MetaChat - I hate people.

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18 July 2008

I hate people. →[More:]I had to evict some tenants of mine for non-payment of rent. It's something I do very reluctantly as it's tedious, you never get anything for your trouble but a judgement on the evictee's credit report which never prevents them from getting another rental, and, because they're being evicted, usually the place gets trashed. Instead, I try to work with the tenant, get them on a payment schedule that will get them caught up but won't leave them starving, etc. Eviction is a very last resort with me.

But whatever, them's the breaks when you're a landlord.

This time, though, this time ... the tenants took their bigscreen tv, their 360, their ps3, their appliances, their fancy furniture and their two grown dogs...

...and left behind two approximately one-month old puppies. Something I didn't even discover until I found them yesterday cowering in very high grass trying, I guess, to get out of the punishing heat we've been having here lately. As far as I can tell, they had been left behind as much as a week ago.

The lack of compassion and mercy shown by this act has me alternately in a furious rage and in tears. I took them home with me yesterday and it's so obvious they're too young to be separated from their parents. They're adorable, and I'm glad I found them before it was too late but ... what the hell kind of person does stuff like this?

That's a rhetorical question. People suck.

post by: WolfDaddy at: 12:32 | 34 comments

I get this feeling in my empty molar sockets and all through the left and right sides of the back of my throat when I read things like this. People who abandon animals are horribly cruel. Leaving an animal to starve is among the basest things anyone can do. I can only hope that the mother dog realizes what her degenerate owners have done and tears out their throats while they sleep.

posted by Hugh Janus 18 July | 12:59

That is despicable. I wish there was something else you could do to those people besides a credit black mark. Will the puppies be all right?

posted by JanetLand 18 July | 13:03

best of luck to you & the pups, WolfDaddy. I'm glad you found them.

posted by crush-onastick 18 July | 13:04

God, that is contemptible. Fuckers. Will you give us an update on the pups, WolfDaddy?

posted by gaspode 18 July | 13:06

Geez what complete assholes. Poor pups. :(

posted by chewatadistance 18 July | 13:08

You may be able to report these people for animal cruelty, which is a misdemeanor, I think. Call your local ASPCA, no joke, tell them what happened and see what they have to say about it.

posted by BoringPostcards 18 July | 13:11

I'm so glad you at least found the puppies while they could still be saved.

posted by Orange Swan 18 July | 13:17

What boringpostcards said, definitely report these people! Jeez.

posted by CitrusFreak12 18 July | 13:33

Section 42.09 of the Texas Penal Code prohibits the intentional cruel treatment of animals. Under current Texas Law, cruel treatment of animals is forbidden. The following actions define cruel punishment:

1. Torturing an animal
2. Failing to provide food, care or shelter
3. Abandoning an animal (*see note below)
4. Transporting or confining an animal in a cruel manner
5. Killing, seriously injuring or poisoning an animal
6. Causing an animal to fight with another (see info on recently passed Texas Legislature HB 916 here).
7. Using a live animal as a lure in a dog race
8. Tripping a horse
9. Injuring an animal belonging to another person
10. Seriously overworking an animal.

(* Note: Texas law defines abandonment (“dumping”) as the act of abandoning an animal in the person’s custody without making reasonable arrangements for assumption of custody by another person. “Custody” includes responsibility for the health, safety, and welfare of an animal subject to the person’s care and control, regardless of ownership of the animal. When an animal is in a person’s custody, the law states necessary food, care, and shelter must be provided to the extent required to maintain the animal is in a state of good health.)

People who resort to this senseless behavior of abandonment can be punished under the Texas Animal Cruelty Act as a Class A Misdemeanor under Texas Penal Code 42.09 which carries a $4,000 fine and up to a year in jail. This offense becomes a state jail felony if the person has been convicted two previous times.

Nail the fuckers. Being a deadbeat tenant is one thing, and is understandable in some cases.

Abandoning puppies just means they're assholes, and they should get every little bit that's coming to them.

posted by mudpuppie 18 July | 13:36

Definitely report them for abandonment if at all possible, that's disgusting.

I'd take one if I didn't live across the ocean! But I'm sure those pups are in good hands with the WolfDaddy.

posted by goo 18 July | 13:38

That is really depressing. I wonder how people even justify actions like that.

posted by drezdn 18 July | 13:39

How horribly cruel. Please keep us updated on the puppies.

posted by LoriFLA 18 July | 13:41

Wow.

Yeah, animal cruelty is usually a (State law) misdemeanor, although some states have pending legislation that would make it a felony (and potentially require psychological screening, especially of juvenile offenders, a kind of anti-future-Dahmer clause.)

I'm sorry to hear you're going through this, Eric. At least puppies usually get adopted from shelters or rescues or such. Are they doing okay?

posted by shane 18 July | 13:43

Some people suck. Other people find two abandoned puppies and take them in.

posted by cmonkey 18 July | 13:51

Oh, that's just so rotten. Yeah, it pisses me off that people can afford and care for all sorts of consumer crap, then neglect important things, like living creatures. Report them. It might make you feel the tiniest bit better.

posted by theora55 18 July | 14:25

Name the puppies Metachat and Vengeance.

posted by Lipstick Thespian 18 July | 14:38

Stories like this make me so angry I cry.

A wildlife officer friend was in one of Alaska's remote villages this spring and found a family that had a new litter of Austrailian Shepherds. But the family didn't have enough money to feed the dogs, so as the puppies died off they fed the meat to the mother. So. Terrible. They got into a lot of trouble. There was one surviving puppy, and he brought it home and named him Draco. Draco is huge and happy and full of energy, but has hip problems from the malnutrition.

posted by rhapsodie 18 July | 14:44

Some people suck. Other people find two abandoned puppies and take them in.

And there it is. WolfDaddy, however badly this episode has shaken your faith in humanity, your response helped to bolster mine.

posted by Elsa 18 July | 15:17

Awful awful awful. But the abandoned puppies are so fortunate to have been found by a kindly WolfDaddy (eponisterical!) so the story has a chance for a happy ending.

posted by wendell 18 July | 15:21

what Elsa said

posted by caddis 18 July | 15:48

Yeah, people do things like that. One eviction left behind a fish in a tank. We wound up adopting it...poor fishie.

Another time my husband found a bag full of wee baby kittens left by the work dumpster. He brought them home. I was mad enough to hop in the car and find good homes for two but was stuck fostering the third...he grew into a beautiful cat. (I was mad because my children were young and I was totally overwhelmed at the time, but -oh, poor kitties! I had to bottle feed the poor thing.)

posted by bunnyfire 18 July | 16:13

Please report this, WolfDaddy!

posted by Ambrosia Voyeur 18 July | 17:07

Thank you, bunnies, for your kind words and empathy. I called the SPCA and animal control to report the abandonment, wish I had more information about my tenants new residence, but they were the kind of people to vanish into the night once the third day of the three-day notice passed.

BUT, I feel heartened a bit by all the kind words. Thank you again. Let's file the photos below both under this topic and the topic for today's Photo Friday theme:

Me and the puppies...
≡ Click to see image ≡

Q-Tip, the boy (named for reasons which should be obvious):
≡ Click to see image ≡

...and Smoky the girl (named for Dana Whitaker from Sports Night):
≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by WolfDaddy 18 July | 17:44

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Are you going to keep them? Foster them? Were they weaned?

I've been having puppy lust lately. If I were nearer....

Oh god, I'm glad I'm not nearer.

posted by mudpuppie 18 July | 17:53

mudpuppie, I'm trying to find a no-kill shelter/fosterage place because I just don't have the resources to take care of them myself (that, and I'm afraid my two cats are assembling a small nuclear device in my closet). But because of this going on right now, I'm probably going to have to wait til Monday to see what I can see. EVERY canine organization is at Reliant this weekend, and if I weren't trimming trees this weekend, I guess that's where I'd be too! :-)

And the pups are eating canned food and puppy crunchies so I guess they've been weaned. I'm only approximating their ages since I have no real clue, but given their breeds, I'm placing it at about a month. Which seems a bit on the early side, but they seem to be doing okay. I swear they've visibly grown in just the 24 hours I've had them.

posted by WolfDaddy 18 July | 18:03

Aw squeeeeeee! Whose a widdle kyoot black boyyy hmmmmmm?

I would seriously take one, WolfDaddy, he's adorable. I wish you all the best of luck in finding a home for them.

posted by goo 18 July | 18:31

So cute. I wish I could take one, but I live too far away from you and my lifestyle wouldn't allow for puppy-care anyway.

posted by Orange Swan 18 July | 19:08

*aaw* I'm in the wrong country to adopt (and frankly, I'm not a dog person, but my man is and I could TOTALLY learn after seeing those pictures.) YES, call those animal people and ask what to do/who to report to. I've messed up with payments in my day when work really screwed up, but you'll never ever see me leaving one of my animals behind. That's just wrong.

(This is from a gal who drove a turle from holland to germany and now on to sweden. It's "just a turtle", right? at any point I could leave this creature with a zoo and be done with him, ur, her. Not in my family. This guy, er, gal will be an heirloom. S/He's the cutest!)

posted by dabitch 18 July | 20:07

Smoky's adopted! Smoky's adopted! A friend of a friend whose dearly beloved golden retriever died about 3 months ago is ready for a new best friend. He didn't know I had the pups, so when he saw her out on the back patio eating dinner, it was love at first sight! :-D

posted by WolfDaddy 18 July | 20:39

wooooo hoooo!

posted by MonkeyButter 18 July | 21:23

Wow, that level of callousness is just stunning. But so glad to hear the puppies have you, and glad to hear that Smoky got adopted. Very best of luck with this.

posted by treepour 18 July | 21:54

Oh man this is beautiful. And they are so gorgeous! Cooty wooty ittle puppies!

Here's to Q-Tip getting a home, too. (Esp. before your cats flip out.)

posted by BoringPostcards 18 July | 22:45

Yep, people suck all right. Report the bastards, otherwise they will keep doing crap like this. As awful as it may seem, they probably don't even realise what a foul deed they have done. Not that I'm defending them, but at least reporting them my get them a lesson they clearly need. Even better would be a flogging, but what passes for a justice system these days won't allow that, unfortunately.

posted by dg 18 July | 23:13

Boo tenants, yay wolfie and puppies! In re q-tip: WANT. But basil and rosemary probably would not be pleased.

posted by By the Grace of God 19 July | 11:17

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