Dogs. Anyone who has or has ever had one knows how much joy they can bring to the life of a person or family. Large dogs or small dogs, clever dogs or dopey dogs, they all bring a smile to your face when you get home from school or work and find them wagging their tail as they wait for you.
But the sad truth is, not all dogs end up in a suitable home.
Just under two months ago, the young couple in the middle unit next door bought a puppy. For the first week or so, it howled and whined constantly, starting as early as 6am and going until as late as 11pm, or in some cases until after midnight. Being a dog owner myself, I know that puppies do cry for company a lot until they adapt to their new home, so I thought it would stop after a few weeks. But it didn't.
Upon further observation, I noticed that the new puppy owners were going out at 7am, and not getting home until after 10pm pretty much every day. And then yesterday, having been woken once again by the dog's whining, I went out to look at the dog (part of filing a noisy animal complaint with a council requires you to verify that you saw the dog as well as heard it barking) through a hole in the fence. Now, keeping in mind that their backyard is about the size of a toilet, I assumed that I would see a Jack Russell or terrier or something similar. But no. It was a labrador.
How can anyone possibly think that having any dog - let alone something that will grow as big as a labrador - in a yard that small is a good idea? Dogs are naturally energetic creatures. They need exercise and space to run around. Sticking them in a yard the size of a car boot borders on animal cruelty (a far more serious and separate issue, which I don't intend to explore in this post). Box them into a yard like that and you might as well be keeping it in a cage.
Secondly, even if it does have a big yard to run around in, dogs are pack animals. They need social contact with other creatures, and that means they need to be with their human family. Not only because they get lonely, but also because they need to be mentally as well as physically engaged, by playing games with them, petting them, taking them for walks and so on. If they don't have this, they get bored, and as a result they will howl/bark constantly, dig holes and destroy anything they can get their teeth on. And then, when the owner decides they're not so cute anymore, the dog is either abandoned or dumped at an animal shelter, simply because their owner didn't bother to do any research on owning an animal before buying one.
I'm not saying that an owner should spend every waking moment with their dog - that would be ridiculous and impossible. But leaving a dog alone for pretty much the whole day every day is unacceptable. It is not fair on either the dog or on the neighbours who have to put up with it.
I think that one of the main causes of dogs ending up with unsuitable owners (apart from the sheer stupidity of some people) is that it is so easy to buy a dog. You can go into a shopping centre or down the main street of your town, walk into a pet shop and go home with a new puppy, no questions asked. My question is: Why?
Before buying a puppy, a prospective owner should be able to prove that they are capable of caring for an animal. They should have their home and property checked to make sure it is big enough. They should have their lifestyle examined to make sure they will be home enough to properly exercise, groom and accompany their pet. It should be difficult to buy a dog. That way, the only people who ended up with one would be people who were willing and able to look after it for the rest of its life, not just until it stops being small and cute and cuddly.
Edit: Upon recently seeing the dog again more clearly, I realised it was actually a staffordshire bull terrier. Not as big as a labrador, but still too big to live comfortably in a yard that small.
Well said Bec.
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