Vet Is Forced To Put A Healthy Pup To Sleep, Pleads With People To Think Twice Before Getting A Dog In Lockdown
Interview
The quarantine has created an unprecedented surge in ‘lockdown puppies,’ with people around the world looking for coping mechanisms to fight off the pandemic blues. And although emptied-out shelters and rescues looked very promising at first, as the restrictions are lifted, more and more freshly-made pet owners struggle to find time for their pups. But it’s the poor animals who pay for humans’ impulse decisions.
Recently, an anonymous vet’s heart-wrenching message was shared on the Yorkshire Rose Dog Rescue Facebook public group by Crescenza Puzio, who posted the text on behalf of the vet “who, like many of us in rescue, have just had enough.” The letter sheds light on so-called “difficult dogs,” and their devastating fate when owners refuse to put up with them.
Turns out, the vet sees painlessly taking their life as a more responsible thing to do than condemning them to wait with the rest of the enormous population of difficult dogs that flood rescue kennels around the country. But it just can’t possibly keep going like this, and it’s on the prospective dog owners to make a change.
The anonymous vet warned everyone to think twice about getting a pup in lockdown in his heart-wrenching letter
Image credits: John M (not the actual photo)
Posted by Crescenza Puzio, this is the message from the vet that should be a wake-up call for many
Image credits: Eric Danley (not the actual photo)
Bored Panda reached out to Crescenza Puzio, a volunteer with Yorkshire Rose Dog Rescue, who shared the vet’s heart-wrenching message on their Facebook group. Crescenza told us that the problem with lockdown puppies is huge.
“Back when lockdown started, we got an amazing amount of people applying for dogs, but we hardly had any in rescue. All rescues were reporting the same thing happening.”At the same time, “breeders were actively breeding dogs as fast as they could and people were buying any breed they could get their hands on,” she explained.
In reality, “people that had no business owning certain breeds such as working breeds were buying them just because they were cute.”
Image credits: Karen Blaha (not the actual photo)
The surge in lockdown puppies meant that people who, under normal circumstances, knew they didn’t have time or experience for a dog were getting dogs, many times for the kids.
But at this point, the situation has changed dramatically. “This seems to be one of the main reasons now for dogs being handed into rescues at 9-11 months old. Inexperienced people bought dogs and did not train them and now realize they don’t have the time.”
For them, “The puppy is not as cute anymore and walking a dog in winter is not as much fun,” Crescenza added. As a result, the dogs that are coming into rescues are young, hyper, untrained, and unsocialized. She explained that “adolescent dogs like that can be hard work to have around, especially around kids.”
Image credits: localpups (not the actual photo)
Unfortunately, Crescenza said this is only the tip of the iceberg for rescues. “We are being asked to take quite a few of your cute fluffy breeds too. However, before we can get the dog into rescue, people are selling them on.”
“It’s not uncommon to see young dogs being passed around to several homes. These are the ones who haven’t got behavioral issues yet. We will most likely see a lot of those dogs at around 18 months to 2 years old.”
Image credits: Yorkshire Rose Dog Rescue
When asked about the vet’s powerful message, Crescenza said that it shows how hopeless the situation sometimes feels. “The person who wrote it knows that what they did was not right or wrong. It just was…”
Crescenza also urges people thinking of getting a dog during lockdown to think really hard and do lots of research.
“Particularly research where you are getting your dog from. There are a lot of people taking advantage of the current situation. Most of all, think about not only what the dog will give you, but what you can give the dog for the next 10-15 years.”
And this is what people had to say about it
As someone who has found themselves in possession of a "nightmare puppy", I agree wholeheartedly that people should consider very seriously if a puppy is what they want. My dog made my life hell for about 4 years. She barked. all. the. time. She was practically untrainable and had energy for days. I tried to rehome her but in my city they were doing Pitbull Ban Legislation and she looked just enough of a pitbull to turn off any good prospects. So I did the responsible thing. I kept her and now my nightmare puppy is a happy 12 year old doggo napping on a chair next to me.
And this is why I love that I live in a country where puppy mills are illegal, you can't buy animals in pet shops (only pet food and the likes), where there is no such a thing as kill shelters and where it is actually illegal to kill healthy animals (except for meat production), even for vets.
We have a lurcher, we got him from the Dogs Trust when he was about 4 months old. He'd been there since he was a puppy, and adopted once already. They apparently returned him because "we didn't realise how energetic he was." WTF, he's a whippet/dalmatian cross, did they expect him to sleep all day? We also used to have deerhounds before him, as pets rather than for show. 2 of ours were re-homed to us from the breeder. One came from a couple who had a flat in London, who didn't realise deerhounds grew so big (surprise, one of the tallest dog breeds!), and the other came from a large home in Scotland. Lovely big home, massive garden. But they used electric collars to keep the dogs in the garden. She was terrified to even come in to the porch when she first arrived. One of the loveliest dogs you ever met. It takes very little time to read up on dogs, and dog care, especially if you're buying a specific breed. Sighthounds are what I know, so that's what I have.
I'm so glad you were able to take all of them. I had to rescue a puppy from Romania nearly 3 years ago because nowhere over here would let me have one because I don't have a garden. I live across the road from the park. I also knew I could only have a small dog as I wouldn't want a bigger one in a flat. I made sure my dog was from an actual rescue and not a puppy mill & rescuing him was the best thing I've ever done; I really think rescue centers over here should take each persons situation into account; if I'd been able to rescue one in this country it would have made space for them to take another one in, instead people are having to rescue dogs from other countries (where they're treated incredibly badly) and rescue centers over here are having to euthanize dogs due to overcrowding :(
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As someone who has found themselves in possession of a "nightmare puppy", I agree wholeheartedly that people should consider very seriously if a puppy is what they want. My dog made my life hell for about 4 years. She barked. all. the. time. She was practically untrainable and had energy for days. I tried to rehome her but in my city they were doing Pitbull Ban Legislation and she looked just enough of a pitbull to turn off any good prospects. So I did the responsible thing. I kept her and now my nightmare puppy is a happy 12 year old doggo napping on a chair next to me.
And this is why I love that I live in a country where puppy mills are illegal, you can't buy animals in pet shops (only pet food and the likes), where there is no such a thing as kill shelters and where it is actually illegal to kill healthy animals (except for meat production), even for vets.
We have a lurcher, we got him from the Dogs Trust when he was about 4 months old. He'd been there since he was a puppy, and adopted once already. They apparently returned him because "we didn't realise how energetic he was." WTF, he's a whippet/dalmatian cross, did they expect him to sleep all day? We also used to have deerhounds before him, as pets rather than for show. 2 of ours were re-homed to us from the breeder. One came from a couple who had a flat in London, who didn't realise deerhounds grew so big (surprise, one of the tallest dog breeds!), and the other came from a large home in Scotland. Lovely big home, massive garden. But they used electric collars to keep the dogs in the garden. She was terrified to even come in to the porch when she first arrived. One of the loveliest dogs you ever met. It takes very little time to read up on dogs, and dog care, especially if you're buying a specific breed. Sighthounds are what I know, so that's what I have.
I'm so glad you were able to take all of them. I had to rescue a puppy from Romania nearly 3 years ago because nowhere over here would let me have one because I don't have a garden. I live across the road from the park. I also knew I could only have a small dog as I wouldn't want a bigger one in a flat. I made sure my dog was from an actual rescue and not a puppy mill & rescuing him was the best thing I've ever done; I really think rescue centers over here should take each persons situation into account; if I'd been able to rescue one in this country it would have made space for them to take another one in, instead people are having to rescue dogs from other countries (where they're treated incredibly badly) and rescue centers over here are having to euthanize dogs due to overcrowding :(
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