Dog taken from homeless man.

18 years ago

There was a news story here a few months back. (I tried hard to find a link, but I can't)

Many people were trying to get a dog taken away from a man who recently found himself living in his car. Rents here have gone up drastically, in some instances from 650 a month to 1500. And vacancy is almost zilch. It's very hard to find affordable living right now.

He fought very hard to keep his dog. The dog was warm, went for walks, and was still fed. Living in a car may not be ideal, but it was only to be temporary and it was better than running free on the street.

The humane society took the dog, while deciding whether to let him keep it, or adopt it out.

After hearing the story on the news, someone with a big heart and a lot of money, found a pet-friendly hotel and paid for the man to live there for one month, with his dog. A) to keep the dog and B) to save money to get another place to live.

I haven't heard anything since, but I want to know others opinions

Had the man stayed in his car, would you have wanted him to keep his dog, or have it taken away??

I think he should've been allowed to keep it. I think it was making the best out of a really crappy situation and being responsible with his dog. While it was less than ideal living situations for sure, I think it was a good move.

Most people if they were to find themselves homeless, with nowhere to go, would not make the dogs living situation a priority. I'm sure a lot would end up running loose, and others in already over-flowing shelters, waiting to be euthanized.

The man had already lost a lot, why take his best friend, too..if he was still being adequately cared for?

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Comments (5)

User
18 years ago
With all the animals that are REALLY abused---the idiots pick an easy mark.

Shoot the idiots and pat the homeless guy on the back---or give him a job.
quirkyquercus
18 years ago
If no laws are broken..........
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share_oh
18 years ago
Good grief. If the man can care for the dog he should be able to keep him.

We see countless number of animals left behind when people move out of their homes or apartments. The lucky ones are in apartments because the landlords usually find them pretty quickly.

One of my dogs was a former foster puppy who at 4 months old was left behind in a bathroom with a kitten when his "family" moved out. Fortunately they were found within a day.

Another family moved out of a house leaving their akc registered toy fox terrier behind. This poor little thing was found 2 weeks later almost starved to death. They tracked the owners down and they had papers showing they had paid $1100 for this dog at a local pet store.

This man loves his dog and didn't take the easy way out of getting rid of him when he fell on hard times. I sure hope he makes it and the story has a happy ending.
evaf555
18 years ago
We had a situation with a similar set-up in the big city near where I live a few years ago. It was hard, given the kind of publicity the fellow got, to hear both sides of the story.

The man loved his dogs, and they got plenty of exercise. I saw them around town a couple times a week, and they were consistantly healthy. He may have spoken sternly to them from time to time, but didn't physically discipline them. But there were two side to the story.

He had a whole pack of dogs and didn't control them especially well. One ran out in the road and was injured by a car. It was only then that the powers that be decided to remove the dogs from his control. Although the dog survived (lucky dog) and no people were hurt, dogs running into the road in a city are just more accidents waiting to happen. One thing that many people chose to ignore, too, was that this was not the first time the dogs had been a nuisance. They overwhelmed little children carrying treats on the sidewalks. They blocked the sidewalks. The dog owner did not always pick up the waste, as city ordinance requires. He was an intelligent man, quite willing to live his life outside the normal expectations of society. And quite adept at portraying his lifestyle as a free-spirited, romantic one. The dogs were well cared for, but they were a nuisance.

With our humane society, it's like pulling teeth to get them to take action. I wonder if there was other, less romantic, more practical reasons the animal was taken away.
bill_vincent
18 years ago
Yeah, lets take the dog, and if no one adopts him within a week, kill it. That'll be so much better.

Dog taken from homeless man.

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quirkyquercus

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