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.

I work in a vets. We'd only take stray dogs if they are injured, as we would any animal. We cannot take any animals as we are not insured to have animals overnight. Whereas our bigger branch is..so I suspect every surgery is different.

And to the poster who said the vets asked you to pay for a cat's neutering as you'd grown attached to it. I'm presuming you wanted to keep it. So, why should it be done for free, if you were going to keep it?
We get this all the time. People pretending their cats are 'strays'...well, let us rehome them then.

YABU. They’re a business, not a shelter. You wouldn’t take the dog to the pet shop, would you?

Honestly, under the circumstances, I would have done if that were the closest place that might have somewhere suitable to keep it. I had no way to restrain it by the side of the road, so my priority was to get it somewhere safe in as short a time as possible.

I just assumed that people who work with animals would be at least as willing to help as I was and, because they were in a far better position to do something, that they would understand why I really couldn't do more.

It hadn't really occurred to me that they thought I was lying about my allergies, but the fact that some people on here have said thay I should have driven further with the dog suggests that some people don't take allergies that seriously, so maybe they did just think I was making excuses in which case I understand their reaction more.

@ArcherDog

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!

😂 you sound lovely! I’d end up with a houseful of dogs in your job 😳Thank gods I work with the public, no desire to take them home... 😉

Genuine question, how do dog wardens go about finding the owner? What happens if they don’t?

@villainousbroodmare

I'm a vet. I would probably have taken that dog in and I certainly wouldn't have called you a blackmailer but let me be devil's advocate here. I recently took the weekend off to attend a colleague's wedding in a town 90 min away. All staff were attending (this is relevant. Remember that if the vet took in that dog, that someone would have had to come in to the practice at least five times over the weekend to care for the dog and feed it at the practice's expense, thereby being tied to work all weekend long.) I arranged out of hours cover with a neighbouring practice 15 min away and tied up all loose ends, or so I thought! I then came in to work on Saturday morning to see one client with an emergency. I was therefore going to be late for the wedding but hey, vets are not real people. (It turned out absolutely not to be an emergency.) As I was leaving, a member of the public arrived with a dog she had picked up wandering possibly walking home on a quiet nearby football field. She threw a huge tantrum when I suggested she bring it home with her, or back to where she found it, to the local shelter or failing all of that, to the neighbouring vet. So I put the dog in my car and drove it to the shelter. Meanwhile DH was trying to get three small children wedding-ready. While I was trying to get someone to open the gate at the shelter, the dog shat on my front seat and trampled it all over the car. We missed the wedding. The kids cried all afternoon due to missing their nap. The car has been scrubbed and professionally cleaned. It still smells. (DH asked if people kidnap loitering teenagers and foist them on the local GP. I laughed.)

You all do amazing work, and I’m extremely grateful to my vets in the last couple of months, but I have to ask, what if your practice had an emergency admission while all staff were off? Would the covering vets have dealt with that and come in every few hours?

Or transferred them to their practice? What is the difference with a ‘stray’? Surely if necessary they could contact the warden?

@ArcherDog

What the vet surgery could do is to instate a collecting box in order to gather funds for such emergencies: 'Please help our team care for stray animals brought to us. It is written in the Environmental Protection Act very clearly that the government fund Local Councils to deal with stray animals. No need to charity.

@OnceUponAPotato I picked up a stray, looked ok, bit skinny but nothing glaringly obvious. Housed it in our stray kennel block with 4 other strays. Came down the next morning, dead. Two other strays then died within 72 hours. Parvo.

We’ve had a stray in and then within 4 days it’s infected the other 3 in the block with kennel cough.

Put those dogs in with dogs at the vets already undergoing treatments for other illnesses? Asking for trouble.

Unfortunately our local council can spend £££ on snow ploughs that will be used once every 10 - 15 years, but can only pick up our bins once every 3 weeks. Other services have been cut to a minimum, sadly very much doubt care of strays is even on their agenda.

Charity might at least help

What if you have a dog in who for some reason hasn’t had their vaccines but desperately needs treatment? Surely you could quarantine a stray in the same way?

You did nothing wrong. They were bloody rude and if they’re anything like the vets in our area,I’m amazed they didn’t try and charge you a ridiculous amount of money for some insane reason that they would just pluck out of their arse

OnceUponAMidnightBeery if someone had phoned us they would have been asked, if they had an emergency, to go directly to the practice with whom we had arranged cover, where their animal would be received and treated. If they had physically arrived at the practice, they would have read the same message on the door. We have an obligation to provide reasonable cover, not to be on the premises 24/7.

@OnceUponAMidnightBeery First thing is to check for a microchip and hope all the details are correct. If that doesn’t help find the owner then the dog goes to the shelter and we hope that the owner calls and reports their dog missing.
If no one comes forwards within 7 days then the dog becomes property of the Council who can euthanise or rehome.
That all depends on the individual Council and what rescue spaces they have available. In my current job we pay an animal shelter to take all our strays so 98% are rehomed.

In a previous job, we had to search for and beg individual dog rescues to take each dog. Obviously this was much harder and no one really wanted any problem dogs or dogs they would not easily be able to rehome etc.
We had 10 kennels and once they were full the first one in had to go. Many many more were unfortunately euthanised. For example we would have 6 identical brindle male Staffies and a rescue would say they could take 2. We would then have to chose the 2 who got to live and the 4 who wouldn’t.
It was really hard. I remember we had to do little individual write ups on each dog to try and make them appeal to all the local rescues.

You did the right thing. I found a dog wandering round my front drive.

I couldn't bring it in my house and I have 3 of my own and I don't know if it's friendly.

So I walked it round my local vets, who scanned its chip and then said they'd keep it until its owners arrived. I spoke to the dog warden first and she was happy for me to do that as she was miles away.

@ArcherDog that's so hard. I do pound runs sometimes on my days off work. Collect them and transport them to the rescue that's offered them a place.

So many staffies and every one has been friendly and loving. Only dog that's ever bit me during my transport was a tiny little old chihuahua 😊

You did a good deed but they are a business and not obliged to take in every waife and stray in the area. Unfortunately once you picked it up from the side of the road you had taken responsibility to find somebody who is willing to look after it.

The problem that places like vets have is that the dog warden will not come and collect the dog from them. Once it is deemed to be in a secure, safe place, the dog warden won't/can't help.

Similarly, the shelter will often refuse them because they are so full that they will not take a dog that has somewhere else to safely go.

Once the vets closed, they would have to pay a member of staff to be on duty with the dog as their insurance won't cover animals left unattended. When they have animals in recovering, this is covered in the costs of the treatment.

Molotov, the vet didn't suggest that OP turn the dog loose, this is what was said:

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

Peanuts are not poisonous to dogs.

I can’t think what possessed you, as a dog and nut allergic person to deal with an unknown, nut contaminated dog when you had your children with you.

Vets cannot home every stray or lost dog.

You could have photographed the dog and put it in a local Fb page or Next Door, or reported it to the police on 101. The police do collect lost strays.

Given the risks to you and your kids you got way over involved and then expected the vets to pick it up when the dog was not ill.

Much as I love dogs, I would not put a stray in the car with my DC. What if it had snapped at them?
Also what if you had an anaphylactic reaction whilst driving.
You were kind in trying to help but I think I'd have just stopped and rang the dog warden or police to report it.
We once took a stray cat to the vets for scanning. Ended up being charged for flea treatments and asked to keep her for a couple of weeks in case the owners appeared. It's been 12 years. Shes still here.

The dog warden in our area absolutely does pick up dogs from our vets. We can't keep them indefinitely. There is a process which has to be followed.

You did nothing wrong.

I wouldn’t of took a dog home with me either and would of left it at the vets. If they said they couldn’t take it and I couldn’t either then I would of said just open the door and let it out then.

Dog wardens collect dogs from vets too in my area.
I have a friend that is a practice manager and it happens all the time

You did a good deed. You couldn't very well leave the dog there.

The police do collect lost strays.

In the UK, the police do NOT collect lost strays, they don't even take them in if you arrive at a police station. Police have had zero responsibility for stray dogs for something like 20 years!

I'm in a minority here but I think they are a business not a charity and why should they be lumbered with the dog? If you didn't want to deal with it then you should have left it rather than just passing the problem to someone else against their will.

To be fair, it wasn't just a question of saving the dog from harm - leaving it where it was could have been risky as it was on a sharpish bend where there isn't much delineation between the pavement and the road. If the dog had been spooked and run into the road, it could easily have caused an accident which could have had more serious implications than the dog getting injured.