Rats! Who would have thought the pandemic would cause a problem like this???

2019guy -

Make the call you need to make, but if I may throw in my two cents, I personally have always felt that those who rescue stray animals are among the world's finest folks.

Even if "rescue" means just helping to make sure it gets a decent home somewhere, even if it can't be with you. Just doing that much would be truly noble.

And doing so can have a very positive effect on many who become involved, sometimes more than we realize at the time.

For example, when my wife and I were raising our two sons decades ago, and when they were boys, this happened to us twice.

Once a bedraggled kitty showed up one night on our doorstep. We took her in, kept her, and Missy was part of the family for the rest of her days. A few years later the same thing happened with Rover, a mongrel who wandered into the yard and wound up with us, joined us, and was also a family member with us for the rest of his days. The boys were both very happy and excited to help put these two new pets on the road to better things, and they did a great job of it.

And the positive effect, which didn't occur to me at the time, but which I think was a fine thing that happened, was that it was such a wonderful lesson in charity and compassion taught to my boys, caring for those two unfortunate animals.

Maybe those two occasions helped shape the fine character they both have today. I think they did.

So it would be great if you can assist, and help the dog. It would have a positive effect for sure, even if it's just something you can tell your grandkids that you did, maybe part of that positive effect thing...

2019Guy said...
Rob, thanks for that. I guess I assumed that the term kibble was widely known even in the non-dog-owning public sphere. I had no intent to mock or point out implied lack of knowledge! Mea culpa and thank you for clarifying.

Good luck with the mutt! My brother always had 2-3 strays or shelter dogs. I grew up on a small suburban horse farm and we always had a dog, for security... usually a shepherd mix. Mom would mix "dry dog food" with our dinner leftovers for his meals. She never called it kibble. As mentioned, it's only from watching TV that I knew the term. Perhaps mockery was too harsh a term, but joking about dog rocks after someone asks for clarification may come off as dismissive... though certainly it was unintentional.

My longest term client was a pet supply distributor... 30 years, right up til the end of my career. They changed hands several times, but it's a name that most dog owners would know. They also hosted adoption fairs and such. Everyone working there knew dog breeds and everything, but to me it was just another product line that had specialized accounting needs. So I know a little bit about a lot of things, but not a lot about everything.

I am an animal lover, but haven't owned a pet for probably a half century.