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Return of the stupids
Oct. 20th, 2006 09:08 pmHad an entertaining (read: frustrating) discussion with a woman who should very much not be breeding dogs. It seems that she just got a new dog, and the previous owners say that she was not scratching or acting itchy before she came here. The new owner stopped by the clinic today (without the dog, mind you) to see if I knew why the dog could be itching. After telling her that I couldn’t begin to diagnose the dog without seeing it, I ran through the list of things most commonly causing itching: fleas, mites, allergies, ringworm… could be a more serious disease though, and I recommended she bring the dog in. At which point she informs me that she’s not seen any fleas on the dog, and she bathed it, get this, in PINE-SOL. Oh yeah. THAT’LL make the itching go away, honey. Floor cleaner on already irritated skin. Poor puppy!
A rather un-washed gent came in recently, and wanted to know if there was anything he could feed to 2 wild dogs that would knock them out so he could chain them up. Upon further discussion, this is the situation (condensed from the conversation): There are 2 dogs, one male, one female who’ve been living near this gent’s place (which, by the way, is a motor home with no power and no phone). He’s been feeding them, and say’s they’re basically “like his dogs” except that he can’t get anywhere near them. He likes having them around, because they bark and snarl if someone gets near his shop or boat. (I’m a bit skeptical that he has anything worth stealing, what with living in a motor home with no power, but what do I know?) Unfortunately, the dogs apparently kill and eat random beasts in the area—cats and deer, according to him—and the neighbors are fed up with it. He’s been told to do something about them or the neighbor will start shooting (the dogs, silly, not the gent). Apparently his previous attempts to catch these dogs included feeding them a bunch of beer to get them drunk, but the male didn’t drink any and the female still wouldn’t let him get near her even when she was inebriated. He seems unable to lure them into a fenced area or small building. After recommending that he contact Animal Control (sadly, the nearest Animal Control worth mentioning is about an hour away) and/or Fish and Wildlife about a live trap or tranq dart gun, we got down to what drugs I have on hand that he can try—which is only really one option and highly unlikely to be successful. But I sent him off with a few little pink pills to try and slip to the dogs, with the caveat that they’ll be sleepy/calm but not unconscious and will still be quite capable of biting the hell out of him or running away should he piss them off. I sincerely hope that this man does not succeed in catching these dogs and then expect me to work on them. It seems to me much more logical to shoot the untouchable, random-other-animal-killing dogs and get one that barks just as loud but is less likely to rip the man’s hand off at the shoulder. But again, what do I know?
A rather un-washed gent came in recently, and wanted to know if there was anything he could feed to 2 wild dogs that would knock them out so he could chain them up. Upon further discussion, this is the situation (condensed from the conversation): There are 2 dogs, one male, one female who’ve been living near this gent’s place (which, by the way, is a motor home with no power and no phone). He’s been feeding them, and say’s they’re basically “like his dogs” except that he can’t get anywhere near them. He likes having them around, because they bark and snarl if someone gets near his shop or boat. (I’m a bit skeptical that he has anything worth stealing, what with living in a motor home with no power, but what do I know?) Unfortunately, the dogs apparently kill and eat random beasts in the area—cats and deer, according to him—and the neighbors are fed up with it. He’s been told to do something about them or the neighbor will start shooting (the dogs, silly, not the gent). Apparently his previous attempts to catch these dogs included feeding them a bunch of beer to get them drunk, but the male didn’t drink any and the female still wouldn’t let him get near her even when she was inebriated. He seems unable to lure them into a fenced area or small building. After recommending that he contact Animal Control (sadly, the nearest Animal Control worth mentioning is about an hour away) and/or Fish and Wildlife about a live trap or tranq dart gun, we got down to what drugs I have on hand that he can try—which is only really one option and highly unlikely to be successful. But I sent him off with a few little pink pills to try and slip to the dogs, with the caveat that they’ll be sleepy/calm but not unconscious and will still be quite capable of biting the hell out of him or running away should he piss them off. I sincerely hope that this man does not succeed in catching these dogs and then expect me to work on them. It seems to me much more logical to shoot the untouchable, random-other-animal-killing dogs and get one that barks just as loud but is less likely to rip the man’s hand off at the shoulder. But again, what do I know?
