They first saw the dog in the morning. It was sitting in the ditch near a fence along the secondary highway, several miles from the farmhouse.
They passed by again in the late afternoon. Same dog, same ditch, same fence.
It was another case of an ignorant pet owner abandoning an animal in the belief that some kind-hearted farmer would give it a home. The dog was left with nothing but a bone, and perhaps a command to “stay” until its owners returned. As if they had any intention of doing so.
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This is how Cassie became my sister and brother-in-law’s dog. It was the same way they acquired their previous dog, which eventually followed some friendly strangers to parts unknown.
In Cassie’s case, the story ended happily for the dog – except for her fears of cattle and farm equipment, which continue to plague her.
Those fears lead us to believe the dog was a former city resident; one who chewed one too many shoes or barked one too many times to suit her former owners.
Who are these ignoramuses who dump their pets rather than seek a guaranteed new home or give their animal to a shelter? Are they cruel or just plain lazy? Or are they under the ridiculously mistaken impression that farmers have unlimited space, inclination and money with which to provide homes for otherwise homeless pets?
Cassie’s story is the exception where kind hearts and vacancy for the position of farm dog coincided with the rescue of a roadside victim.
More often, abandoned dogs get run over, killed by predators or starve to death in an environment they’ve never had to deal with.
The “lucky” ones form packs with other wild and abandoned dogs and start chasing cattle herds or getting into other mischief. It isn’t long before someone steps in with a deadly remedy.
Those in the livestock industry are often amazed and amused at the treatment house pets receive at the hands of their “pet parents,” as one recent news release referred to dog owners.
Livestock producers don’t abandon their animals in expectations others will care for them. Their stock is their business and their responsibility.
Yet for some reason certain morally bereft pet owners are willing to toss animals at the roadside like so much litter.
Some of them might be the very people who decry animal agriculture, in which animals’ needs are anticipated and met throughout their lives.
Cassie’s story must not encourage anyone to leave a pet behind and hope for the best. That dog could as easily have been named Lucky, because she certainly was.
