a newspaper man adjusts his pen

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Stray dog


Duke, originally uploaded by Scott Beveridge.

This lost dog found us Sunday, April 19, 2009, at Meadowcroft rock shelter, Washington County, Pa. That would be just east of the West Virginia panhandle.

He appears to be about a year old, some form of a pointer and house broken. Please contact me to get your dog back at the e-mail address along the sidebar, below the flying saucer.

14 comments:

MJ said...

What are you calling him? I think Scooter would be an appropriate name.

Scott said...

I'm about ready to call him straight to the humane shelter.

Pammy Murphy said...

I thought you were keeping him! WTF??

Scott said...

The dog has special needs, more than I am able to meet. He's now available for adoption at the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania.

Anonymous said...

why would you take someones dog, then drive 30 miles to washington, then take him to the shelter. that is poor dog etiqutte. If you would have left it there, or taken it back to the rock shelter and dropped it back off it would have gone home. if you weren't going to take responsibility for the dog and follow through with finding its owner you should have left it alone.

Scott said...

Had the dog owner taken the time to get a dog license, the person responsible for this blind, starving and seizure-prone dog would have been easily identified. Had the owner attached it to a strong run rather than a shoestring, it wouldn't have wandered off to begin with. He or she didn't bother, either, to call the county or local animal control officer or regional humane societies to inquire about the lost dog.

Anonymous said...

You can pass the blame around all you want but please remember you were in AVELLA!

Scott said...

Whatever that means anonymous. But I suspect you know the owners of this dog so tell them they still have 48 hours to claim him in Pittsburgh and also take home some fines.

Anonymous said...

I think you handled it perfectly. Responsible dog owners would have a tag, license or chip on the dog. Obviously no one wanted him or they would have been responsible in the first place. In this economy, he was most likely just dumped in a rural area where no one could be a witness to the dumping. People do it ALL the time. If he's nearly blind and seizure-prone, that would make him a lousy hunting dog and far less desirable to a previous owner if they got the dog for that particular purpose. I also don't feel that blaming the supposed 'owner' of the dog for not claiming it is 'passing the blame around' either. It is a FACT that rule #1 in 'dog etiquette' is PUT SOME I.D. On the dog! Rule #2 is REPORT YOUR DOG MISSING when it runs away. I would think those rules would be universal... even in AVELLA!

Scott said...

Thank you

Amanda Gillooly said...

Dear Anonymous:

I think we need to talk. Let's get a few things clarified up in here. 1. Scott checked with the Humane Society, local vets, and posted the dog's picture on basically every Web site imaginable trying to find its owner. Seeing that it was probably 10 pounds underweight, he did in fact wait a few days before returning to Avella to see if the dog was still running around loose. He was, and Scott then took him to his home, fed him and bathed him before realizing that he was in need of serious veterinary help. Thus, he then sought help from some local shelters and was referred to one in Pittsburgh (that is no kill).

OK. With that background cleared up, I would love to ask how ensuring the dog was safe first was bad behavior? Context clues tell me that if a dog was underweight, he may not have been able to find his way home. And given his medical problems, I think it is a real possibility that the owner's abandoned the dog on some back road in your quaint village.

A follow up: What would have been the responsible thing to do? Put a slug in its head and leave it for dead? How about letting it run free and starving when you know it needs medical attention? Not to mention the risk of the poor (almost blind) dog to be hit on one of those back roads?

Please, let me know what the best method of handling a lost, sick, starving dog. I'd love to hear your theory.

Anonymous said...

you're hot!

Scott said...

The dog passed the temperament test and is expected to be put up for adoption soon, the shelter said today.

Scott said...

He's now available for adoption. Go to: animalrescue.org