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Indirect dog abuse? This needs to stop.
3 years ago
So for context ever since November last year, I let one of my close friends and her 2 dogs come bunk at my place for a month. She was going thru a rough spot and needed someplace to stay so figured I’d help her out. Eventually since my lease was ending at the place I was staying at she pitched the idea to move in but into a different apartment. I agreed to only on some terms.
Little did I know that she had WAY more pets than just the two doggies. She owns 4 cats and 5 guinea pigs…which is an overwhelming amount of animals for a 2 bedroom apartment. I didn’t find out about this until after we had moved in. Told myself it’d all be fine and I could handle it. What’s the worse that could happen?
I’m terrible with dog breeds but I’m gonna refer to her dogs as Bear and Maaya. They are large dogs. Maaya is her service animal who she’s had a good amount of time. Bear is wayyyy younger, only a year and a half old. I was under the impression that with all the animals that I wouldn’t have to take care of them since they’re not mines. Maybe if I had the extra time or was bored I would take them out to potty, yknow do her a favor. I was totally wrong and within a couple months starting off this year, I realized the mistake I’ve made.
First couple months the dogs were showing early signs of well, misbehaving and other issues. Maaya primarily barks loudly for minutes whenever a door opens in our apartment. Sometimes she even barks when a neighbors garage door opens or a mailman drops off an amazon package. Once she starts barking Bear will join in as well. This is a major issue for me since my roommate and I have different work schedules. I would be sleeping during the day and be woken up by her dogs obnoxiously barking for no reason. The amount of hours of sleep I’ve lost is insane…don’t know how we haven’t gotten a noise complaint sometimes. I’ve tried turning on some white noise rain to match the volume but even past that their noise is loud. Another problem I have is for whatever reason, ever since I met my roommate and been around Maaya, she growls at me aggressively. I could be doing my own thing in the kitchen making food or coming down the stairs and it’s like hearing Bowser breathing and growling in my face. I’ve spent the first couple months talking to her in a soft tone and spent hours around her to assure her I’m a safe person to be around. Don’t know if it’s how I look or maybe it’s trauma but to this day her dog has never liked me.
Onto Bear…so he’s young, and I get that. Dogs are still learning to mature and that’s excusable. But in all fairness, his behavior has been borderline BAD. I’ll start off by saying he’s energetic and hyper as hell. He also barks randomly whenever he isn’t given attention constantly. There’ll be times where my roomie’s out and I’m sleeping and I’ll hear him howling for attention. Another issue I have is, he’s destructive. There’s been moments where I’ve come downstairs to see couch pillows, plushies, sometimes other furniture all ruined. I would tell my roommate about the mess and even show it to her. The only thing I’d do to Bear is tell him “No! You don’t do that Bear” as some verbal discipline. I’ve tried grabbing sensible stuff and placing them elsewhere so he doesn’t get the urge to chew on anything.
Here’s where things get really really bad and unfair especially for me. A couple months in my roommate will text me if I could let the dogs out. At times I’m ok with that because I am home and awake. Other times it’s been annoying to me because I’ll be at work and I’m thinking “what the fuck I’m at work, why are you asking ME?” She’s even knocked on my door while I’m in my room to ask “hey did you take the dogs out?” Oh oh ho, a lot of times their dog bowls have been empty in which I’d feed them daily as well. I’ve noticed how little care and attention my roommate gives to her dogs pretty quickly, it was obvious around March. It’s become so one sided because I have been the one to take out her dogs the most, not her. She’s relied on me numerous times to care for them and I became pretty agitated. I told her one time that “hey I’m at work, I’m not driving 30 mins home just to let them out” and she said that’s ok. But also, since dogs are high maintenance (depending on breed of course) they gotta poop a lot. Uh, let’s just say the amount of crap I’ve come home to or woke up to around the apartment was awful…it was more clear that my roommate doesn’t take them out even while she’s home. How disgusting. And get this, she would message me if I took them out before work…and obviously I have each and every day.
Back to Bear, so he’s not good with other dogs besides Maaya…at all. Apparently before we moved in together, Bear had some accidents where he’s attacked other dogs outside, leaving him with some warnings. To my understanding when a dog racks up too many strikes, they have to be put down or taken to a rehab center. There’s been 2 times where when I took Bear out (of course with a leash and a muzzle guard), he lashes out and pulls hard on the leash to go start a fight with another owners dog. Knowing this tho I would only walk Bear in areas where there’s not much social traffic. The 2nd time was bad especially since he tugged so hard I tripped forward and Bear nipped at a smaller doggo and her owner for a good 10 seconds. I did what I could and grabbed him by the neck and apologized to the owner in which she was frightened. I also was frightened and told Bear that wasn’t alright. I explained to her that this isn’t my animal and he barely gets any proper care at home. She understood at least and luckily didn’t call animal control on me. I told my roommate later on about these experiences and how Bear puts other dogs in danger. He isn’t safe to walk because it risks myself and others around him. Plus it isn’t my responsibility if he furthermore attacks another dog. However this is where I put my foot down and told her I am done taking care of her dogs. I explained that they’re loud, they don’t listen to me and Bear needs a better owner. I even suggested after the first incident he attacked another dog that he’d maybe be better under the care of a dog shelter. She said no and insisted he just needs “training”
With that being said, my roommate gave up Bear to one of her friends. Not even a month later and she returned Bear back to us because yet again, he attacked a smaller dog by the neck…AT THIS POINT HOW HAS NO ONE CALLED ANIMAL CONTROL OR SUED. I’m not saying Bear needs to be put down as punishment, he doesn’t deserve that but his violent tendencies have gone on for too long. I was just surprised to see him back with us. The only thing left to do is the dog shelter or rehab. I told her again that I’m done taking care of her dogs, they’ve caused me so much stress already.
Unfortunately because my roommate has procrastinated for too long even after I suggested this, all of our local dog shelters and rehab centers in the state will not take him in. What a fucking surprise! (…no really) This is so sad…I feel bad for him but also at the same time, shame on her. Currently he’s not allowed to go outside for the next 10 days so guess it’s doggy house arrest? I don’t know what else to do now…I haven’t been able to enjoy myself at home or reply back to some folks with all of this going on. It’s been draining physically, mentally, hell spiritually lol. I’ve been looking for other roommates if I can even move out. Just to be clear, don’t own pets if you can’t take care of them.
Little did I know that she had WAY more pets than just the two doggies. She owns 4 cats and 5 guinea pigs…which is an overwhelming amount of animals for a 2 bedroom apartment. I didn’t find out about this until after we had moved in. Told myself it’d all be fine and I could handle it. What’s the worse that could happen?
I’m terrible with dog breeds but I’m gonna refer to her dogs as Bear and Maaya. They are large dogs. Maaya is her service animal who she’s had a good amount of time. Bear is wayyyy younger, only a year and a half old. I was under the impression that with all the animals that I wouldn’t have to take care of them since they’re not mines. Maybe if I had the extra time or was bored I would take them out to potty, yknow do her a favor. I was totally wrong and within a couple months starting off this year, I realized the mistake I’ve made.
First couple months the dogs were showing early signs of well, misbehaving and other issues. Maaya primarily barks loudly for minutes whenever a door opens in our apartment. Sometimes she even barks when a neighbors garage door opens or a mailman drops off an amazon package. Once she starts barking Bear will join in as well. This is a major issue for me since my roommate and I have different work schedules. I would be sleeping during the day and be woken up by her dogs obnoxiously barking for no reason. The amount of hours of sleep I’ve lost is insane…don’t know how we haven’t gotten a noise complaint sometimes. I’ve tried turning on some white noise rain to match the volume but even past that their noise is loud. Another problem I have is for whatever reason, ever since I met my roommate and been around Maaya, she growls at me aggressively. I could be doing my own thing in the kitchen making food or coming down the stairs and it’s like hearing Bowser breathing and growling in my face. I’ve spent the first couple months talking to her in a soft tone and spent hours around her to assure her I’m a safe person to be around. Don’t know if it’s how I look or maybe it’s trauma but to this day her dog has never liked me.
Onto Bear…so he’s young, and I get that. Dogs are still learning to mature and that’s excusable. But in all fairness, his behavior has been borderline BAD. I’ll start off by saying he’s energetic and hyper as hell. He also barks randomly whenever he isn’t given attention constantly. There’ll be times where my roomie’s out and I’m sleeping and I’ll hear him howling for attention. Another issue I have is, he’s destructive. There’s been moments where I’ve come downstairs to see couch pillows, plushies, sometimes other furniture all ruined. I would tell my roommate about the mess and even show it to her. The only thing I’d do to Bear is tell him “No! You don’t do that Bear” as some verbal discipline. I’ve tried grabbing sensible stuff and placing them elsewhere so he doesn’t get the urge to chew on anything.
Here’s where things get really really bad and unfair especially for me. A couple months in my roommate will text me if I could let the dogs out. At times I’m ok with that because I am home and awake. Other times it’s been annoying to me because I’ll be at work and I’m thinking “what the fuck I’m at work, why are you asking ME?” She’s even knocked on my door while I’m in my room to ask “hey did you take the dogs out?” Oh oh ho, a lot of times their dog bowls have been empty in which I’d feed them daily as well. I’ve noticed how little care and attention my roommate gives to her dogs pretty quickly, it was obvious around March. It’s become so one sided because I have been the one to take out her dogs the most, not her. She’s relied on me numerous times to care for them and I became pretty agitated. I told her one time that “hey I’m at work, I’m not driving 30 mins home just to let them out” and she said that’s ok. But also, since dogs are high maintenance (depending on breed of course) they gotta poop a lot. Uh, let’s just say the amount of crap I’ve come home to or woke up to around the apartment was awful…it was more clear that my roommate doesn’t take them out even while she’s home. How disgusting. And get this, she would message me if I took them out before work…and obviously I have each and every day.
Back to Bear, so he’s not good with other dogs besides Maaya…at all. Apparently before we moved in together, Bear had some accidents where he’s attacked other dogs outside, leaving him with some warnings. To my understanding when a dog racks up too many strikes, they have to be put down or taken to a rehab center. There’s been 2 times where when I took Bear out (of course with a leash and a muzzle guard), he lashes out and pulls hard on the leash to go start a fight with another owners dog. Knowing this tho I would only walk Bear in areas where there’s not much social traffic. The 2nd time was bad especially since he tugged so hard I tripped forward and Bear nipped at a smaller doggo and her owner for a good 10 seconds. I did what I could and grabbed him by the neck and apologized to the owner in which she was frightened. I also was frightened and told Bear that wasn’t alright. I explained to her that this isn’t my animal and he barely gets any proper care at home. She understood at least and luckily didn’t call animal control on me. I told my roommate later on about these experiences and how Bear puts other dogs in danger. He isn’t safe to walk because it risks myself and others around him. Plus it isn’t my responsibility if he furthermore attacks another dog. However this is where I put my foot down and told her I am done taking care of her dogs. I explained that they’re loud, they don’t listen to me and Bear needs a better owner. I even suggested after the first incident he attacked another dog that he’d maybe be better under the care of a dog shelter. She said no and insisted he just needs “training”
With that being said, my roommate gave up Bear to one of her friends. Not even a month later and she returned Bear back to us because yet again, he attacked a smaller dog by the neck…AT THIS POINT HOW HAS NO ONE CALLED ANIMAL CONTROL OR SUED. I’m not saying Bear needs to be put down as punishment, he doesn’t deserve that but his violent tendencies have gone on for too long. I was just surprised to see him back with us. The only thing left to do is the dog shelter or rehab. I told her again that I’m done taking care of her dogs, they’ve caused me so much stress already.
Unfortunately because my roommate has procrastinated for too long even after I suggested this, all of our local dog shelters and rehab centers in the state will not take him in. What a fucking surprise! (…no really) This is so sad…I feel bad for him but also at the same time, shame on her. Currently he’s not allowed to go outside for the next 10 days so guess it’s doggy house arrest? I don’t know what else to do now…I haven’t been able to enjoy myself at home or reply back to some folks with all of this going on. It’s been draining physically, mentally, hell spiritually lol. I’ve been looking for other roommates if I can even move out. Just to be clear, don’t own pets if you can’t take care of them.
