Mistreated Dog

Thank you everyone for your responses. The owners have been told multiple times that we will not feed the dog mice or dirt yet they still always bring the dirt. I'm not paid to blindly follow whatever instructions the owners give us, I'm paid to ensure the well-being of the dogs. We are transparent about not using the dirt or mice and that we give him water access 24/7, yet they still come in.

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Originally Posted by Kira

Thank you everyone for your responses. The owners have been told multiple times that we will not feed the dog mice or dirt yet they still always bring the dirt. I'm not paid to blindly follow whatever instructions the owners give us, I'm paid to ensure the well-being of the dogs. We are transparent about not using the dirt or mice and that we give him water access 24/7, yet they still come in.

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I figured that's what you guys did about the mice and dirt. Deefinitely sounds like these people are nutty and you probably won't be able to do anything unless the dog starts being in bad enough shape to involve the authorities. :/

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Originally Posted by Kcl

I figured that's what you guys did about the mice and dirt. Deefinitely sounds like these people are nutty and you probably won't be able to do anything unless the dog starts being in bad enough shape to involve the authorities. :/

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Right? 99% of the time we will follow an owners instructions, even if we don't quite agree. There is an overweight pug that gets one dog treat each day and even though he doesn't really NEED any treats, we still give him one. But with this husky, too many lines are crossed. To me, the weird water restriction is the worst part. That could cause some serious health issues. I can't imagine how the dog feels because I feel like I'm dying if I don't have water for more than 2 hours.

The problem right now is that I don't think it's bad enough for the authorities quite yet. My coworkers and I think he is WAY too skinny but he's not on his death bed yet. That's why I wrote this post; I want to help this dog but I don't think speaking to the owners would help since they seem so set in their ways.

Unfortunately, I think you're probably already doing everything you can do. If it's not a clear-cut case yet, taking it to the authorities will likely cause trouble at your job. You can take it as far as you are comfortable with your manager, but speaking to the owners yourself would have a high likelihood of losing your job. Waiting and watching is pretty much your best option. It's really just another example of the hardest lesson for anyone who involves themselves in animal rescue in any capacity - you really can't take responsibility for every animal and sometimes you just have to do what you can and then do your best to let it go.

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

I have to make a point here. Just for example... If someone wanted you to care for their green tree python who is underweight, kept in a glass tank with no perch, tells you to keep in 20% humidity, and feed it only once a month. It's alive and surviving, but not ideal. Would you do what they say, because you have "no right to change their care"? Or would you do what's best for the animal?

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I'd have a conversation with the person and if we didn't agree on the requested methods I wouldn't care for the animal.

Im not going to take a animal that is not in the best of health and care for it. That opens you to many issues if the animal takes a turn for the worst in my care.


My vet requires a flu shot for all dogs being boarded. I don't get a flu shot and I sure never got my dogs one. However, when I needed to board them they told me it was required or my dog could not stay with them. I agreed and had it done so they got to stay. If I refused they would have refused me service and would have been well within their rights to do so.

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Originally Posted by Kira

Because they think it will make his poop runny yet they let him drink out of a river.

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Simply curious and you may not know (and I'm not asking you to ask the owners!) but I wonder if they keep him outside during the hours they restrict the water but he has access to the river? Not saying it's right, just wondering if they feel this is good enough (since they seem to have some odd views on what the dog should have).

anyways, what a mess! I hope the pupper is okay in the long run.

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Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril

Simply curious and you may not know (and I'm not asking you to ask the owners!) but I wonder if they keep him outside during the hours they restrict the water but he has access to the river? Not saying it's right, just wondering if they feel this is good enough (since they seem to have some odd views on what the dog should have).

anyways, what a mess! I hope the pupper is okay in the long run.

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Good call.

Im a country boy and growing up my dogs drank out of all the ponds and creeks we would play in. Even today my dogs drink lake water when I take them fishing on my boat.

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Originally Posted by KMG

I'd have a conversation with the person and if we didn't agree on the requested methods I wouldn't care for the animal.

Im not going to take a animal that is not in the best of health and care for it. That opens you to many issues if the animal takes a turn for the worst in my care.


My vet requires a flu shot for all dogs being boarded. I don't get a flu shot and I sure never got my dogs one. However, when I needed to board them they told me it was required or my dog could not stay with them. I agreed and had it done so they got to stay. If I refused they would have refused me service and would have been well within their rights to do so.

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I feel like the fact that they continue to bring the dog and pay for the service despite being repeatedly told that the service does not include being fed mice and dirt and restricting water is sufficient acceptance of those terms. If a customer were to go into a restaurant every week and insist on receiving broccoli and cheese soup without the broccoli, be told that it's not an option, and receive, eat, and pay for regular broccoli and cheese soup every time, I don't think it's incumbent on the restaurant to ban the customer. Clearly you're the kind of person who would do the sensible thing and just not go to that restaurant because they don't have what you want. Some people will not. I don't get their motivations, but as long as they're making the choice with full knowledge, why should the business stop them?

I'm curious as to what this dirt is... are we talking actual dirt? Outside on the ground, brown dirt.

I ask cause we give joint supplements to my wife's senior boxer and it looks just like dirt.

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Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril

Simply curious and you may not know (and I'm not asking you to ask the owners!) but I wonder if they keep him outside during the hours they restrict the water but he has access to the river? Not saying it's right, just wondering if they feel this is good enough (since they seem to have some odd views on what the dog should have).

anyways, what a mess! I hope the pupper is okay in the long run.

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I'm honestly not sure . Either way they wanted us to take away all of his water after 4PM and not give him water until 6AM so it's still a 14 hour period without water:/