What would you do?

[oceanair27]

Let me start by saying that I have an older half sister (Renee)that is mildly mentaly handicapped. She graduated in special edducation classes. She is capable of driving a car,she is married and has her own place. She also has SEVEN dogs!! Three purebred s**tzus that her mother gave to her before moving to Las Vegas,and 4 mixed breeds. Anyway, I have tried to talk to her about them needing to have shots every year and flea preventitive,but she will have none of the conversation! She says her mother had given all her purebreds shots before giving them to her,and that they dont need anymore! (4 years ago)I must also explain that she is not one to argue with,she just doesent understand,she thinks she is allways right and thats the end of conversation. The problem IS THIS.... I went to visit with her about 2 months ago and the s**tzus looked as if they had mange or severe fleas, I then asked if they had there shots and if they had fleas? Their bottoms were almost completely bald,and they just kept scratching, She then repeated what I had told you earlier about her mom getting their shots done before giving them to her. So, I gave up went home and waited a couple of days so it wouldnt look obvious then called Help the animals to see what they could do. If my half sister was to find out I did that she would go crazy,like destroy your car type crazy! Well, I have been checking back with them over and over and they told me the last time I talked to them that they have sent someone to her house and waiting to hear back from them. That was 6 weeks ago,so I just called again and they said the person that was supposed to go out there has lost her address,they need it again. Well,I dont know it! I had to drive by her house to get it the first time. And, why didnt they call me when they first lost the address?!! My question is this, I was trying to go about this in a nice way,for Renee's sake but I'm thinking I'm getting the run a round from the help shelter. What would you do? I dont want to hurt her, but I also dont want the dogs to suffer any longer, and I know for a fact she wouldnt be able to afford to take care of them especially with mange. I didnt stay at her house long enough to see the mix dogs,becouse they were out in the garage. Who knows what they might have. Any ideas?

[Mueyinter]

I'd make an "anonymus" call to the ASPCA about the situation. The poor dogs are getting eaten alive! That's horrible! Something definetly needs to be done about the animals.

[YorkieRose]

I can only tell you what I would do if it was my sister...I would offer to groom all the dogs..buy vaccine and give them all shots..but this is not something many can do..if she refused, I would call Animal Control..in most places they pull more weight then a humane type society.
You are certainly between a rock and hard place, but the animals need care.
Best wishes

[Patti]

I think YorkieRose's idea is a good one.

[oceanair27]

What really makes it hard is she is 42 years old with the mind capacity of a 15 year old child. Her dogs are her babies and if an authority figure told her what was neccesary to take care of the animals and just helped her by giving her advice, she would probably listen. I would hope they would talk her into giving up a few of them too. But what scares me is they might just come in, see her dogs and take them all away, not even giving her a chance. And I personally,cant afford to take on the responsibility of giving all seven of her dogs shots and grooming. When I asked her about the fleas, you know what she said.... Oh there just loosing there winter coat and will be growing in a new summer coat. I think I am going to take it to the next step tho... mabie if I call the aspca they will come and talk to me about her before going over there.

[I love Lucy]

Can you call her mother? Your step mom? Sounds like she listens to her..and will trust what her mother says to her... Good luck.

[JeanieK]

Maybe you could get someone to pretend to be from the Animal Help program and have them tell her that she needs to get them to the vet or they will have to remove them.

It's being deceitful, but if it solves the problem without her going crazy, then IMO the end justifies the means.

Calling her mother might also be an option, unless you think her mother might cause trouble.

I'm not sure where you live, but having that many dogs, probably is against the city ordinance anyway.

[yougetthesmiles]

Originally Posted by Patti

I think YorkieRose's idea is a good one.

I dis agree, for one thing she has no reason having 7 dogs! It would be different if she just had 1, but 7?? I think 6 needs to be taken away from her and if she can take proper care of 1 then she should be able to keep it.

How is her house keeping skills? Does her husband work? Is he handicapped as well? Does someone come into her home to check on her?

I have worked with the mentally hadicapped and I know what goes on.

I would stay on the help shelter and call them everyday, they will get tired of hearing from you and maybe they will do something.

It's sad that are State allows this kind of situation, they don't seem to care, when I was attacked by my dobbie, I was not given the choice to put him down, they were NOT putting hime down!

Good luck and keep me posted!

[oceanair27]

Originally Posted by I love Lucy

Can you call her mother? Your step mom? Sounds like she listens to her..and will trust what her mother says to her... Good luck.

This is an excellant idea, but unfortunatly the only way to get her number is through Rena, plus her mother and I have never been the best of friends, if ya know what I mean lol.

[oceanair27]

Originally Posted by JeanieK

Maybe you could get someone to pretend to be from the Animal Help program and have them tell her that she needs to get them to the vet or they will have to remove them.

It's being deceitful, but if it solves the problem without her going crazy, then IMO the end justifies the means.

Calling her mother might also be an option, unless you think her mother might cause trouble.

I'm not sure where you live, but having that many dogs, probably is against the city ordinance anyway.

This is a good idea. My luck she would ask for their ID though. She is a little smarter than some of us think sometimes lol.

[oceanair27]

Originally Posted by yougetthesmiles

I dis agree, for one thing she has no reason having 7 dogs! It would be different if she just had 1, but 7?? I think 6 needs to be taken away from her and if she can take proper care of 1 then she should be able to keep it.

How is her house keeping skills? Does her husband work? Is he handicapped as well? Does someone come into her home to check on her?

I have worked with the mentally hadicapped and I know what goes on.

I would stay on the help shelter and call them everyday, they will get tired of hearing from you and maybe they will do something.

It's sad that are State allows this kind of situation, they don't seem to care, when I was attacked by my dobbie, I was not given the choice to put him down, they were NOT putting hime down!

Good luck and keep me posted!

She has very poor housekeeping skills! Her house really smells bad,and looks terrible. No,she is not physically hadycapped,and yes her husband does work,and is a little mental as well. Would you believe I just called the help shelter again 2 days ago and they still dont know anything,and are even acting a little aggravated that I'm still calling them. I can tell by the tones in their voices. The fact is.. there just not going to mess with it. I think they just keep brushing me off! Some help center huh? Tomorrow morning I'm going to call the local aspca or shelter to see if they can help. Everything is probably closed right now. I would have done this sooner,but the help center for animals assured me they would take care of it,to give them one more chance.This situation has lasted long enough, and I agree with you 100%. She only needs one dog, if any. I do know thats probably all she could afford to properly take care of. I let everyone know the outcome,and thanks for all your oppinions and suggestions.

[oceanair27]

I called animal control this morning. Guess what, they investigated it as soon as I called,then called me back to tell me what happened. They said she was furious! that she knew who called on her. She even called the police station cursing becouse animal controll was at her house!! Wow!! Anyway, she has to find a home for one of her dogs asap becouse she has too many,and she was given a time limit to flee bomb her house and get all their shots up to date and get them all flee dipped or the animals will be confiscated. I dont think she really knows who called on her, or she would probably have allready called my work and gotten me fired by now lol,and she hasent... WHEW!!! Anyway,the officer said if at anytime I wanted to get ahold of him to find out how his regular visits with her are doing, not to hesitate, and told me his name,and when he would be available to talk to. I guess she was pretty nasty with him,and it took him a few to get her to calm down. He said at one point he had to tell her if she didnt calm down and comply he would have to take her to jail and take her dogs away right then. Thats when she softened up a bit. I hated to have to go about it that way, but it seemed to be my last resort. I just hate to see an animal suffer. Oh! and by the way he thinks they have severe fleas, not mange, which is still bad,but not as bad as mange. One other thing I was wrong about how many dogs she has.She has 6,not 7,and the law only allows 5 which is why she has to re home one of them.

[YorkieRose]

I was wondering what happened..glad to hear this news...