ATV Florida Forum

Ok here is the backround:
  Our shop is in the north end of Apopka near all the nurseries. We have a smaller female brindle pit that has been hanging around. She has very tame and somewhat skittish. She has scars and welt marks that appear to be abuse IMO >:( . She "lives" in a trailer that one of the nursury ground people live in. However, she used to come to our shop to hang out with Sprocket (our dog) every evening at the same time. She doesn't leave until we do and even then it is hard to get her to come out of the office. Recently she has been here more and more. The UPS man says he recognizes her and that the guy used to jog down the road with a rope tied to her neck (no harness) and make her drag tires  >:( . So I have been encouraging her to come around more by giving her food and loving attention. The last week she has been laying at the shop door waiting for us in the morning.

Anyway, I know she had a litter of pups about 4 months or so ago and now she is in heat again. I know if she gets pregnant she will likely have them here or bring them here because she is comfortable here and I dont want to deal with that. I made an appointment with the humane society to Spay her tomorrow and Mike disagrees with me. he says we can't just steal someones dog and do that......

OPINIONS PLEASE  :)

Dont do it, Even though it will be a pain in the butt if she has them around the shop, you have to remember its not your dog, If the owner finds out, their has to be somethign he can sue for if you do this kinda thing to HIS dog.

I would.  At the least contact the humane society as you did, explain it to them and see what they say. These nitwits that own her obviously don't care and besides, you know that don't have the pups wormed or anything, and that's just wrong.  Or you could tell the human society you assumed she was a stray, what proof would the actual owners have to contrary.  Besides there is a Florida leash law and they are obviously breaking that law. 

Good luck....

You're kind to go out of your way for that poor dog. I say fix her. Hopefully she'll get a good home away from the jerk with the tires, but if not at least he won't be torturing any more helpless animals, or selling them for fighting. If he says anything you can always say she had no tag and you thought it was a stray. Sometimes doing the right thing isn't always liked by everyone, but it's still the right thing in my opinion.
a solid white pit showed up just over a year ago on my doorstep (on my son's 4th birthday) my dog tried to attack her. I grabbed my dog and my wife opened the door so I could secure my dog. the pit walked in and has been here ever since. I placed ads and posters around thinking she was just lost. I had many people ask to take and even offer to buy her. I declined since many mentioned fighting, and the last thing she needs is to be bred when there are so many animals already out there. and to top it off she's stone deaf. I'm kind of stuck with her since I can't find a good home that will care for her.
sorry I got side tracked there, but any way yes fix the dog. feed her and keep her or find her a good home.
Cain

If she is a stray the pound or whomever else picked her up would automoatically do it! If you want to take care of this animal it is the right thing to do.Even if you dont keep her.Imagine all the pups and the hardships they will endure if even able to survive. It needs to be done period!Thousands of animals are put down every year. I rescue German Shepheards & all mine (4) even w/papers are fixed....

yes you do have a valid point....

BUT-

obviously this owner doesn't care too much about her or else he would be concerned with where she is and what not.... my reccomendation is to take her somewhere where you can find out if she is microchipped or not & then go from there...

Thats what we did. A dog came to our house, hung around, no collar ,sings of abuse (ribs were showing) we brought it to the humane society and no one claimed it within a week, so we spayed it and adopted it. Now she is a spoiled brat and loves her life.

That's what I reccomend ....

thats what you should do. ;)

Melissa,
I know this might suck, but taking someelses dog to do with as you feel the need to is wrong! No matter how wright it might seem!  Your idea of what to do is heart felt and probably what the owner should do, but it is not your dog.  I personally would talk to the owner and express my concerns.  But that might lead to "friction" or confrontation.  Me personally, I like some means of confrontation, especially with idiots.  But you seem to be a person who does not! On the other hand, calling someone could lead to the dogs extermination.
I used to make my dog run tires! But mine was with a harness and for training other than fighting other dogs.  Not a bad thing, even dogs need exercise. I dont know the owner or the dog, but, it seems to me that someone might need to say something before doing something! :-\
jt

take it to the humane society and in a week go adopt it. then the owner cant say anything. you will have documents that you own the dog. he will have had his chance to get it back. just tell them that you want it so they dont adopt it to someone else.

Fix her. She would probably thank you as well.

I talked to the nursery owner(our landlord).The kid that used to run her doesn't live around here anymore. The groundskeeper that lives in the trailer she came from doesn't speak english. He takes ok care of 2 of the male pups out of her last litter but otherwise ignores her. Mr. Bill doesnt seem to think the guy will notice or even care, he just thinks it is a waste of my time to care about the dog and to leave her be.

What you want to do for that dog is awsome but she is not your dog and I agree with Mike. Even though her current owner seems to "abuse" her she is still not your dog. If this is something that you feel strongly about doing ask the UPS guy which trailer she belongs to and tell the owner what you plan on doing if she continues to show up at your shop. Legally even if she is abused you do not have the right to choose to spay a strangers dog espically when you can locate their owner. Maybe if she was a lost dog you took in and no one ever claimed her.  

In all honesty if you really feel she has or is being abused then I would recommend calling the SPCA and have her picked up. Like someone else mentioned then they will do it automatically. If the owner of her "abuses" her imagine what they could do to someone who just decides to do the right thing for the dog and spay her. Report her as a possibly abused dog - give them the info the UPS guy told you and let them come get her and do the right thing for her. Take yourself out of the equation

Look at it this way- if she was your dog (and you were abusing her or not abusing her, but either way she looked rough) how would you feel if someone in a sense violated your dog?? I know I would be pissed.

 

(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/ATPRacing36/080206024.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/ATPRacing36/080206025.jpg)

Sprocket loving on her
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/ATPRacing36/080206021.jpg)

Melissa, I definately would have her spayed. She is a sweet dog and seeing how her and Sprocket have become such good buddies it may not be a bad idea. The only thing that would hold me up is the fact that she's someone else's dog. Talking to them first would be the best thing thats for sure. But just reading your last post I dont see that being much of an issue. As long as the owner no longer wants the dog then I'd say go for it. The last thing anyone needs is a bunch of "unwanted" puppies running around, not to mention if she has them in the shop, lol.

I was just going to fix sprocket this month, but then , the more I thought about it, it won't change the fact the every other stray around here will take care of business even if he doesnt.....  :( and there will still be pups around here  :-\

Melissa - Is she tagged/licensed? If she is not tagged keep in mind as soon as you walk into the SPCA they are going to nail you with Licensing fees, vaccinations as well as cost to have her spayed. She has to be licensed if I am not mistaken at least in Pinellas county they do.

If you license her in your name the owner can come after you if they choose for "stealing" their dog. 

We can obviosly see the previosu owner is a low-life for abusing a dog, whats to say he wont find a way to press charges and act even more like an @-hole and suddenly care abotu the dog just to get some quick cash out of someone trying to help.
I like the idea 04250 put out, I think what he did is probably the best way to go.

When I called the SPCA this morning, she said the only thing required is a rabies shot. No licensing. She has no tags or collars or anything. I thought she was a stray until a couple months ago when my landlord said she came from that trailer.

I used to work at animal care & control here in west palm & what i reccomend doing is this: Go to the current owner & ask him / her if they want to keep her & care for her, if they answer no then I would do what ever needs to be done to get the dog into good health.

After all - She is an animal that can't care for her self !

I can see where some would say it's not your dog leave her be or call the pound, but I think it's more important to take care of those that can't take care of theirselves than to honor the wishes of the idiots that won't take care of them in the first place. Check into it but if you call the pound on her they might put her down. I had a friend tell me about a full bred Rott he was trying to find a home for. the girl that owned her paid big money for her had papers and all. she was moving to another state and wasn't taking the dog. she dropped her off at the humane society before I could get her. she said just go pick her up. I went in and they wouldn't release the dog to me. they said the original owner had to come back for her. They also said it had to be within 24 hours or they would be putting the dog down since she was a full grown rott. I'd hate to see a potentially great pet put down due to an irresponsible owner and an unfortunate set of circumstances. Good luck making a difficult decision. No matter what you do the fact that you were so concerned and willing to go out of your way for this dog shows what kind of person you are.

She might not have to be licensed to have it done but most likely before you leave with her they will make you license her. Pinellas county can't be the only county that requires all dogs/cats to be licensed. See if you can pull up their website for your county.

This is off the Pinellas County SPCA site:

Please Note: If the animal has a medical problem, it must be taken care of before the spay-neuter surgery is performed. Animals are expected to be in good general health. The SPCA program provides the surgery for dogs, cats, and rabbits. Vaccinations (Rabies and Distemper Series) are included if your animal requires them. A Pinellas County license must be purchased for $6.00 if your dog or cat does not have a current license.


When ours were "arrested" lol and we had to get them back from the dog catcher
we were ticketed 37.00 for one not be licensed in Florida ever and 17.00 for the other one because he was expired.

 

Find a humanne society that adopts. If she is uncared for and on YOUR PROPERTY it is a STRAY. Drop her off & they will supply her with shots lisc. spay & adopt her to a good ho,e end of story. YOU CANT TAKE SOMEONES DOG IF IT IS RUNNING LOOSE.IT IS A STRAY OR A NUSIANCE ANIMAL AT THAT POINT.THE DOG COULD GET HIT BY A CAR AND DIE A CRUEL DEATH IF YOU DONT ACT!!!!!!!!!! :-[

This might get some $hit started but this is my take on the situation.  I own an American Staffordshire (Pit Bull) that is 5 years old.  If someone can't keep their dog on their property they shouldn't have the dog.  I can understand once or twice the dog getting away, things happen, but a dog that is repeatedly coming to your shop day in and day out is the unfortunate reason that this breed is targeted.  I would take her to get spayed no questions.

exactly.

I would call the humane society and ask what to do.

Apopka did you say? Better save her before she ends up in a taco. :E

I totally agree.... People think that my pits are bad, but they are really my little angels !

but i also think that the point that she might get put down at a animal shelter is a very valid one...

another reason, you don't want her to continue to breed and have puppies just because she can.  Spaying and neutering dogs is a great thing.  Unless you have all intentions of breeding and selling puppies for a purpose, i would recommend spaying or neutering to anyone.  My wife and I are both dog lovers and we have a jack russell terrier that we compete with almost every month somewhere.  Actually just spent 2k to fix her dislocated knee cap last week, so our dogs are basically our children.  We had her spayed because we have no intentions of breeding and selling puppies. 

Tough decision, I would say do it. Obviously the owner doesn't care about the dog and if the dog keeps getting knocked up then her puppies will probably end up dying due to lack of care.

I say do it,,,hopefully it doesn't change her attitude much and she stays a sweet dog.

Id@

That is true.... It's the worst feeling in the world to have a puppy, let alone a whole litter die due to lack of care...

We missed the appointment this morning. The next available appointment is in a month. I will use that time to do as much homework as possible. At that time even if she is pregnant they can still do it.

At this time I know that as far as the SPCA is concerned, there are no legal ramifications. I will look into private ones, too. It will cost me 59.00 for everything. 49.00 for the procedure and 10.00 for the Rabies shot.

At least by rescheduling, I can take the time to further look into everything. I do still intend to do it, if I legally can.

Thank you everyone for the imput  :)

I am locking the thread now  :)