DOG'S ABANDONMENT

In this “Your say” I wanted to talk about something that makes me very angry: people abandoning dogs. I’m going to give my opinion about it, although it is probably the same as most of people. Well, we could say that almost everyone is against the dog’s abandonment, but dogs are still being abandoned, so there has to be people that abandon them.

French campaign against dog's abandonment.
 "An animal doesn't cry... He suffers in silence.-
Stop the abandonment"

The reasons why people normally abandon the dogs are: because they can’t take care of the dog (lack of time, lack of money...) or because they are just bored of the dog, and they think it’s a workload for them. Talking about the first reason, it’s maybe not the owner’s fault that they can’t take care of it, but I don’t understand them abandoning the dog. They could easily go to an animal shelter and leave the dog there. I know that this requires more time and dedication, because you have to explain the reason why you can’t have the dog anymore and maybe do some paperwork, but I think this is so much worth than abandoning a dog. Firstly, you’re going to feel so much better with yourself, and secondly and most important, your dog is going to be safe. I know that the dog’s conditions aren’t the best in the animal shelters, because it’s expensive and it’s not easy to take care of a lot of dogs, but at least you know that your dog isn’t out there, alone and starving.

Talking about the second reason why people abandon their dogs, before having a dog, people should thing a lot about the conditions the dog is going to have, if is he going to be in a good environment and, most important, if they really want one. There is a lot of people that buys a dog as a present for their child, but they see it as a toy that they can throw away when the child has grown up and it’s not interested on it anymore.

A recommendation is that, if you aren’t 100% sure that you want and can have a dog; you can go to an animal shelter and take a dog in for some time. Animal shelters often look for people to adopt the dogs, but also for people to take them in for some time, because it makes their job easier. When the taking in time is over, if you are sure you could have a dog, you can finally adopt the one you had (the recommended option) or adopt another one. And if after that time you feel that you’re not prepared or you don’t have the needed requisites to have a dog, you just take it back to the animal shelter. And mentioning the adoption of dogs, it’s better to adopt a dog from an animal shelter or directly from someone that can’t take care of it, than buying one in a shop, because you give a much better life to a dog that hasn’t been very lucky.

I feel so sad imagining how a dog has to feel when he is abandoned. We can’t apply indiscriminately, but the dogs are known as men’s best friends and as very loving animals. So for a dog being abandoned is something horrible, because they go from living with company, in a house and with food, to being out there, disoriented, scared, cold (if it’s winter), and having to look for their own food, when they have always been fed, and adding the most terrible thing for them: they are alone. Also, some people abandon their dogs because they have an illness that needs to be treated and they don’t have enough money to pay the treatment. So in this case, adding to those bad conditions the fact that they aren’t healthy.

So the conclusion is that, if you want to have a dog think about it and make sure you have the needed conditions to have it. And if, for any reason, you can’t or don’t want to take care of the dog, please search for someone who can take care of him or, if you don’t find anyone, bring him to an animal shelter, because there dogs have a minimum conditions and they have the opportunity to be adopted by a family that can take care of them.