What should I have done with this dog?

[DogDiscoveryDrama]

I've name changed for this as it's quite an outing situation.

Earlier today I was taking my kids out to meet friends at the park.

On the way, I spotted an unattended dog eating peanuts (presumably from a purloined bird feeder) at the side of the road by our local church. It's on a bend where there isn't a clear divide between pavement and road, and there was nobody in sight. I pulled over and left my kids in the car while I went back to see if there was anyone looking after the dog.

There was nobody around and no obvious houses nearby that it could have come from, so I rang the number on its collar but there was no answer so I left a message saying I'd take it to the local vet.

I am allergic to both dogs (itchy and asthmatic) and peanuts (anaphylaxis), but I grabbed the dog, stuck it in the car and took it to the vets a couple of minutes away.

When I got there, I explained the situation, including that I'm allergic to everything about the dog at this point. They scanned for a chip and the details matched the number on the collar but it was registered to an address about an hour's drive away.

They tried calling and got no answer, then asked if they could take my details to give to the owner if they called. I explained that I couldn't take the dog, explained again about my allergies and asked if there was anything else we do.

The vet came out and they both kept saying that they couldn't take the dog - they would be closing for the weekend at six - and I should take it to the local animal shelter, about a 20 minute drive away.

I apologised and explained again that I couldn't take the dog in my car, that I'm allergic to the dog inside and out, I'm not really great with dogs as a result, and I'm not comfortable driving around with a loose dog in my car with my children (boot full of stuff, so would have had to be in the front with me). I said if they couldn't take it I would have to turn it loose as it was not safe for me to take it.

The vet then said I was blackmailing them and after a bit more back and forth where I said I was happy to help, but couldn't take the dog, and they accused me of blackmail again. Then the assistant begrudgingly said she'd take the dog and they basically pushed me out of the door.

I was so taken aback at their whole attitude and their insistence that I was being unreasonable that it made me question whether there was another viable alternative that I should have considered.

For the record, I obviously think I did the right thing at the time, but I was planning to email them to apologise that I couldn't do more because I do appreciate that it was an unenviable situation for them too. I just think that they were better placed to deal with it than I was and that as animal care professionals they could have been a bit more helpful or willing to compromise, but I will hold up my hands if there is an alternative that I didn't think of as I really didn't want to create a problem for them.

YANBU you did a good deed and was treated like you had abandoned the dog! I work somewhere where people thinks it's ok to hand in passports, purses and other things they find which is annoying as I cant do anything with these things different to they can but I take them and thank them for handing them in (then my managers like ffs what are we supposed to do with that 😂). You did a good deed OP.

Well my first point of contact would have been the council dog warden, unless the dog was injured it wouldn't have occurred to me to take it to a vet.

Couldn't you have rang them? They would have sent someone to collect it from you.

That’s shocking that they told you to turn it loose! I understand that it’s not really their responsibility to take it to the shelter but given there was no alternative you’d think people in the business of animal welfare wouldn’t have been so reluctant to take the poor thing.

Difficult one as they don’t really have the time or resources to take the dog to the shelter, and it’s really not their job to.

Our policy is if it’s out of hours and the dog warden can’t collect them the finder has to take to the drop off point (the shelter). If not then they would have to put it somewhere safe where someone else might find it and take it or turn it lose I guess.

If you already had the dog in your car then I don’t think a 20min drive is unreasonable.

@MolotovMocktail Problem is once they take it they are then responsible for it. And people will keep bringing strays to them and they would have to keep dealing with them. They are a business who do not deal with stray dogs. The vet would have to pay an employee to take the dog to the shelter, or an employee would have to do it in their own time.

The dog warden didn't occur to me - I took it to the vet because I couldn't really restrain it and didn't want to leave it by the road. I also have no idea whether or not dogs should ingest their own body weight in peanuts, which this one appeared to be attempting at least.

I figured that since the vet was close by, they would be able to scan it etc and I was kind of hoping that they would understand why I couldn't really take responsibility for it beyond getting it out of immediate danger. They didn't suggest the dog warden either and if they had, it would still have made way more sense for the warden to pick the dog up from there rather than me trying to herd it sheep-dog style away from the road until they arrived.

@RunningFromInsanity

It's literally about a minute's drive from where I found the dog to the vets, which I chanced because I figured I would be at little risk of a reaction, but the 20 minute drive would have been through rural roads and I didn't want to risk a reaction while I was driving, esp with my kids in the car. Sometimes I can cope ok with dogs, but sometimes I react really quickly with wheezing and streaming eyes, and as this one had been eating peanuts as well, it just seemed like such a bad idea to be in an enclosed space with it.

I worked in vets for 10 years, you did nothing wrong! Absolutely the right thing to do to get the dog scanned, we would always ring the dog warden. Shouldn't be your responsibility to take the dog, it isn't the vets either to be honest but you accept it's something you have to deal with when you work in a vets

What breed was the dog? I seen a post on Facebook for a missing dog.

I don’t think you did anything wrong at all. I would expect the vet to care enough about animals to want to help. Especially as you clearly told them your situation. If I were in your medical position I wouldn’t have picked the dog up in the first place! Don’t give it another thought. If it happens again perhaps take a picture and put it on your local Facebook group with the location.

I took a dog to the vet once which I had found running back and forward over a road. It was the on-call vet in a small village and she offered to keep it, we took it home instead so it wouldn't be in a cage.

She made a couple of phone calls to farmers who phoned around and the owner was found in a couple of hours.

Posting on local FB sites always seems to get a fast response to missing dogs.

I don't blame a vet just finishing work for the day for not taking the dog, the council dog warden have a responsibility to look after lost dogs.

YANBU

My local pet takes in stray pets and if they've not got enough room, they contact the animal warden.

There's no way they would've expected you to be responsible under the circumstances, especially with kids in the car.

You did absolutely the right thing, with hindsight you could have called the warden but you did your best and you put the dog first at risk to yourself. The vets should have been more understanding.

@Gingerkittykat

The vet posted it on our local FB page when we got there, but I would have done otherwise. The main problem was that I had no way to contain the dog other than putting it in my car, so couldn't really wait around for someone to see it on FB and get in touch and didn't want it in my car for any longer than necessary.

It was only 2.15, so not the end of the day and a check of the dog warden page suggests that they are open till 4, so could potentially have collected from the vet in good time for the dog to have been gone before closing.

Not that it helps as the dog warden hadn't occurred to me at the time, but I'm surprised the vet didn't suggest it TBH as I could probably have found somewhere to leave it if I knew it was being picked up.

I’ve taken wandering dogs to my local vets before if local fb groups can’t help. They’ve always been very helpful, taken the dog in (often have an idea of the owners as we’re a fairly small local community)

If they don’t know, they share it to their fb page (which obviously has a much wider audience than mine) and if there’s room keep the dog in overnight.

I grew up watching Lady and the Tramp and Scruffy, dog warden would be my last resort

I’m not allergic, so could’ve taken dog home if it came to it. You were in a very different situation and I’m sorry the vets weren’t more understanding.

I grew up watching Lady and the Tramp and Scruffy, dog warden would be my last resort I’m a dog warden and I promise we aren’t all like that 😂 I usually take the strays home until I find the owner, I’m a bit of a soft touch!

Yanbu. Ime the dog warden is a waste of time. The best response I've ever had was one that came out about 8 hours later, I was in a position to keep hold of it at the time at great inconvenience, but for all they knew I could have been on my way to work. Another occasion we had one from a Thursday afternoon before a bank holiday, by the time they got in touch on the following Tuesday we'd found the owners via social media.

I was so taken aback at their whole attitude and their insistence that I was being unreasonable that it made me question whether there was another viable alternative that I should have considered.

No, FFS - you did the right thing and they were pretty crap. Don’t recommend them to anyone!

Bloody hell - it’s not their responsibility in the same way it’s not yours, but a) they’ll have somewhere for an animal to be safely contained b) they’ll be qualified and not allergic and with kids to protect c) they’ll have the number of both the dog warden and the local animal shelter, and probably a known contact at each place and d) they ought to be compassionate enough to want the best for the animal, given it’s their career and whole business model.

It’s hardly an unheard of situation- people bring in lost or straying dogs to vets ALL the time.

I dropped off a poorly hedgehog to our vet and they were lovely about it - they knew someone at the local hedgehog rescue who’d collect. I’d not hesitate to take a stray dog to my vet because they work with the local rescue, they know loads of local animals by sight/record, and they’re just generally lovely people.

I didn't realise the vet would be open for a couple of hours after you arrived, in that case I do think they were being unreasonable.

A vet is not a dog shelter. YABU to hand it off to them.

@JojoLapin

A vet is not a dog shelter. YABU to hand it off to them.

Any strays found in these parts are initially taken to the large vet on the estate. They assess the animal, check for a chip and post out a Facebook appeal. They generally keep overnight before handing over to local dogs home.

In fact I can think of half a dozen vets in this city that put out appeals on social media so I'd assume taking a lost animal there would be the absolute sensible thing to do, not in the least because the shelter that serves this city is actually in the next county and about 70 Miles away.

YANBU OP. The vets were in the wrong, dog wardens collect from vets all the time, it made complete sense for you to nip the dog there to check for a chip.
If the vets had made contact with the owners on the chip, would they have been ok with you leaving the dog then?!
Maybe your local dog warden is renowned for being a bit slow, with council cuts sometimes they’re doing multiple jobs and are slow to respond. However in my area they would’ve collected it from the vets within the hour so no reason for the vets to reject the dog.

I would have done the same as you OP.
All lost pets are taken to our local vets, also hedgehogs etc.
They take them in, scan them and put the picture on Facebook. (the famous vets off the TV so are very lovely)
I assume they contact the dog shelters or dog warden if no one comes forward.

For hedgehogs and wildlife they have an arrangement with a local hedgehog rescue and keep them until they can pick them up.

Thanks all- I'm glad there wasn't some glaringly obvious reason for them to be so unwilling to help. If they'd suggested the dog warden, I might have been able to make arrangements for it, but they were so aggressively insistent that I should take it that I really started to doubt myself.

I do appreciate that they didn't want the responsibility dumped on them and I'm usually the type to step up (I once overwintered an incredibly stinky hedgehog for nearly 6 months!) but I just couldn't think what else to do and I honestly thought they'd help.

Just to make it clear, neither party were in the wrong.

Yes some vets help, but they have no obligation to, and actually they shouldn’t be housing a stray (and therefore possible unvaccinated/ill dog) with patient dogs.
And if the owner didn’t get in contact with them before closing time they would then be left with the dog and have to take it to the shelter.