OT - rant about people who neglect their animals in bad weather

[Frances144]

Ooooh, I am furious.

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

[gunug]

Yep, I don't know a lot about the care and feeding of horses (don't own any and never have) but I will get pretty twisted about the dogs being left outside all day here in the winter w/o water and shelter.

[Highmac]

Frankly, your acquaintance deserves to be dealt with. Does the RSPCA - or is it the SSPCA up there? - have an inspector on the islands? She needs to be taken to court and banned from keeping animals, assuming that can be done under Scottish law (it certainly happens down here under English law).

[Frances144]

Sadly, this place is small.  They pay our wages for winter and we give them stables and fields.  They are expected to look to their animals, not us.  I am told they "visit" their animals every day - I have yet to see them.  Of course, they may go in the night!

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

[gunug]

Frances - There is already a lower level of hell waiting for those you mistreat animals like that.    

[jcarter]

Ive turned in several people in our town who leave their dogs tied out in bad weather.
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

[Frances144]

So could I......

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

[jcarter]

Oh, stories like this happen here too, we had rented our aunt's house after she passed away, to a man who seemed to be on hard times. Had weekend custody of his little kids and seemed pretty honest.  Actually I told him that he didnt need to pay us anything if he would mow the huge lawn and field and paint the house inside and out, which he did.    
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

[Frances144]

Ouch!

[Xairbusdriver]

We haven't brought in our fish yet, but that would be harder on them, anyway! But we're pouring hot water in a skillet so it can melt a hole in the ice. The fish seem pretty smart about finding the 'warmer' water nearer the bottom of the pond! How do they know that ice floats! But they still need oxygen and it doesn't go through ice too easily. Fortunately, our water usually only freezes for a few days at a time and seldom more than half an inch then. pretty easy to melt some large holes. So far, none of the fish have tried to get out into warmer water as I hear they do in Minnesota where they cut holes in the ice!

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!

[kimmer]

People mistreating animals is why we had 5 cats and 1 dog at one point in time. All of our cats, and our dog, were rescues.

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.

[Frances144]

Wow!

[jcarter]

Wow, that is wonderful! Scary story. Dogs are the best, better than a lot of humans too.
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

[Dreambird]

Well... this might be a good time to introduce my new little buddy, Fidget:



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...

[Frances144]

This is my little treasure.  THE BEAN!!!  







Heroic Actions: 0
Loves her mum:  Lots