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Emperor1956 -> RE: "Dropping off" an animal ... (2/21/2009 5:28:40 PM)
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Miss Morrigan (and all):
First, let me make it clear I do NOT work in the area of animal control/animal rights. I am a long-time volunteer. My wife and I have been active in various animal shelters for many years, and we tend to like the less glamorous tasks (I love washing and grooming dogs, for instance). I have done animal rescue, screening and unfortunately I am trained to euthanize (although in Illinois this cannot be done by an unlicensed person).
To answer your question: If a person has an animal complaint about a DOMESTIC animal (the rules for wild animals are radically different, interesting enough) then in Illinois, they simply need to phone their county animal control agency. There is no fee or chargeback (notwithstanding the bullshit you see posted above). There may be a consequence in that the same animal control officers who do domestic animal rescue can investigate abuse charges, but one assumes that a well-intentioned non-abuser needn't worry. In incorporated areas, there is also usually a municipal animal control function, and they too may be called.
It is even easier to drop off a stray at a shelter. There is pretty much a "no questions" rule -- although the shelter workers will often ask where the animal was found and if the person dropping it off knows the owner, these answers are not required. And routinely people drive up, shove an animal out of the car, and drive away. Or the famously stupid leave a box of kittens on the doorstep of a shelter in sub-zero weather.
Why would someone choose to shoot a stray or dump it in a neighboring farm area instead of doing the honorable thing? I have no idea. But as you well know, selfish assholes abound. Ask one?
To make this tale less grim, I will report that one of my dogs is the product of a lovely purebred rottie who literally walked into a shelter in southern Wisconsin, about 4 weeks shy of giving birth. The story is that the door opened one day, and Sadie sauntered in. Presumaby she was dumped. She was microchipped, although the "reported owners" did not answer phone or mail inquiries and local police said that the family had left the area. Anyway, like any royal Rottweiler, Sadie instantly became both the queen and darling of the shelter. She would not however identify the commoner who knocked her up, but based on one of her sons (now 4 years old) I'm thinking a big black Lab, or a Newf. He's a BIG boy (over 110 lbs, and not an ounce of it fat), with rottie markings and rottie strength, but an amazing water resistant coat).
E.
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