Oh, Diane, you owe no one an apology! I understand the frustration at how the innocent, such as our little dogs, are so often treated by people! And you get so beside yourself thinking what almost happened and very easily could have happened - it just makes you so sick. That poor little sweet thing could have been instantly killed by that old man's actions. But, when you hear of his age and his apparent illness, then it's easier to understand that sometimes the people that do the awful thing to animals are going through such awful things in their brains, they aren't even thinking rationally and can do the worst things! And Alzheimer's in a very smart person can be so difficult to diagnose when that person is trying to hide it, especially early on. It's just such a sad situation that that poor dog was having to live with that poor man. And maybe he doesn't even have a family to watch out for him or something. I'm hoping he gets some help, too. Maybe both of them can be helped now that things happened the way that they did. I just thank God that that engineer saw that dog and what the old man did and it all came out. I hope there is somewhere for that old man to get care.

Still, there are some people who don't think killing a dog isn't that terrible and think it is just like killing farm animals to eat. I remember when the Michael Vick horror had come out how many men, many of them quite young, called in to talk shows or went online on forums, etc., to ask what was so wrong with what he'd done, that fighting dogs was a cultural thing, they'd grown up with it as a kind of sport like boxing or horse racing and it was no more than when two goats squared off in the farmyard and the farm hands cheered one or the other. And they really couldn't get the killing thing - said things like "ya'll say it's okay to kill chickens and cows, steers every day and eat them" and what was the difference and that people all over the world still kill and eat dogs for meat? So many were soooo steamed when Vick got sent to prison for killing "only a dog" and what made us think that was so bad but we kill and eat other animals. They found it totally hypocritical. I don't think Michael Vick himself ever understood the outrage and still doesn't, from the way he talks. To this day that man sounds clueless when he speaks about dog fighting or killing. There is no emotion or real angst because he just doesn't see it as wrong - not the way he was raised. And I believe him, from the kinds of things I heard from so many of the talk-show callers and read online. I remember one or more of those guys saying that in the old days, tying dogs to the train tracks, drowning them in feed sacks and things like that were ways their family killed their old or sick dogs to get them out of their misery! One of them even said a lot of the boys would gather and watch it, cheering the train on! It was such an eye-opener to hear a few of the well-known football players commenting, some right on ESPN live on the air over the phone and others just on radio sports talk shows about they just didn't see the problem with what Vick had done and how their family had always fought dogs and would toss them out of the backs of trucks etc., when they were ill - until the hoorah became so loud and so many people rose up in protest. The groundswell of horror from the majority against Vick in time became a tsunami. Soon you never heard those athletes speak like that ever again - the NFL and their managers, etc. told them to shut that kind of talk up, it wasn't P.C. in this day and time. Even today on Animal Precinct and some of those shows on Animal Planet when a guy is being arrested for neglect or abuse or cruelty to animals over his horrible mistreatment or death of his dog, he will say something like "You're taking me to jail over a "bleepin'" dog!?!?!" Some of them are totally floored they can't do whatever they want to their dog! It's really so shocking that this day and time so many still hold to that and don't see killing one any different than killing other animals.

But it could be the old man was from that school of thought in addition to being ill. I can tell you - there are an awful lot of men and young men out there who just don't see that kind of thing as wrong! But at least after Vick, a lot more of them now know not to speak out about it. Oh gosh! I really droned on! Sorry!

My problem is that no action was taken to prevent a similar situation in the future. If the man is mentally ill or has dementia he is a danger to himself as well as other life forms around him. It is one thing to have dementia and do strange things now and then and another thing to walk all the way to the train tracks to tie a dog to them in order to not have to deal with it anymore. The fact that he gave a reason for what he did shows he did have some rational thought processes.

My grandmother had dementia. It is a cruel disease and an awful way to lose a much loved family member. However, we had to take precautions in order to keep her from hurting herself. I guess we were very blessed in that she never tried to hurt anyone or anything during her illness although we did have to prevent her from leaving home and getting lost or injured.

To just ignore what this man did because he may have a mental problem is inviting further trouble for himself or someone else. I think we all have seen the problems this country has with not properly dealing with mental illness. It is ignored and sadly too many times either the sick one is injured or the patient injures someone else.

Sadly, if he has no family or they don't have means, he will most likely fall through the cracks.

Just from this story, we don't really know if anything else is being done for him, only that no criminal charges are being filed.

There are so many kids and adults on drugs and eating up so much of the resources for mental health, people like this often fall through the cracks and believe me, there are those like this out there all over the place! Hopefully, someone in the PD asked social services to follow up with the man but the social workers are so busy with druggies and their issues which are usually violence-related in order to get $$$, that they may be 2 mos. behind and then, if he's not home or doesn't answer the phone, it may take another month before a letter gets to him to call. If he doesn't open all his mail or ignores it, nothing will probably happen if a f/u letter is sent.

But with so many Americans using funds related to their love of drugs and gangs, resources are directed to urban areas to try to house, rehab and process those folks through the system as they wreak so much havoc on society when out of control. This old man with his dog becomes just an afterthought and he'll probably get dropped off the radar awfully soon unless someone in the community steps up. Even if he has a family that is interested and pursues it, if they haven't the funds to get him in a Nursing Home or a highly-prized Medicaid bed(waits in some facilities are over a year and in others, 3 months but you wouldn't want you dog in those with soon-ready Caid beds - believe me) becomes available and he's been adjudged mentally incompetent by a judge, there is no program for him in most cases and no follow up. All of our $$$ goes for drug-related court-appointed lawyers/jail costs/housing/medical care and drugs/rehab/housing and out-patient work programs for them and the elderly and the comparatively "minor" things they do that don't involve guns and mayhem are uncared for. There is just no money for a man like this so often. If his county is running low on funds, he'll likely be left to what his family can get done. If it's just him and his elderly wife and she is not able to get him help, he's out there on his own most likely. And I hope they can't get access to another dog.

By law noting can be done for a mental patient unless the patient goes to a medical professional of some kind and says they are thinking of harming themselves or someone else. Even then it can be difficult if the patient is not willing to be admitted. Also as you mentioned there is the financial issue. Many facilities have had to cut back and some even closed down. I have seen many families trying to work through the system to get their family member help and it is a very trying task to say the least. A lot depends on how much priority each area gives to the problem. Many times when cuts are made mental health is often one of the first to go. But the laws make it difficult for even the areas that do have good services.

Thank God they didn't get to keep the dog! Hopefully the family will keep an eye on their kids now too.. :eek:

So true. Another way not based directly on the harming/danger issue is a family or citizen can call 911 when the patient is out of control or severely disoriented with his dementia and he will be held until a judge can have him evaluated and/or ask him a series of questions to see if he's mentally competent and if not, knowing he will become a danger to himself or others if he is mentally incompetent, have him committed to a holding cell in jail if there is room or to state hospital until a nursing home bed opens up. If he becomes lucid during that time though, they will have to release him to his home. If he lives in an area with a "really good" zip code, probably one will fairly soon as that NH knows they can get good money until and if he qualifies for Medicaid. If not, he'll be forced to wait until family members call and beg for some facility to take him. The obliging facility then run a finances check and it goes from there.

But if there is no one to find him a NH, will he survive the state hospital - being old and unable to escape from some of those folks, he'll probably get attacked more than once a day, beaten up each time and his shoes, socks and glasses taken. It's a cruel system for the old, alone, demented patient and the only dollars they get now days mostly go to the drug-abusers as they mostly have a way to access guns and shoot to get $$$ for more drugs. So trying to get those people rehabbed enough to stop overusing the system and working a bit is their biggest focus right now and will be until so many people stop using cocaine and hopping up on huge amounts of Rx pain killers.

My husband read that article to me last night. It nearly broke my heart. That's so awful!