You must be careful if you intercede when you see someone abusing their pet. When I see a bad situation occurring, I try friendly interventions.
“Hey, I found your dog.”
“Hey, I have an extra dog house if you want.”
“Hey, there’s a low-cost vet clinic.”
“Hey, I am a member of an animal rescue if you are tired of this animal.”
If abusers, and I suspect this is true for human abusers, are abusing animals, they are also abusing people, become super possessive and aggressive when confronted. Often as likely as not, they turn on the lives they are destroying and get worse. I have seen all kinds of human horribleness in my volunteer work. It has not destroyed all my faith human beings because I can’t give up, but many people suck, and they think they have a right to suck. They seem to back up into the “it’s a free country,” crap, much like those assholes who have just supported the destruction of autonomy for women and for those of us who don’t like being threatened by thugs with guns btw.
I interceded in a situation where dogs were being abused this week, last week, and the week before that. It was horrible what I heard, and I tried to stop it. I was friendly, helpful, and non-judgmental until the day after hearing a dog scream for two hours…I didn’t recognize the sound until then, that I found a dog in a small cage outside in the sun with no water (Las Vegas summer). He was crying.
I couldn’t get to the dog. I was afraid to climb the fence to give it water and move it out of the sun. I knocked on the door several times when no one answered; I called Animal Control. After fifteen minutes, a boy appeared in the backyard. I handed him the water and told him they were abusing the animal and that I was calling the authorities. He took the water and the dog into the house.
A big fat black woman banged on my door ten minutes later, and amidst the swearing and name calling, she told me that if I interfered again, came to her house, bothered with the dogs, came into her house (which I had not done) or called the authorities that I would be sorry.
So I called Animal Control to ensure they were coming, and then I called the cops. I needed to record the threat and intend to keep calling animal control. It is a felony in Las Vegas to abuse animals. I also hoped the police could de-escalate. I have seen them do this very well.
They talked to me, made the report, and went to the woman’s house, where she and her family refused to answer the door.
What will happen to the dog haunts me. I come home now scared when I look at my dogs and know how easily their lives could have been jacked-up if I hadn’t taken them in.
I am not happy with what I see as humanity right now.
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