“Why do they even have a dog?”
The Animal Care Network has been asking the same million-dollar question that everyone else wants answered… Guard dog? Burglar alarm? A possession? Status? All of the above? We do not know the answer and we probably never will, nor do we condone or understand.
THEY CAN, THEY WILL AND THEY JUST DO!
The Animal Care Network is a volunteer-based program. As volunteers, our organization has no authority to confiscate or remove animals. We have to rely on our animal control agencies/officers and law enforcement to issue citations or tickets.
Our volunteers are out on the streets every single week, witnessing these sights on a regular basis. We are just as angered and upset by it as all of our supporters. We take our program very seriously and do not give up until a situation is remedied or improved, and we do not back down. We are persistent and will do recheck after recheck, which results in many times getting the animal surrendered.
It is not illegal for a dog to live outside on a chain, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Therefore, in many of the situations, we have to educate, spay and neuter, hand out literature and improve the environment and living conditions for the individual animals we visit, making it a practice to not forget about any animal. We also do not leave animals behind if the owner will surrender or if they are on the streets, abandoned or running stray.
We rescue every single dog and cat that we can, and we work closely with Oakland County Animal Control/Sheriff’s Department if the conditions are beyond education and assistance. Any cruelty addresses that we encounter/post are ALWAYS reported to the authorities.
It is not in the makeup of Animal Care Network teams to just walk away and leave a bad situation. Some addresses we work on for years. We all lose sleep over these animals, dogs and cats alike!
We post these stories to let the public know what is going on out there, to provide everyone with the truth. This is real life for dogs and cats everywhere, not just our target areas.
The Animal Care Network teams run into all kinds of situations while checking on backyard dogs. Volunteers do their best to educate, assist, rescue and remedy the situation. Water is a huge problem, so many of these dogs are so thirsty that they will drink three or four bowls of water while the team is there.
Tangled dogs are another problem. Volunteer stress to the owners to give these dogs time off the chain, whether it be going for a walk, letting them run around the yard if fenced or bringing them inside for a break from the monotony. Sadly this does not happen and often
times it is the team that finds the dogs so tangled they can barely move.
Tight, heavy collars and chains are also a problem and the teams try to offer other options for that as well.
