I have a small-ish moral dilemma to ask advice about.
We are returning our two dogs to their Rescues - in fact, we returned the collie last Saturday and the lab/husky mix is going back this Saturday.
The main reasons they are going back is that they keep killing our chickens and they keep running away [they are both "door bolters" and will knock you down to get outside - they also are both very clever about figuring out new ways to get out of our fenced back yard when they are outside]. The collie was a MAJOR jumper and a big dog and I was afraid she was going to kill one of my little elderly neighbors [we have tons of seniors in this neighborhood who are always out walking] - she scared them to death and I am just sick of chasing both these stupid dogs down the street in summer in GA while pregnant... ugh. I'm also scared one of my kids is going to get hit by a car because they keep chasing after the stupid dogs after being told over and over that they aren't allowed to - but they are convinced the dogs will die if they don't chase them [they can't CATCH the dogs anyway, all it does is endanger my children!]
Anyway, some folks may think this makes me a terrible person to "abandon" these dogs, but I am really at peace with the decision at this point and I think it is the right decision. I put both dogs through obedience training, we've taken good care of them, both of them had serious [undisclosed by the rescues] behavior problems when we adopted them and I've managed to train MOST of those problem behaviors out of them - so both rescues are getting back MUCH better dogs than they adopted out.
Here is my dilemma.
We had had the collie for one year in May, and her shots were due in May. I had kept up her heartworm meds but had not gotten her to the vet for her shots yet. So, when I returned her, I also gave the woman a check for $150 to cover her vet bills. The woman at the collie rescue was *remarkably* kind about the whole thing - which surprised me. I had the feeling that she was so impressed that I had even tried to keep the dog after my DH left [she knew about all that because I had to stop fostering for her when that happened] and she was not upset with me AT ALL for bringing the dog back. She did not even want to take the check, but I insisted because I did feel like it was my responsibility to pay the dog's vet bills since she was behind.
Now, with the lab mix it has been a whole different story. We adopted him the last weekend of August last year, and he isn't due for his vet visit or shots yet. I did keep up his heartworm meds but he has not been to the vet since he's been here and he isn't due to go yet.
I've been trying for almost TWO WEEKS to get in touch with this rescue and it has really been a nightmare for me - very emotional and upsetting - our contract says they will ALWAYS take any of their dogs back for any reason and also states I'm not legally allowed to take him to any other shelter or to transfer ownership to anyone else!!! So, until they responded, I was literally stuck with him with no options.
In addition, he learned this week to scale our 6 foot wooden privacy fence - he has always been an escape artist, but this makes it *impossible* for me to keep him, period. I can't even tell you what a nightmare this week has been with that dog... ugh!
Anyway, FINALLY, someone from the rescue called me back last night.
First, she tried to talk me in to keeping him saying I should pay to have someone raise my fence two more feet with some sort of inverted fence topping thing that he couldn't scale - which would run into the hundreds if not thousands of dollars. We have already spent almost $1000.00 since we've had him trying to keep him IN the fence, doing fence repairs - he chews through wood - and buying special "dog proof" fencing to try to keep him away from the chickens and fortifying the hen house to keep him out after he chewed through the wooden wall of that to kill one of our hens - we did ALL of this because we wanted to keep him.
Frankly, I am NOT willing to spend any more on this dog - we have reached our limit and I'm not going to pull any more dead or tortured chickens from his mouth either. :( :(
So, then, finally, after really hassling me about keeping him, [she even suggested we just keep him chained in the yard - which would make most rescue people flip their lids because it is considered inhumane!!! He'd escape that too I have no doubt though], she asked me if I'd taken him to the vet and gotten his shots and I said No, because he wasn't due yet. [And he ISN'T - when I first started contacting them to try to return him, it was more than 2 months before he was due!]. She acted really annoyed like I was some bad pet owner for not taking him to the vet .... finally she agreed to let me return him on Saturday, but it was NOT a pleasant discussion. [She wasn't actually rude, just difficult, hard to explain I guess....]
So now I am trying to decide if I want to give them money to cover his vaccinations when I return him or not.
I'm torn about it - they weren't honest with us about his flaws when we bought him [and he was *horrible* when we first got him - he had every bad behavior in the book - but I trained him up very well and most of the behaviors I was able to fix]. I'm not sure if they didn't know or if they were just dishonest - I know I read their website yesterday and they had a section on advice to find a new home for your dog and it included being, basically, deliberately deceiving - they said "phrase everything positively and not negatively. For example, if you know your dog is not safe to have around small children, say "He is looking for a home with bigger kids who won't pull his tail because that hurts him"." [Sorry, but I think if you have a dog that bites small children, prospective new owners have a right to know that *very* clearly.... you know?]
So, on the one hand, I do feel they are/were deceptive about what dog they were adopting out and his problems and it HAS cost me tremendous amounts of money [which we in NO way could afford of course!]. On the other hand I do feel like I want to do the "right" thing and pay for the vet bills if I should do that morally. But I can't decide if that is true or not.
I think I would give them about $50 if I decide to give them anything - the lady who runs this rescue does all her own vaccinating and does NOT use a vet so it wouldn't cost her *nearly* what it would cost me to have his shots done. [I used to foster for this rescue too].
But $50 right now is a LOT of money to us, especially after just paying the $150 for the collie's vet bills - which I did feel we were morally obligated to do.
What do you guys think? Would you pay them some money for his vet bills? If so, how much? Or would you drop the beast off and just walk away?
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4 comments:
Well all I can say is that shelter people seem to be like door to door people. Determined to sell the product. It's in their best interests to make you feel guilty and keep the dog. Then they're off the hook.
I think you've given this a lot of thought. Can you just show up at the shelter with the dog (at least the troublemaker) and give it back right then and there?
Ideally you would go alone so as to not have any of the kids being emotional and giving these people any more ammunition.
Prayers that it all works out.
I would return the dog and wish them well. I would not give them any money towards the vet bill and I would not feel badly about it.
If it were me, I would not pay. He's not due for shots right now. Period. Don't make them make you feel bad! They need to do their job and just take him back.
Give them the dog and walk away. Like you said, you've spent a lot of money because of him already and he's not due for his shots till August. You say you "bought" him? Did you take him to the vet after you got him, or were his shots done before you took him home from rescue? Sounds to me like you paid for those shots last August. And they'll probably pass along the cost of this year's shots to the dog's next owner. Blessings.
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