File :-(, x, )
Reporting possible abuse and the consequences Anonymous
Dear /an/,

Been posting general pet feeding and housing advice here anonymously for a number of months but took a break about a month ago. The reason I decided to “come back” was because I saw something that angered me yesterday and my post will probably be flagged as “flamebait” and deleted elsewhere.
I was at the vet yesterday with my mother to take her little dog in for a dental check-up. Shortly after I parked the car and was getting ready to go inside, I saw a man in the parking lot open up the back door of his Jeep and his German Shepherd female scrambled out and landed flat on the pavement. She then quickly ran off to the nearest patch of grass and simply began to sniff as if nothing had happened. Her back legs were shaved and it was obvious she had recently had serious surgery. She didn’t respond to his calls and it became clear to me that she wanted to get away from that man, but didn’t dare walk away too far.
After seeing the vet, he opened the back door and sternly told her repeatedly to jump up into the (high) Jeep. Also, he had his car converted to run on natural gas, so to jump into the Jeep, she would have had to jump on top of the carpeted box that was housing the gas cylinder. Obviously, she failed and cowered on the floor. As he bent over to pick her up she began repeatedly squealing and yelping loudly in fear and it took him a few tries before he could get a hold of her because she curled herself into a ball.
>> Anonymous
He then “packed” her into the relatively tight space that was left and put her onto a short choke-chain. I knew that if I confronted him in any way, it would only make things worse for the dog since he would blame –her- in his sick mind for the trouble caused. So while I was considering telling the nurse at the counter to notify the RSPCA, my mother came back (she did not see this happen) and I only told her that that man is cruel and his dog is scared of him. I did not want to depress her since I was pretty upset by what I saw. He came back to pay the bill and my mother then told him what a nice and intelligent dog he has and that it was nice of him to take her to a vet for treatment, etc. This made me calm down and realise that calling the RSPCA would probably be pointless, since he is a real smooth-talker, calling himself an animal-lover and “on the surface” probably takes good care of the dog, so no-one can touch him. People like this are often very good at covering their tracks and hiding the evidence – knowing all too well that what they did was “wrong”, or more likely, knowing it would cause an “undesirable” reaction by others if found out.
My question is: What would you have done?
>> Anonymous
Thinking back now, I have sometimes praised a dog or pointed out the positive actions of an owner when I saw that the person was not doing a very good job. Then I would usually follow with friendly advice, mixing it with my own experiences and actions. This way, people are more open to positive suggestions and won’t react with anger, blame the dog or shut your advice out. However, I let my emotions get in the way and had I, at least in this case (with an abusive smooth-talker like that man) reported him, it would probably have ended up hurting the dog even more. Now, don’t get me wrong – if there is obvious abuse, I would always report it, but I know that if there is no evidence, or an eyewitness account of actual abuse, then there is nothing that could be legally done. He would immediately have blamed her reaction on her injuries, and that would have been that.
>> Anonymous
So was I wrong in not reporting this? This seems like a lose-lose situation. Even if the dog –does- get taken away, she will be stuck in a scary environment for a few days and then put down (which may be a blessing for her) because she is relatively ill, 9 years old and can’t compete with the thousands of poor, cute puppies waiting for homes. Not to mention, this sick man will get another dog, except this time be bitter about what happened with the last one and take his anger out on the new one. So in the end, showing this man positive points about his dog, in effect making her special and supporting his decision to take the dog to a vet may be the only right thing in this situation. To top it all off, I heard him call the dog “Geisha” when the nurse asked for her name, which I can’t get my head around. I can’t fix the world, but would have liked to have done more anyway.
Please share your thoughts and stories. I felt pretty weak and useless and am keen to hear from others so I can do “better” next time. Just so you know; I have always done “better” simply by looking after and caring for my own dogs. Not being part of the problem is already half the solution. Should I still report it?
Pic related, but she had lighter overall colour, slighter build and lighter muzzle.
>> Anonymous
>>137099
>>137100
>>137101
>>137102

Oh well. Life goes on.
>> Anonymous
4chan is the last place I'd look for genuine advice. I bet he was fucking the dog. Sounds like a dog fucker to me.
>> Anonymous
TL;DR all of it.

u cant just contact the authorities just because u think an owner isnt justly taking care of his pet. l2like your own human race hippy.
>> Anonymous
>>137208"4chan is the last place I'd look for genuine advice."
Yeah, I know; I'll ask elsewhere too. Still, I've seen intelligent answers here too.
>> Anonymous
Its a german shepherd.. they LIVE for their owners and it would probably die of depression if you had it taken away. Also remember that 1) you dont actually know what the dog was at the vet for (2) you dont know that the man didnt have a back problem and was unable to pick it up himself
>> Anonymous
A german shepherd wouldn't die of 'depression' if seperated from its owner, plenty of dogs are left at shelters all the time and you don't see them dropping dead.

If this man really was abusing his dog, I don't think he would bother to waste money by taking her to the vets. I keep my dog on a leash in my car aswell, so he won't jump out when i'm driving- so there's really nothing wrong with what he did.

Personally, I think you're jumping to conclusions. For all you know, the dog could've been abused by a previous owner.
>> Anonymous
>>137259
I was not clear enough about the leash - it was a chain and choke-chain which was so short that she could not stand up properly.
You have a good point about the dog possibly being abused by the previous owner, but I own an abused dog who cowered when she saw her ownwer and became a completely new and happy dog, without fear when we bought her.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
OP, thank you for trying to help and being willing to do something for a dog you don't even know. His treatment of his dog was terrible. From your description, it did not seem as if he was doing this maliciously, however. Sometimes people hurt their pets out of simply not knowing how to do it better. Maybe he didn't realize that she could be seriously injured by the choke chain (in a fucking car? wtf, you douche) or jumping after recent surgery. If he was willing to pay money to take care of her, then it stands to reason he wouldn't intentionally put her at risk like that.

In this situation, I think you did the right thing. Complimenting the dog and showing an owner how much their pet is "worth" adds more value in their eyes, and can make them rethink ruining something that someone might envy of them. If you have an awesome pair of sunglasses, you don't throw them around. Only thing I would suggest is commenting to the vet tech and asking that they check her a bit more throughly next time. Just like with schools, vets are supposed to keep a record and report abuse (or at least, the ones here are supposed to), and if there is a notation of suspected abuse, and the dog shows up with suspicious injuries even though the owner can "explain" them.. Maybe.

I doubt I would have done any better. I'd have, as politely as I am capapble of, asked when her surgery was, or what she was in for, then asked why she was up and jumping around so soon, etc. As you said, subtle works better at times. But, if he didn't listen, it would likely have escalated into assault charges, to be honest. Not the first time, unfortunately. Animal abuse is a bit of a sore spot for me.

Again, thank you OP, for not being a bitch.
>> Anonymous
>>137277

How a dog responds to abuse (past or present) varies greatly with the individual dog. Some dogs never get over past abuse, some dogs are forever bothered by people of the same sex/race as their former abuser but are sociable with everyone else, and some dogs are happy and healthy with anyone as soon as they are removed from an abusive situation. It's possible that this dog is having surgery or another procedure due to an abusive former owner, and her new owner is the one now taking care of her (but not really going about it the correct way). That could also explain why she is still skittish.
>> Anonymous
>>137229
what are you?
Twelve?
'Hurrr! Proper spelling and punctuation is too hard for my under developed brain. Hurr!'
>> Anonymous
This guy still sounds like he's fucking his dog to me. I just get that vibe from the OP's post. The smooth talking (from years of justifying his fetish on the internet), the name he gave her (come on, who doesn't see it!?), the controlling semi-abusive way he treats her. It all screams "DOG FUCKER" to me. Did he have a thin mustache?
>> Anonymous
This reminds me of a GSD and her owner I saw in a parking lot..
The man was driving an 80's sports car, was wearing some kind of black sporty-looking uniform - like what a karate instructor would wear if he was white (like this dude) and he had a short ponytail. A single guy in his mid forties.

His german shepherd was underweight. He lead her to a grassy area by the parking lot on a very short lead he held very firmly and with no slack as if she was a dangerous beast he had to keep tight control of. She trotted with her head down and her tail limp.

Once on the grass, he released her and directed her to run, and they proceeded to "play" his version of a game: she would run past him and he would whip the lead around and swat her with it in passing. She made a few passes, when an older guy walked by with his small dog. The 80's wannabe karate dude called his dog to him and reattached her lead, standing straight with the dogs lead tight (as she sat as his feet, showing no interest) as if he was honorably protecting this man and his dog from his deadly beast.
After the man passed, the 80s karate dude "played" with his dog some more, then commanded her to jump up and place her paws on his chest while he oh so lovingly roughed her ears up.
Then he replaced the lead and took her back to the car. The whole time the skinny GSD's tail was limp as a pine bough duct taped to a dogs ass.

I just wanted to shoot the guy in the face and let the dog eat what was left of him.