Inbreeding crippled dogs.

As many of you know I deliver prescriptions for a living.

One of the houses I go to once in a while has 5 crippled dogs. They are born that way, their paws are curled under and their nails grow out of them in a really weird way. So they kind of shuffle about on their bellies to get around.

This family is kind of poor and their house is the most disgusting thing I have ever been in, but they are very sweet people and they love their dogs.

The thing is, is that they do not have their only female dog spayed so she keeps breeding with her children, making more deformed puppies. They have another deformed puppy on the way and I just HATE to see them bring more crippled doggies into the world.

What I am trying to get at is that I feel like I need to do something about it.

I want to call animal control but I am afraid they will take the dogs away from them because they are in city limits and the maximum dogs you can have without a breeding license (which they don't have) is 2.

If I could pay to spay her myself I would but I don't think I can afford it.

I would feel horrible calling them in but I feel really horrible about them inbreeding more helpless puppies.

I don't know what to do.

I love dogs more then anything and I don't want to see them like that.

They seem to love and care for them very well, and the dogs are always very happy and friendly when I go there,but I don't think they should be able to breed more.

I want them to Keep them, but not make anymore.

Is there only one female?  There might be some low cost spay clinics in your area.  Shouldn't cost too much for a small dog anyway.  Some vets might be willing to give you a break on the cost if you explain the situation, or allow you to set up a payment plan.

I hear Humane Society spays for free. Could be wrong, but it's worth looking into....

Well, in my opinion you could do either of two things. Either you offer to pay for the spay and tell the family you feel for the betterment of the dogs they should accept it free of charge otherwise you feel you'll need to call the city on them. Or, just call the city and report them because it seems to me that even tho the dogs are friendly, theres a debatable quality of life issue there. The family should, in the very least, definately not be bringing more inbred dogs into the world.

According to the dog whisperer, there are a lot of places that spay/neuter for charity, so you might want to check around.  Do you think they would let you spay their dog even if you could afford it tho?  I mean they might be offended that you're meddling or something.  It's very kind of you in my opinion, though.  My friend got her cat spayed for I think $75, so that is not horribly expensive.  I think some places are cheaper.

Original Post by huggitbear: 

Do you think they would let you spay their dog even if you could afford it tho?  I mean they might be offended that you're meddling or something.

I would think they would let me help them but you never know. I don't want to be offensive and I would feel horrible if they thought that.

Report it!  Those dogs deserve better!!!!!!!!!!!   :(    You can be anonymous if you need to... or you can tell those people that you want to help.    But you need to do something!!  No dog deserves to have to live like that!!! 

Please do SOMETHING.   Don't let it continue!!!!!!  

I know it might be hard for you since these people do love their dogs, but you do need to report it.  They have plenty of programs for inexpensive or even free neutering (In San Diego we have the "Neuter Scooter" or something like that, where it's like $30 to get your animal neutered by vets) and even payment plans at vet offices where they make a small down payment and after the procedure can make small monthly payments until it's paid off.  The fact that they haven't done this yet is scary, and abusive.  They are just watching their dogs create new life that will turn out to be deformed and possibly even miserable if their deformities get to a certain point.

Please do the best for these dogs, not their owners.  Humans are capable of taking care of themselves.. household pets are not.

Wow, I see your dilemma. I also love dogs (animals) a great deal and so I can understand how you must be feeling.

I think it comes down to what will be best for the dogs in the long run. Breeding unhealthy dogs and bringing more dogs into a household that cannot afford good medical care or to provide for them is not what is good for the animals. As stated above, affordable spaying is available if a person looks and cares to do the right thing. I do think it's more than these people not being able to pay for spaying.

It is not difficult to understand why you should not let a dog inbreed with her own pups. A little bit of logic should have guided these people to not let it happen. So there is an element of neglect and ignorance there. Maybe they do love their dogs in their own way, however real love dictates responsibility for the animals well-being and that seems to be missing here.

While it may be hard I think I would call someone or at the very least bring it up to them (if you feel you can) Them keeping the five dogs would be best because it is unlikely to find homes for them, but allowing the inbreeding to go on and no spaying to take place is abuse on their part, even if they do not understand that is what they are doing. This a difficult situation and you are between a rock and a hard place. I feel for you because the more you love animals the more you feel responsible when you see these sorts of things. Wish you luch and grace with the whole thing

I am just so worried that they will put the animals to sleep if I report them because they are deformed. Do you think they would do that? That is my main fear.

No I dont think anyone would do that unless the dogs are in horrible pain, or something that cannot be fixed/relieved. The vet would just worry about their health, and no one would force those people to put their animals to sleep.

Maybe you could call animal control and find out what they would do exactly? I think you should report it though, the fact that they don't at least keep that female seperate while she's in heat shows they are a) stupid and shouldn't own pets or b) don't care as much as you think and shouldn't own pets.

Original Post by schnooder:

I am just so worried that they will put the animals to sleep if I report them because they are deformed. Do you think they would do that? That is my main fear.

Nope.  Check with the Humane Society before calling animal control.  They aren't going to put the animals to sleep, like someone else said, unless they are in unbearable pain.  Also, there are a lot of people out there who love helping less fortunate animals and I'm sure they would love to take care of these dogs.  I know a lot of people adopt blind dogs and dogs missing legs, etc., because they are great people and love to help animals.