[Dailydrool] I made the wrong decision

[Val Brewer]

I am not quite sure why I am writing this. Possibly because I keep crying. I am pretty sure in hindsight that I called it wrong today. As some of you may recall, I've been struggling with a situation of a neglected dog tied beneath my neighbors' house for quite awhile. I researched the Humane Society abuse and neglect laws and found out in our state that adequate care is considered shelter from sun and rain, and food and water. Abuse is evidence of torture. Lack of medical care is only an offense if the condition is life threatening. It does not matter if the dog is tied 24/7 as long as the rope is 6 feet long, and it does not matter if the dog never sees another human or animal. Dogs in my state do not live good lives for the most part. The dog next door has not met the definition of neglect until now according to these criteria, though it lives in horrible circumstances. I've been sneaking over and feeding him extra at least once a week, and
 have been treating him for flea infestation myself, and cleaning his area plus providing and washing bedding every now and again. The dog's life improved a bit when a girlfriend moved in with the young men who live in the house. I spoke with her once about the dog and she let me know she was caring for him and she appreciated our help. I have never spoken to the young men, who are seldom home and are markedly unfriendly. When I last wrote about the dog (a pibull living amidst junk with a bad case of mange), some of you said 'call the Humane Society', some said 'feed the dog as a kindly neighbor', some said 'watch out', Marlene suggested stealing the dog (lol). The girlfriend moved out about a week ago. I have not seen the dog until today when I sneaked over onto the property (clearly trespassing, as I always do) looking for him as I was concerned if he was still there, and if so, if he was okay. I found the dog beneath the house, a
 skeleton--obviously he has not been fed in a week--too weak to stand. I was appalled and gave him food and water and came back to my house and called the Humane Society. The Humane Society told me they would come out today but needed to be in touch with the owners before they could do anything. Noone was home next door except for the dog. As it turns out, the HHS has had complaints about the dog's condition before, but it did not meet the definition of neglect or abuse, so they did nothing. I waited for the HHS today. I heard car doors slam, and went to the window. One of the young men from next door had parked his car at the top of his driveway, ran around under the house, ran back up the driveway with the dog in his arms, tossed it in the back of the car and took off.  I thought, 'Oh good, he's on his way to the HHS or a vet. Clearly they talked to him or he wouldn't be here and wouldn't have gone down to the dog'. About ten minutes later, the
 HHS van rolled up. They came to my door to say that the owner had told them on the phone he did not have any dogs. I told the officer what had happened. He told me there was nothing they could do since there was no dog on the property now, and to call them if the dog returned but he suspects the owner probably 'got rid of it' so he wouldn't get in trouble. I am so upset. I should have stolen the dog today--I could not decide between doing this or calling the HHS. I talked the situation over with a neighbor on the other side, and decided in favor of the HHS since I had no car today and didn't think I should risk having the dog with my two. I am so anxious at the moment I can't think what to do next. I wish the HHS had not contacted the owner until they were here. I wish I had taken the dog and hidden him below our house and kept my dogs indoors until I had a car available and could have driven the dog to my vet's and then to a shelter later. The
 young man returned a little while ago to the house but with no dog. I hope he turned the dog into the shelter or even just turned him loose somewhere. I am afraid to ask. And I keep crying. My husband got home a little while ago. He says 'well, you made what you thought was the best decision at the time. That's the best one can do.' It's not any consolation. And I'm also really angry.  
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