There are options available for people who cannot keep their dog

The German Shepherd pup sitting next to Monnett New Winchester Road outside Galion still had his blanket with him when Angie Chandler found him.

“Why the hell would you do that to a puppy, I have no idea. No idea,” the Crawford County dog ​​sitter said. “It broke my heart. There’s no reason for it. They love that dog enough to give him cover. That’s what really got me. Along the road, by the ditch , in the middle of nowhere.”

He was just one of four or five dogs she had found, apparently abandoned, over a two-month period. Like the others, the pup — and his blanket — ended up at the Humane Society Serving Crawford County shelter at 3590 Ohio 98, just north of Bucyrus. It has since been adopted. The dog sitter’s office contracts with the humane society to house the dogs in their care.

After saving this dog, Chandler took to social media to vent her frustration, “There’s never a good or acceptable reason to throw a dog anywhere!” she wrote.

“You take a dog out and throw it away, that dog was raised in a home, with a family, with people,” Chandler said in an interview. “He doesn’t know how to hunt. He doesn’t know how to take care of himself. He doesn’t know how to keep himself warm. He has no idea where he is and he has absolutely no idea what that is happening.” passes around her.”

Marion-Melmore Road was the scene of two separate incidents in the space of a few weeks, she said – one south of Oceola and one to the north, she said. Someone saw an abandoned dog and obtained the license plate number of the vehicle, but the witness followed the vehicle instead of staying with the dog.

“So by the time I get there, I can’t find the dog,” Chandler said. “I don’t know where the dog went. … I can’t press charges if I don’t have any evidence of a crime.”

Owners are responsible for abandoned dogs

Being left on the side of the road is traumatic for the dog, and it’s possible the animal could cause an accident, she said. Many owners don’t realize they are responsible if this happens.

“The state of Ohio treats dogs as property, just like you would a car,” Chandler said. “We use that as an example all the time. If your car damages something else, you’re responsible. If your dog…damages something else, you’re responsible for that damage. You have to register your car every year; you have to register your dog every year.”

Rescuing an abandoned dog can be difficult.

“Dogs by instinct, their nature is flight or fight, and we see that every time we go out,” Chandler said. “Either you take one that runs away from you, or you take one that doesn’t love you. He doesn’t know you, why would he love you?

What’s the best way to find a new home for your dog?

The dumping problem is particularly frustrating because there are many better solutions for people who need to get rid of a dog, even if they’re in a rush.

The Humane Society shelter was the first option she cited.

She acknowledged that taking a dog to the shelter has been more difficult than usual since the pandemic hit – at times this winter the shelter was only open by appointment due to a lack of staff.

“Some people are too impatient,” she said. “They need to get rid of the dog right now.”

But while the local shelter only accepts animals from Crawford County, shelters in some surrounding counties accept animals from anywhere, she pointed out.

If people know they’re going to move and can’t take the dog with them, they need to make plans for the animal’s future. She said she sees a lot of Facebook posts from people looking to rehome a dog – and it usually only takes a few days.

“Is this the best option? No, but there’s always a way to relocate your dog, on short notice,” Chandler said. “There’s no reason to take them out and dump them along the road in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere.”

People can also call his office, 49-562-4993, for advice.

“My office is really trying to help people know where they are right now,” Chandler said. “We don’t accept property surrenders because we don’t have shelter. But we can point you in the right direction. …

“With the options people have today, there’s no reason you can’t hang on to that dog for six or eight hours, until the morning, and get him to a shelter somewhere. .”

Sometimes owners want to get rid of a dog because it’s too aggressive, she says.

If the dog is so aggressive that owners can’t handle it and are afraid it will harm a new owner, they should make an appointment and have the dog euthanized, Chandler urged. “Sounds harsh, but if you’re scared of your own dog who’s 2 years old and you’ve had him since he was 5 weeks old, who else can safely care for that dog?”

The majority of abandoned dogs end up being adopted

Some people have an outdated idea of ​​how the dog sitter’s office works.

There was a time when dog sitters euthanized unclaimed animals, but those days are long gone, Chandler said.

As part of its contract with the dog sitter’s office, Humane Society Serving Crawford County cares for the animals for a specified holding period – three working days if the dog is not wearing tags, or is but the owner cannot be contacted, 14 days. Then the dogs are handed over to the humanitarian society and go for adoption.

“I’m not going to say dogs don’t get put down. If they’re too aggressive and we can’t handle them, we can’t adopt them,” she said. “You can’t rescue them if you can’t get them out of a kennel, and that’s what people need to understand.”

But the vast majority of dogs end up being offered for adoption by human society. Some adoptable dogs wait six or seven months for the right person to come, but they are not euthanized.

The number of aggressive dogs his office sees has dropped significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Chandler said.

“People are home more, their kids are home. They’re a little more socialized, they’re not cooped up and locked away from people all the time,” she said. “That’s usually where you get an aggressive dog.”

Euthanasia rates have fallen to “almost nothing” – she estimated at 3%.

“And I can tell you, every one of those dogs had to be put down,” Chandler said. “It wasn’t because of the place, it wasn’t for any other reason that they were too aggressive or that they were too far behind, in terms of health.”

Warden’s office takes dogs with tags home for the first time

If the dog is wearing his tag, the custodian’s office will take him home the first time he is picked up. “We won’t even take him to the shelter,” she said.

Dogs are supposed to wear a collar with its tags attached, but very few people do, she said: “It’s actually a minor offense not to display the tag on the dog’s collar.”

She was often told that the dog had just taken a bath and was put outside without a collar to dry off.

Statewide, adoption rates are up and more dogs are being retrieved, she said.

Over the past two years, the recovery rate of stray dogs in her office has increased by 15-20%, she said – about three-quarters go home. “The good thing is what you want them to do,” she said.

[email protected]

419-559-7263