The responsibililty that comes with being a pet “owner”
Posted by: neebelung on: September 12, 2008
First off, let me say, I hate the term “pet owner.” I don’t believe that by bringing an animal into your home, they become a possession that you now own. I believe they are a responsibility not unlike a child. So it follows that I feel very strongly about those who show a complete lack of responsibility with regard to their pets, especially cats and dogs…
What brings this to mind is something that happened to me on Tuesday morning of this week….
(and let me preface this — again — by saying if you’re a critter lover, this is a very sad story….)
So Tuesday, I’m on my way into work. I’m on a major, 6-lane divided road in morning traffic (going about 50). I’m in the middle lane, and there’s a Honda Civic in the inside lane, about 2 car lengths behind me.
I’m coming up on a major intersection, when a big dog comes running out into the street. I slam on the brakes and manage to stop short of hitting him, but the guy in the lane next to me wasn’t so fortunate (nor was the dog). The poor pup was killed instantly.
Well I FREAKED… I’m literally hyperventilating, just flipping out and I pull over to collect myself…. (of course, my mind races to “Oh my God, there’s school buses of children going by, seeing this poor creature in the road… what if that dog belonged to one of those kids…..” etc….. yes, my imagination works overtime).
I was just LIVID… so angry, I couldn’t stop screaming (or crying). It wasn’t this poor pup’s fault that he had irresponsible owners, and yet he’s the one who lost his life because of their selfish stupidity.
As the day wore on, however, I did entertain the idea that he might well have been a homeless dog, a stray (it all happened to quickly for me to notice if he wore a collar or not). And yet the stray animal population is still a problem rooted in irresponsible pet ownership: refusal to properly contain pets, and refusal to have them spayed and neutered.
So for my second PSA of the day, I would just like to remind everyone of the importance of spaying and neutering. There’s nothing more to say than it’s simply the RIGHT thing to do.
For more information, please visit:
October 18, 2008 at 11:55 am
Hello, I feel for you, I have been there it takes a while to get over the bad feelings. Your advice will be put to use. My wife & I have a Chocolate Lab “Lakota”. Lakota just recently has taken to wondering further away from home, we live in the middle of a wooded area and there are no neighbors close by and up till now there have been no problems. He will sniff the air and get all bothered to head on up our dirt road, so for the past week we have kept him on a lead or take him for walks on a leash. There are coyotes around us and I belive it might be mating season so that can not help. We are thinking of getting Lakota neutered because the situation seems to be only getting worse, we don’t really want to but I think we will have no choice. He is 9 months old now i just hope we have not waited too long. Your story though is a good push for us to get it done. Thanks Jim