#Middlebury
DEAR PAW’S CORNER: I’m hoping you’ll publish this letter and make people aware that farms are not dumping grounds for unwanted pets. This year alone, I’ve found a litter of kittens (no mama) outside my front gate, two dogs tied up to my cattle gate, and a dead hamster in a cage next to my trash cans.
When an animal is abandoned near our farm, we take it to the local shelter. Most likely that dog or cat is put down after a few days. Dogs that I can’t catch, that begin to threaten our livestock, we have to hunt down and kill.
A farm is not the place to leave your pet. We do not have a room in the house staked out for hamster cages. We did not prepare a sunny corner of the barn for your kittens to live in (we have our own barn cats, thank you). Our dog is a highly trained working dog who helps us tend livestock; we do not have time to heal your dog of the trauma you caused by abandoning it, much less teach it how to be a farm dog.
Please don’t publish my location, as it might just encourage more idiots to dump their pets at my front gate. – Frustrated and Sad Farmer
DEAR FRUSTRATED: I hear you, and I’m sorry it’s happening to you. Folks, dumping your pet is cruel, and in some states, it’s a crime. Most abandoned pets suffer and die. If you cannot take care of a pet, contact the local shelter for help. Your pet is your responsibility.
Send your tips, questions or comments to ask@pawscorner.com.
© 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
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