PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post

Squiggle Dog · #8 08-23-2018, 01:48 PM

Regarding the deleted post, it's certainly not an acceptable way to "take care of roaming/stray dogs". As was said, the dogs are innocent and it's the fault of the owners/pet parents/lack thereof. There's also no telling how many other animals and wildlife (possibly children, too) could become poisoned. It's good that the post was removed.

It's also not acceptable that anyone should be in danger of being bitten, so certainly action should be taken against those responsible for being so irresponsible with their dogs. I spent a few years in a small town where letting one's dog roam wasn't a big deal as there wasn't much traffic and the dogs were mostly pretty well-behaved, but I personally wouldn't let my dog roam free because I don't feel it's responsible nor safe for the dog. In fact, the one time my family had a dog, she got hit by a car and killed the next day, illustrating the dangers of not keeping your pets enclosed on your property. If a person feels their pet "needs to be free", they should take them on long walks where they can be supervised to make sure no harm comes to them nor anyone else.

When I lived in Washington, there was a neighbor with a little dog that would come into my yard and incessantly bark viciously at me whenever I was outside. It got very annoying, so I told the neighbor about the problem and then it kept happening, so I went over and told her in a stern voice to please keep her dog in her own fenced back yard.

Then after I left, she came back over and started yelling at me, saying, "Oh, so my dog can't be on your property, yet you can trespass onto my property to tell me that my dog's annoying you?!" I said, "Yes, you need to take care of your dog!" Then she responded, "So you're telling me to stomp on my dog!" I said, "No, keep your dog contained!" I ended up just calling Animal Control each time and she was compelled to keep her dog within her yard or be fined.

Irresponsible people letting poorly behaved animals run free are certainly a problem, but killing the animal is never the ethical solution unless it's in self-defense. If it continues to be a problem, I say be relentless. Make it so miserable for the neighbor that they have to cave. Just poisoning the animal and maybe others in the process is the easy way out and pretty disgusting.

I'm not saying that an animal's life is worth more than a human's, but that the animal shouldn't be killed just because it's the easiest and most convenient way. The problem needs to be solved at the cause--the "caretaker". Otherwise, what's to keep the problem from perpetuating? They'll be right back getting another dog that they won't keep contained.