused this poor pony to die.
Furious, more gin and chocolate please.
THanks for listening
Francesx
Post by: gunug on December 02, 2006, 04:26:00 PM
Post by: Highmac on December 03, 2006, 05:03:19 AM
Post by: Frances144 on December 03, 2006, 06:10:06 AM
They talk about their animals far more than doing anything with them.
Calming down now but sad about digging a big hole.
Aah well.
Frances x
Post by: gunug on December 04, 2006, 02:13:44 AM
Post by: jcarter on December 05, 2006, 11:52:24 AM
And written some pretty caustic letters in our local paper about it.
Have been responsible for 2 dogs being confiscated by the athorities and adopted to good homes.
Our dog officer is a personal friend, and I am a 'spy' for him and our local dog pound.
So if everybody did this, we would have a lot better place to live in.
I could go on and on about this subject.
jane
Post by: Frances144 on December 05, 2006, 11:58:10 AM
Owners have left dead horse on side of our road for 4 days now. We have had to organise the digger and the hole and everything. They may turn up to help, but probably not as they were in town again!
What really really gets me (you've started me off again now!) is that when they found the dead horse stuck in the river, they said they could not deal with it and left.
YOU JUST CAN"T DO THAT!
It is horrible, we all know that. But if you have livestock, you have deadstock and you take a deep breath and get help, get on with it and sort the problem out - not leave it to someone else and walk away.
Totally pissed off - they are utterly utterly useless excuses for human beings.
Fx
Post by: jcarter on December 05, 2006, 12:44:33 PM
One day a neighbour called us and said he had 2 Scottish longhaired steers on the property, I called him and he gave me such a sad story about 'rescuing' them, so I let him keep them there. About a month later, I got another call, one had caught his horns in an old apple tree and broken his neck, and was lying dead not too far from where the school bus stop was and the kids spotted him thru the trees.
That was the end, I told him to sell the other one.
Come to find out, he stole most of my aunts furniture. So my brother and I kicked him out. He moved into some tiny place about 25 miles away, and let his kids play out in that messy yard whilst he was repairing a junk car. He went inside the house and left the junky running, no brakes and the thing slid across the yard and killed one of his kids.
That was nasty.
Jane
Post by: Frances144 on December 05, 2006, 01:07:01 PM
Post by: Xairbusdriver on December 05, 2006, 01:21:07 PM
Of course, Sweety, our pure bred 'scaredy cat', wouldn't go out for any of her nine lives! Her only problem is that I move around too much during the night and she has to be careful I don't roll over on her!
Post by: kimmer on December 05, 2006, 03:11:11 PM
Our dog, Buckles, had been abused with a broom (we figured that out because she would run and hide and whimper every time I swept the floor) - plus they had snipped her whiskers!
Sneakers found her wandering around and he brought her home. She was a wonderful, loving dog - part boxer, part shepherd, part who knows what all. At 65lbs, her size could be intimidating, but she was very friendly with people. Then came the day she and I were out walking around our block. Around 4pm, on a warmish summer day. Lots of sunlight, lots of folks around. I saw a man coming towards us, so I stepped up on a driveway and told Buckles to sit. She wouldn't sit - she stood - right in front of me. She strained at the leash and her shackles came up, and then the growl. I had never heard this sound before and it scared the tar out of me. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to hold onto her. This man kept coming towards us and I tried backing farther up the driveway. Then he stepped onto the driveway and Buckles went nuts. She barred her teeth and barked and growled and tugged to get loose. I told him he should just keep on walking. He kept talking to me and coming closer. The leash was about to snap and Buckles was ready to take this guy down, when the homeowner came out with a broom and chased the man away.
I stood there totally astonished. Once the guy was gone, Buckles was back to her happy-go-lucky self. The homeowner told me the man was a patient of a psych. doc at the corner and was dangerous. Obviously Buckles sensed the danger since she was alert long before this guy got close. I do think Buckles would have won the match, but I'm glad I didn't have to find out. I know I saw our dog in a different light after that, and never again did I ignore her warning signs. If she didn't like someone coming near us, I'd cross the street with her. I gave her snacks when we got home.
Post by: Frances144 on December 05, 2006, 03:21:04 PM
Post by: jcarter on December 05, 2006, 03:30:28 PM
I remember years ago, when a 2 year old wandered out of the house across the street from us before daybreak, and our dog went wild barking. He almost never barked, so my father came running downstairs into the kitchen and saw this soaking wet child in her nitegown. He immediatly brought her into the warm kichen and my mother wrapped her up in a big blanket. The kid had been to the beach and could have drowned.
We kept asking her name, every single name we came up with, she would say yes and smile, but when we used the name Martha, she would shake her head and say no.
We found the parents, they had borrowed the house across the street(related to them) and her name was indeed Martha!
So glad our dog woke us up,, the kid was so cold.
Jane
Post by: Dreambird on December 05, 2006, 03:38:25 PM
He's a 2yr. old Miniature Pinscher that I got in late July after my precious Spencer succumbed to cancer at 15 1/2 yrs. of age. He came to me via a MinPin breeder I became accquainted with up near Edmonton (Wetaskiwin) who offered him to me when the home he was in could no longer keep him.
Now... he's just a little guy about 9.5 lbs. and uses a litterbox similar to a cat but higher sides to cover the "leg-lift"... he just jumps in does his thing and jumps out. So he never HAS to go out when the winter weather is particularly nasty... and I get to change a litterbox. Which I don't mind...
*edit**
I put in a better pic. This one has nicer colour and shows off those big brown eyes...
Post by: Frances144 on December 05, 2006, 03:43:37 PM
Heroic Actions: 0
Loves her mum: Lots
Post by: kimmer on December 05, 2006, 07:43:18 PM
I love the pics. I'll have to dig out pics of our gang.Jane, great story.
Dogs and cats are far more perceptive than we give them credit for.
Post by: krissel on December 09, 2006, 05:33:38 AM
A couple weeks into our work we noticed a Shepherd mix in the woods and yard and assumed it belonged to a neighbor. But one day it was sleeting and the dog was just laying out in the yard covered with ice. That's when we realized she didn't have a home to go to. The kid next door confirmed it saying the dog was surviving on garbage and the dog catcher couldn't get anywhere near her.
The next day I brought a couple dog dishes, dry food and my Dad and I made a lean-to against the house with an army blanket inside. It wasn't long before we saw the food disappearing and dog hairs on the blanket. But she wouldn't let anyone near her and would run into the woods as I drove up each day.
So I started leaving leftovers from our dinner the night before on a plate out in the yard and each day brought it closer to the house. This went on for a couple weeks and she would come out of the woods, grab the food and back off. Then one day I had steak bones which I put on the plate and stepped back only a few feet from the plate and waited. She came out of the woods and approached as usual but this time she lay down to eat the meat off the bones. I took a chance and reached out to pet her. She didn't bat an eyelash, just kept gnawing away. I looked back toward the house and my Dad was standing there with a huge grin on his face. I'll never forget that moment.
After that day she wasn't afraid to let me come close though it took much longer before she let Dad get near. Within a couple weeks I had moved into the house and she moved in with me. I took her to the vet to get checked out and he showed me a huge scar under her fur and confirmed what I had suspected, that her tail had been broken and she couldn't move or wag it. She also couldn't sit down because of hip problems and either stood or lay down. Apparently she had been hit by a car or more likely badly mistreated and we are sure it must have been a man who did it since the only males she ever let get near her (or me) were my Dad and brother (made dating difficult). She required a special diet due to her prior injuries but she was worth the effort and expense.
Shadow (named because she always followed me) was my friend and security for the 8 years I was blessed to have her.
Post by: jcarter on December 09, 2006, 07:21:01 AM
Jane
Post by: Frances144 on December 09, 2006, 02:20:43 PM
Good for you.
I wish folk here were as nice as you.
Fx
Post by: D76 on December 09, 2006, 09:47:07 PM
I dodged the cars, grabbed the dog's collar, walked her over to my car and got her home. I had to put her in the basement because the house had no fence. We fed her scraps, and I went to the store for dog food. There was no number or any identification on its collar, but I phoned the SPCA and a radio station.
The next day a woman phoned, described her dog and came over. She was in tears when they were reunited. It turned out the dog was blind, and someone had left a gate open. She gave me a giant bottle of scotch! So everyone lived happily ever after — until the scotch ran out.
Post by: gunug on December 10, 2006, 04:46:45 AM
No, I actually lost my boyhood dog to being hit by a car; he was a beagle and loved to slip collars and dig out under fences.
Post by: jcarter on December 10, 2006, 06:53:46 AM
Me too, my little brother and I had a wonderful Beagle and lived about 5 miles from Rt 1 in Melbourne FL. Every single day when we got off the school bus, he would be there, not that day. So sad.
A friend of ours was driving on RT 128 outside of Boston one day when he spotted a skinny Golden Retreiver in the center just standing there while thousands of cars passed by. He drove his truck over into the median, and finally managed to coax the dog into the cab. No collar, nothing, no reports of missing dogs in that area, so he kept him.
Jane