On our way back from a nice walk with the girls the other night, Kypros and I passed by a neighbourhood home that has two German Shepherds.
We remember when this family got their first dog - she's just a wee bit younger than Zoë. Oh, the attention she got from them! Oohing and ahhing over her flopping shepherd ears. She was in a public park way before she should have been, but what can you say??
Fast forward about a year or so. Another dog appears in the backyard - a male. Big and barky. The 'man' of the house tells us in broken English that he bred lots of Shepherds "back home" and has always had dogs. Great.
Hence began the raft of problems and complaints from the neighbours. Both dogs barked constantly, neither seemed to be exercised that much and very little enrichment activities appeared in the visible backyard. I think there was one stuffed animal at one point. Complaint after complaint - various visits - about 7 I believe from Animal Services. Everytime, their hands were tied. The dogs had been provided with food, water and shelter......No evidence of actual cruelty.
Then last summer, the dogs were brought up to the leash-free park - neither well socialized. Guess how long that lasted? There were a couple of people at the park that asked him to leave and not return. They haven't been back since.
Fastforward to the present.....
Life for this dogs appears bleak. There are medium sized wooden dog houses in the backyard. Both dogs are locked into their respective 'house' for the night. I hear them rustling around when I pass by in the early morning. The female had her first litter about 5 months ago - so young. I can't imagine Zoë haven pups so young. It appears that the pups have disappeared - I guess sold somewhere....
A walk is provided in the morning and sometimes in the evening. That's it for the exercise it seems.
When we passed by the other night, one of the dogs started barking at us and our Blues as we passed by. Just as we were passing their backyard a loud cry sounded - this man (who has always had dogs) had whipped it with a folded leather leash. We had initially thought the dog had run into the fence.The dog continue to cry in pain as we walked on.
We should have told him off. We really should have. Why didn't we?
Food for thought, I guess.
That's all I have to say about that.
We remember when this family got their first dog - she's just a wee bit younger than Zoë. Oh, the attention she got from them! Oohing and ahhing over her flopping shepherd ears. She was in a public park way before she should have been, but what can you say??
Fast forward about a year or so. Another dog appears in the backyard - a male. Big and barky. The 'man' of the house tells us in broken English that he bred lots of Shepherds "back home" and has always had dogs. Great.
Hence began the raft of problems and complaints from the neighbours. Both dogs barked constantly, neither seemed to be exercised that much and very little enrichment activities appeared in the visible backyard. I think there was one stuffed animal at one point. Complaint after complaint - various visits - about 7 I believe from Animal Services. Everytime, their hands were tied. The dogs had been provided with food, water and shelter......No evidence of actual cruelty.
Then last summer, the dogs were brought up to the leash-free park - neither well socialized. Guess how long that lasted? There were a couple of people at the park that asked him to leave and not return. They haven't been back since.
Fastforward to the present.....
Life for this dogs appears bleak. There are medium sized wooden dog houses in the backyard. Both dogs are locked into their respective 'house' for the night. I hear them rustling around when I pass by in the early morning. The female had her first litter about 5 months ago - so young. I can't imagine Zoë haven pups so young. It appears that the pups have disappeared - I guess sold somewhere....
A walk is provided in the morning and sometimes in the evening. That's it for the exercise it seems.
When we passed by the other night, one of the dogs started barking at us and our Blues as we passed by. Just as we were passing their backyard a loud cry sounded - this man (who has always had dogs) had whipped it with a folded leather leash. We had initially thought the dog had run into the fence.The dog continue to cry in pain as we walked on.
We should have told him off. We really should have. Why didn't we?
Food for thought, I guess.
That's all I have to say about that.
