To the Editor:
Today I had a very interesting afternoon. We live out here in the boonies in Scenic, AZ. It’s usually quiet and nothing much happens.
With us lives a cat. We don’t let him run loose. My wife fears he would be eaten by a coyote and she is probably right. So a couple of times a day I let him out and follow him around for a bit. He’s a cat so I can’t talk to him but he seems to enjoy his walks.
This afternoon about 4:30 PM we were at the end of the afternoon walk and almost ready to go back to the house. The cat and I were in the garden and patio area which is behind a wall that I can see over when I am standing. I was looking toward the road when a pickup truck came by.
Passing cars and trucks are not that unusual but as the truck passed I noticed a dog hanging over the side of the truck bed by what appeared to be its collar and leash. At first I thought it was one of my neighbors with his dog but he always has the dog in the cab of the truck. When the truck was about 150 feet past my house the dog fell away from the truck and lay still in the road.
I scooped up the cat and put him in the house and started out to the street to see what I could do. As I was heading across the yard to the road the truck turned around and started back toward me. When the driver came abreast the dog he stopped, got out, picked up the dog and placed it on the side of the road, got back in his truck and headed down the road.
So it wasn’t my neighbor. It was some miserable SOB who was out to abandon his dog in our neighborhood.
I went into the house and made a quick telephone call then went back out to the street to see if I could locate the dog. When I got to the street I could see the dog sitting by the side of the road where it had been left. As I headed towards the dog I saw a minivan coming toward me. They passed the dog and slowed down when they saw me and then stopped. As it turned out they had seen the dog and thought I was its owner going to retrieve it. I stopped and told them what had just occurred.
I was thinking to myself now I am going to be stuck with a dog and my cat eats dogs for dinner. What to do, what to do?
Talk about fate. The two ladies in the van were from We Care For Animals and had been down the road at a neighbors house showing them a cat that was up for adoption. So they got out of the van and we went to get the dog.
The dog was scared and very wary of us. As it started to run we saw that its left rear leg was injured. We couldn’t get close to the dog but she finally ended up in my neighbor’s yard where her dogs cornered her. The dogs didn’t hurt her and the neighbor was able to pick her up and was holding her when the rest of us arrived.
The dog is a small black with brown female. She looks like a dachshund mix and probably had puppies recently.
The ladies from We Care For Animals took the dog with them and will get it to a veterinarian in the morning. After it is rehabilitated they will find her a proper home. I’m only sorry I didn’t get their names. But if they contact me I sure will.
Scenic has long been a dumping ground for unwanted pets from both here and Mesquite. This time I can’t blame Mesquite, the truck had Arizona plates. If you feel inclined to use this method of getting rid of unwanted animals of any kind please remember Scenic is in the Mohave Desert. Unless something happens as happened today your unwanted pet will probably be condemned to a slow death from thirst, starvation or will make a tasty meal for a coyote. There has to be a better way.
Thomas M. Oliver
Scenic, AZ
