Friday, June 10, 2005

Concentration Camps for Dogs

How to torture pets for $14.00 per day!

Rocky, our little neurotic rescue dog, is now about two years old and happily a member of our family (despite unnerving pee-in-the-living-room incidents due to the tendency of Ohio to get COLD in the winter). We are about to abandon him in favor of HEAT in Italy.

Our neurotic little dog needs to be "kept" for us. We've now made several unsuccessful attempts to get dog sitters for him so I called the local vet about kenneling.

Today, I got to see the kennel...

::shudder::

Picture Schindler's List for pets. Everything in black and white, dogs barking from cramped crates, shower nozzels overhead...

These poor little dogs padded back and forth in these too tiny crates, yapping at us... "I don't belong here. I'm part cat!" The vet said, "Don't worry, they calm down. They don't bark when we're not in here."

And how would she know that?

We were reassured that the dogs were taken out of their crates for five minutes of hard labor twice a day. And if we could bring our dog's favorite chew toys, that would help. At that moment, I slid a glance dog-ward and noticed nary a chew toy in a single crate. Probably confiscated at the first strip search and collected for sale on the black market.

I will not leave little Rocky in a concentration camp. I am not heartless. But I am getting a mite desperate. Help! He needs a home for only eighteen days. Pwetty please?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, when are you going away?
If you felt like going on a road trip to drop him off at my house, I'd watch him. We have a fenced in yard and Zach, although big, is not a violent dog. He might like company.

Oh, and I am serious.

SUSAN said...

For some reason, my post didn't go through so I'll try again.
We had my sister stay overnight with our critters. I lured her with promises of good food, movies, a quiet house to herself. It did the trick and she ENJOYED the getaway! Know anyone that wants a vacation in the Midwest...free house, food, list of local hot spots? Spending money?

We have also hired homeschool kids to come over 2-3 times a day and let the dog out to go potty. They also feed her.

We have also used the Petsitting companies. These are usually run by individuals or families that love animals and come get to know your pet before you leave. You can arrange how many times you want them to come by per day.

Hope something works out. Having animals can be a joy but such a pain when you go on vacation!

Susan

Anonymous said...

That's exactly why I can't bring myself to do it.

my15minutes said...

Jules,
Try another kennel...they vary widely. I cannot imagine the cost, though, of boarding him for such a long time. It would be less expensive, and maybe less traumatic, to invite someone to dogsit. There are also dogsitting services, that would allow him to stay in familiar territory.

I'm back from the cruise, but heading out again soon. I'll check in later!

Did you know there is another julieunplugged out there? I Typed it in with .com after it, and just thought you had changed the appearance of your blog. I had to read a few entries before I realized it wasn't you! :-P