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Lucy 16 years, 4 months ago.
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Call me mean or nosey, but today seemed to be a nice cold day to walk to work. So I did the 3 miles. I do them twice a week going and coming. Today the weather is 35 degrees. Some of you out there would say "that’s not too cold" but to a senior small dog, that is very cold when your owner is giving you a bath in the garage with the cold water using a hose. I don’t understand why people do this sort of thing. I told the man giving the bath that it might not be such a good idea giving his dog a cold bath in this weather because the dog could get sick, but he acted stupid and pretended he didn’t understand what I was saying. So I did what I could and called animal control and explained what I had seen. It took them about 45 minutes to respond to my call. I had to get to work so I left them my info and asked them to contact me with results. They eventually called me back and said that the man spoke very good english and they had given him written notice not to bath his dog outside with a waterhose in this cold weather and they put him on notice I hope I don’t have to see this again because if I do I will make another call, and keep making calls until this guy gets the message. How inhumane can people be or is it that they are just plain stupid and don’t think of what consequences their actions will bring, and I mean making his dog very ill or worse. I heard this little dog yelping over and over everytime the guy put the hose on him or her. I wish I could take the hose to him so he can know how it feels to be bathed outside in the cold.
We had the same thing happen at the Beagle Rescue I used to belong to. Our President insisted it would cause them no harm and would do it. There were days when it would be in 50’s which is pretty cold for us down here, We finally had two volunteers bring in proof that it could make the dog’s ill and they bought a outdoor heater to use after that.
I have a similar issue I go through on occasion at the restaurant where I work. We specialize in pork spare ribs and people will ask to take the bones home to their dogs. I will go into my speech about how rib bones can be very dangerous and I advise them not to do it. Then I tell them I’ve been told by three vets not to do it and that I talked to someone whose dog perforated her intestine with a rib bone and it cost $2000 to save her life. I will warn them they can break a dog’s tooth. I mention to them that everyone I work with have dogs at home and none of us feed rib bones to them. Then I tell people I rescue dogs and would feel terrible if I was partly responsible for harming their dogs.
About half the people will realize after hearing all that it isn’t worth the risk and thank me for letting them know. The other half will use excuses like "he’s so small (or large) it won’t bother him. One guy said "He’s so old it doesn’t matter". So to answer your question, yes there are many people out there who own pets that are not smart enough to properly take care of them.Wow.
I have "a small senior dog" . . . its SO easy once per week to just take her in the shower with me!!! Its a hell of a lot easier than lugging them outside and turing the hose on them. You just put them in the shower with you, shampoo them, soap yourself up, and get out and dry them off (and let them run around the house like a mad-dog rolling in everything).
It really is so much easier than outdoor baths, at least for small dogs, and its less traumatic for the animal . . . my dog doesn’t like the showers we take, she’s a spoiled old girl, but I can’t imagine how unpleasant an outdoor bath would be . . . and it doesn’t even get cold where I live!
I don’t think you were being mean or nosy at all. Dogs can get sick from that kind of treatment, and I think its also unkind (and perhaps inhumane) with freezing temperatures.
Many people regard dogs as commodities or accessories, to be abandoned or rehomed at their convenience . . . property to do with as they please. Honestly, there’s still a lot of child abuse that goes on, and there would be more I think if there were not strict laws preventing it and education about it. A lot of people don’t go by the "do unto others" rule as much as we’d like to think.In Ca the law defines pets as property, try giving your child a bath in the garage in that kind of weather in front of a passing squad car and see what happens!
Until human-ane common-cents catches up to the times and for pets we will be stuck as pet lovers forced to stomach the ignorant laws/pet owners unfortunately. Be thankful I guess dogs do not get as cold as humans in this case.I wouldn’t give my horse a bath in that kind of weather, much less my dog, who would happily jump into a semi-frozen pond for a swim, since he’s a Golden Retriever. If he did, he wouldn’t get wet down to the skin, which is where the problem lies bathing any kind of dog in cold temperature. You did the right thing by report this guy and hopefully, the jerk will follow the advice he’s been given.
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