No Duh!

When I was a kid my siblings, friends, and I would always run around saying "No Duh!" when someone else said or did something stupid.

Only a few weeks ago I was getting ready to walk my dogs - as I do every morning - and I saw a small tan mutt running around. I knew she must belong to someone because she had a collar, but no identification tag! One of my neighbors also saw the dog and we coaxed her to us with some dog treats. My neighbor took the dog to her house to call Animal Control while I went on my walk. Just as I turned the corner of our street a little boy stopped me and asked if I had seen a small tan mutt running around. This kid was only half dressed, and by no means old enough to be out running around on his own looking for a dog so I told him to show me where he lived and I would help him get his dog. He took me to his house and I told him to go get his mom and tell her I needed to talk to her. She came out and I repressed the urge to yell at her about her lack of parenting and dog ownership skills. I politely asked if her dog was missing. She said yes, and I told her that there was a good chance that the dog was still at my neighbor's house if Animal Control hadn't come for it yet. Then this lady yelled at me for calling Animal Control! She said "The dog has only been gone for 10 minutes!" I saw no point in holding back since she was being rude so I asked her how I was supposed to have known that her dog was only out running around for 10 minutes? Am I psychic?! She has a collar on the dog, so why not an ID tag?! Then we could have called her instead of Animal Control. This lady apparently thought she was clever and replied with "We are going to get her micro chipped next week when we get her spayed!"....hmmm, so your dog is out running around and she doesn't have an ID tag OR a microchip....That's Smart! So no one would have had any way of knowing she belonged to this lady! At that point I let her have it - the full lecture on responsible pet ownership. I pointed out that BOTH of my dogs have ID tags as well as being micro chipped. I told her that if she drove the 8 miles to the nearest Petsmart she could make her dog an ID tag for under $5.00! She didn't seem to think it was a high priority though. A few days after this conversation I was getting in my car to go run errands and this lady pulled up in a black car to ask if I had seen a small tan mutt! She didn't even remember that I was the one who chewed her out a few days ago! She said that her son (the really young one) was out walking the dog and that the dog got away from him...SHOCKER! I told her I hadn't seen the dog, but I'd keep an eye out. Thinking to myself as I drove away that there was a good chance the dog still had no ID tag. And....if the first two times were not enough....about a week and a half after that I was woken up one morning by the frantic barking of my dogs and I heard a young, familiar, voice calling for "Sammy" (the tan mutt). I went outside to see what was going on and there was Sammy, running around with no leash on, and NO ID TAG! The little boy was chasing her, and the scene was making my dogs act crazy. I calmly called Sammy and she came right to me. The little boy came over and thanked me then grabbed her collar and dragged her home. I don't know who I feel more sorry for, the boy who has to keep hunting down his escapee dog, or the dog, who clearly isn't PROPERLY cared for hence she keeps running off!




Moral of the story: If you own a dog, buy it a collar AND an ID tag! Micro chipping is great, and in some places required, but if I find a dog out running around and he/she has an ID tag, I can call his/her owners and get the dog home that much sooner. They don't cost much, and most Wal-Marts have machines now that you can make them at. There is NO reason for not doing this. Even if your dog does not wear a collar all the time (Banon does not wear a collar while at home) have an ID tag on their collar in the event that you take them some where and they are, for any reason, separated from you. If Animal Control picks them up first, it can cost up to $100 to get them back. Most decent people will call the owner's phone number and return a lost pet for free. It's common sense and you can easily avoid a "No Duh!" moment. Within 24 hours of dog ownership, get an ID tag...save yourself the trouble in the long run.




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