I’m tired of depressing world events, how ’bout you?
Well, the world is going to the dogs. So is this post.
The Nanny State in the U.K. brought animal cruelty charges against a two men who overfed their dog.
Rusty, a nine-year-old labrador, may only have been doing what labradors do, which is to eat everything in sight. But he ballooned to more than 11½ stone (161lb, 73kg), the ideal weight for a large-boned 6ft (1.82m) woman, but not a retriever, which should be chasing sticks and newly shot game.
Rusty had trouble standing up, and after no more than five paces he had to sit down again, breathless. He looked, magistrates at Ely, Cambridgeshire, were told yesterday, more like a seal than a dog.
In what is thought to be the first case of its kind, Rusty’s owners, David Benton and his brother Derek, have been charged with animal cruelty for allowing him to become grossly overweight.
According to the Kennel Club, the ideal weight for a dog of Rusty’s age and breed is between 65lb and 80lb. When found by an RSPCA inspector, Rusty was more than twice the upper limit. Unlike most labradors, he was quite incapable of leaping into a van.
Suddenly, Tig doesn’t seem so fat, does he?
And in more dog news, China has instituted a one-dog policy in parts of Beijing. Residents are actually on the streets protesting this new rule.
And last, but not least: There’s a sheep in the U.K. that thinks it’s a dog.
A SHEEP on an Alnwick farm has got itself a little mixed up.
Cora, an eight-month-old Suffolk cross Beltex, thinks she’s a dog. While the rest of the flock at Heckley High House is grazing in the fields, Cora keeps her distance in her own paddock and happily goes out for walks with the dogs.
And Cora will jump out if she finds herself in the same field as other sheep. But despite this anti-social trait, Cora is very affectionate towards owner Emily Wakefield, 16, and Holly, a rough cross Border collie.
Of course, they’re being charged not just because the dog is fat, but because it couldn’t walk (and occasionally wasn’t even able to move) and because despite being told that their dog was ill and needed help, they refused to bring it to a vet.
Well-intentioned cruelty? Possibly. But animal cruelty nonetheless. (Not sure prosecuting is the best move, but certainly removing the dog from their care is.)
I didn’t catch that. I sorta glanced at the article.
Man, never Google “dogs” if you can help it. Most of the news articles are about animal cruelty.
I refuse to read stuff about animal cruelty that’s any worse than the story you posted. I also have a lot of trouble reading about people giving up animals. I want to read “good homes for all kittens forever!” and “universal free spay-neuter programs’, but somehow those don’t really happen often.
I get to see all the reasons people leave their animals at the shelter here, and it kills me. “Roommate abused cat” was the worst one, but mostly I see “found in empty apartment after owners moved”.
Wolfa, that was the reason why, during my senior year of college, I took in a (highly illegal) cat on weekends. Her owner, a suitemate of mine, would leave her with her roommate when she went home to visit. The roommate didn’t like cats at all and, while she didn’t actually abuse the kitten, she did not treat her well. Although I’m allergic to cats, when I saw what was going on I asked my suitemate to let me keep the kitten while she was gone. My eyes itched and my nose ran, but I had a lovely kitten teach me her games and purr me to sleep for a few nights a week. I still think of her after all these years.
Well, I don’t think you should be keeping your cat with an abusive roommate, obviously, but I wonder why you wouldn’t move, too, if you have a roommate who kicks animals.
Kittens are darling. That was good of you.