Last Saturday I got into my car to run an errand and saw a small dog walking up my street. I live on a relatively busy street that leads to an even busier county road, read: lots of fast moving cars and idiot drivers. Not the safest place for a dog.
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| This is a dog. It's not the actual dog I found. I just needed a cute dog picture for the post. So sue me. |
That was my first mistake.
I checked the dog for signs of ownership. No collar, no tags, no leash, no identifying marks. I brought the dog into my house and put it in my dog crate (I had my husband put our two boys outside so they didn't think I had brought them a chew toy). I posted the dog's picture on our HOA Facebook page alerting anyone who may be missing a dog to the fact that I had found one. Then I ran my errand.
When I got back, I checked the HOA Facebook page and saw no results, so I decided to check the dog to see if I could provide more details (male or female, coloring, age, etc). That's when I saw that this poor dog was infested with fleas and flea eggs. And it was sitting in my dog crate, with our blankets and our dog towels. Oh hell no. I treat my dogs for fleas with Frontline every month and I can't have an untreated dog infested with fleas in my house. No flipping way. So I called the local animal control office to make sure they were there on the weekend, and I got dressed, put the dog in a carrier and brought it to their office.
Let me make this perfectly clear: had this dog been flea-free, and not shown signs of infestation, I would have kept the dog all day, hoping that the owner could be located. However, that is not the case. This dog, this sweet innocent animal was crawling with fleas, and keeping it around my dogs was not an option.
Upon returning from the animal control office, someone messaged me that they knew who the owner was.
Then the owner saw my FB post on our HOA page and, I shit you not, accused me of stealing her dog.
You read that right. She said I stole her dog. But wait it gets better. These are literally, word for word, the posts she made on my Facebook post. Keep in mind, I found her dog. I made sure it did not get hit by a car. I could've just looked the other way and let someone else deal with it. But I didn't. This was the owner's response to my post. Each sentence was posted in a separate comment.
You can pay the $50 to pick her up
And I will file charges against you for stealing her I saw you drive off
They will not release her and I am coming to your house
!!!!!!!!! (I'm not lying, that was an actual individual comment right there)
I just called 911
And I am waiting for the officer to call me
That's wrong what you did
And I don't have time for this (apparently she had time to post on FB over and over)
I am filing a civil case.
You do not steal any pet !! And it's reported
I would shut your mouth !!
(someone posted here that I had done the right thing, the owner responded below)
No let someone steal your dog
See how you react
These people have nothing better to do pretty sad
It was wrong and it's been reported I wont drop it I will do what I have to !!
Ok so here's the deal. Had the owner spent money on proper care of the dog (ie flea meds), she wouldn't have had to bail her dog out of doggie lockup.
I always try to teach my children to do the right thing. To make good choices and to help others if you are able. And yet, I thought I was doing the right thing, and it came back to bite me in the ass.
Did I do the wrong thing by taking the dog to animal control? Would you have kept a flea-infested animal around your animals? In your flea-free house? Or am I the bad guy here. I'd love to know what you think.
If you liked this post, perhaps you'll enjoy reading about the time I found something on Henry that no dog should have.