South of Sunnyside

A friend recently forwarded a Craigslist post advertising an amateur, but comical website: Things My Dog Ate. With three dogs, I can relate, though ours have never chewed $300 shoes (we’ve never owned $300 shoes…).

The site reminded me of Kim’s most recent attempts to “test” Darla’s behavior while we were away from the house. Past experience has taught us to confine her to a kennel if we’re going to be gone for more than 15-20 minutes, but every three months or so, Kim decides to give the dog another chance, despite my objections.

Darla has completely destroyed books, including Kim’s favorite Bible, shoes, remotes, food containers, etc. Most items have been easy to either replace or forget, but, as a dog, she has no ability to discern value.

Anyway, back to the most recent experience: we weren’t gone for long, and Kim scoured the house, picking up anything within reasonable reach (though Darla has proved to be part mountain goat, part cat) save the furniture. Kim did a good job, too; she just forgot the stack of magazines under the side table.

I came home, hesitantly opened the door, and then dropped my jaw.

Darla had destroyed each of the magazines, scattering their pages from the front door to the back. Honestly, I wasn’t upset, as it was quite humorous—and we have no attachment to the magazines. The total collection filled a garbage bag to the seams.

Yes, we have three dogs. (No, we don’t have any kids.)

Yes, they all sleep on the bed, but not every night.

And yes, sometimes they like to sleep in a bit after we get up in the morning.

After a brief stay at our house, Kim brought Hope, the 40 pound-ish, lab-esque dog found wandering our street, to the SPCA.

Hope’s family was contacted, and said they’d be in on Monday of this week to pick her up. By Thursday, she was still at the shelter, and was up for adoption; without adoption, and in the absence of responsible owners, Hope would be scheduled for euthanization. Alas, Kim paid the $65 adoption fee and made arrangements for Hope to live (temporarily) with her mom and dad.

Hope played nice with Riley, the dog that Kim’s parents have owned for six or seven years, but when Kim came over to give them both a bath, she noticed what she thought were ringworms. After $159 in vet bills, Hope now has medication for scabies (known in dogs as mange).

This experience has emphasized for us the serious need here in the Valley for pet owner education and accountability. Had the family that originally adopted Hope brought her back to the SPCA and informed the organization that they could no longer care for her, I would be a bit more sympathetic. But since they acknowledged that she was theirs, and then neglected to reclaim her, I feel very strongly that they should be held responsible for her future care.

Perhaps, in the not-too-distant future, such negligence could be rewarded with a bill for re-adoption, rather than charging another family for taking a dog in; all immediate vet requirements could be added to ensure the dog’s health.

I realize immediately there are drawbacks to this idea—potentially lower adoption rates, bills that don’t get paid, and others. But there has to be a better way. Right?

Before we adopted Hercules from Animal Rescue of Fresno, Kim had never lived with an in-door dog (notice that I avoid the use of a reference to ownership of the dog, as dogs own us).

It didn’t take long for the addiction to consume her. Before moving out of her parents’ basement and into a home of our own, we had adopted Bella, and just seven months later we let Darla move in. With three dogs now sleeping on the bed, I drew the line (which Kim has tried to cross countless times since).

She claims she now has some sort of radar and can sense when a dog is loose in her vicinity. I’m doubtful, but whether she’s found a sixth sense or not, we made room for a runaway on Friday night. She was cute, but I insisted that Kim take her in to the SPCA on Saturday.

Fortunately, the dog had been rescued before, marked with a chip, and re-named Hope. She needed a bit of medical attention for a flea allergy and an infected ear, but the SPCA assured Kim they’d be in touch with Hope’s family.

Good thing, too, because she was damn cute.