Abandoned in the Country: Animals are NOT Disposable! by Anim8dtoon
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Description
One day, Stella's owner beckoned to her saying, "Let's go for a ride, it's a beautiful day today." She wagged her tail furiously, as she had accompanied him on many excursions out in the country, hiking the trails and hunting for morels in the forests, even going fishing. But something was 'off', as he seemed distant and indifferent as he motioned for her to jump into the passenger seat, which she happily did. During the ride, he didn't look at her once or caress her soft floppy brown ears. Instead, he listened to his favorite country music station while chugging down a can of beer.
Turning onto a remote and desolate gravel road, with no sign of civilization anywhere as far as the eye could see, he braked his venerable old Chevy truck to a stop, pitched the empty beer can out the window onto the ground and slid out of his seat. Stella quietly followed him out of the truck and sniffed the cooling air, which smelled of dead leaves and fallen, rotting vegetation. Summer had just ended and there was a crispness to the air that hinted at the harsh winter winds due to blow into the area a few months from then.
He turned to Stella and motioned for her to "stay", then abruptly climbed back into the truck, slamming the door shut. Cranking the engine, he floored the gas and sped away, a plume of white smoke following him. Stella, suddenly confused and frightened, began to whimper and bark, but by then her owner was well out of earshot and could not hear her anguished cries. She sat there, trembling, immobile, as the day's light began to fade into darkness. She had just been callously dumped by her owner, who had come to regard her as an annoying inconvenience and no longer a cherished member of the family......
Now I'm going to get on my soapbox about what has become a huge crisis in this country. Dogs and cats are being dumped at shelters everywhere, which are all overflowing with unwanted animals, and no room for more incoming, which is forcing even no-kill shelters to make the unthinkable and gut-wrenching decision to euthanize perfectly healthy, young and ADOPTABLE pets for space. Rescues and their volunteers are similarly overwhelmed, with many of them scrambling to find trustworthy volunteers to foster, especially when it comes to underage puppies and kittens that require round-the-clock bottle feedings.
This is a PEOPLE problem; irresponsible owners are not getting their pets spayed and neutered in a timely fashion, which is contributing to the crisis everywhere. Not only are animals being dumped at shelters, they are also being thrown away out in rural areas and being forced to fend for themselves. I was once an animal shelter employee in the late 1980's, and let me tell you, it was nowhere this bad as it is now. We had open cages and kennels then. Not so now.
In a lot of situations, shelters are putting people on a waiting list to surrender their pets or referring them to other shelters or rescues. I just heard about an elderly, emaciated cat in my area today on Facebook that was seen being tossed out of a CAR WINDOW. Fortunately for him, a good Samaritan witnessed the incident and took him to a local rescue, Pawportunities, for assistance. They had to do an emergency groom because his fur was horribly matted and painful. During the veterinary exam, it was discovered that he's in the early stages of kidney failure. But now he is getting the best of care and is incredibly grateful to his caregivers for helping him. Once he's stabilized, he's going into hospice foster as it's uncertain just how much time he has left -- but suffice it to say, he is one of the lucky ones. Hundreds of animals fall through the cracks every singe day, however, and suffer horribly, thanks to indifferent and callous people.
If you can't keep a dog or cat, DON'T GET ONE IN THE FIRST PLACE because they are a LIFETIME commitment for 12-15 years or longer! Adopt from a rescue or shelter and don't buy from breeders; shelter animals leave already fully vetted, including spays/neuters, vaccinations, microchips and starter kits for a nominal fee. My two pitbulls and three cats are all rescued animals and I would not have it any other way. They are my family and I treat them as such, not trash. Be a part of the solution, not the PROBLEM!
Please click on my image to see the details. Rendered in Poser 11 Pro Superfly, with an HDRI from PolyHaven. Postworked in Photoshop CC 2020. Thank you for stopping by and have a great day!
Comments (6)
Staticon
Powerful image and story. I totally agree that animals are a lifetime commitment.
A rather nice quote I saw recently read: An animal is approximately 15 years of your life. To the animal, you are their whole life.
Anim8dtoon
Staticon, I LOVE that quote -- which is absolutely SPOT ON! Thank you for stopping by and commenting on this image. Have a great day!
3DClassics123456
So true! I think that this is the same in many countries!
Anim8dtoon
3DClassics123456, I believe you're right about animal cruelty and neglect being a universal and global problem. We all have to do better by not just our companion animals, but also livestock (cattle, pigs, chickens, sheep, etc.) as well as our wildlife. They all have a right to life, just as we do. Why can't we respect that? Thank you for stopping by and have a great day, and keep up the awesome work on your 3D vehicles. Your Chevy C10 truck was just the PERFECT one for this image!
OberonRex
Brought me to tears. I love my dogs. I so miss the one who died from old age. Raised him from a puppy so small you could almost hold him in one hand. A rescue dog, as all our are. I could not imagine being cruel enough to abandon a dog. A loving, trusting dog.
Great image. Very moving. Tells the whole story all by itself.
I think I'll give ol' FergleButt a hug right now.
Anim8dtoon
OberonRex, thank you SO much for your kind words this morning! That was exactly what I was aiming for when I created this image, to have an emotional impact on viewers, and I'm glad I succeeded there. I'm so sorry about your pup that passed away from old age. He was definitely one of the lucky ones. So many dogs (cats too) don't make it that far. If only we could save them all.... Please give FergleButt a hug for me and have a great day!
hmatienzo
People who abandon their pets like that need to be tried for the maximum penalty... Assault or attempted murder!
Anim8dtoon
While I doubt that the majority of criminal justice courts in the United States would go that far, I do agree that there need to be consequences for animal abuse, neglect and abandonment, as well as failure to spay and neuter pets, which absolutely should be MANDATORY. I'm in support of fines for those offenses, with the worst animal abuse cases bringing prison time for the perpetrators, as it's been well documented that such individuals often move on up to human victims as serial killers.
Thank you so much for stopping by and viewing my image. Have a wonderful evening!
FirstBastion
I've have had the company of dogs most my life, 10-14 years each of companionship and exercise and laughter. So an image really hits home. It shows the worst type of person. One that is selfish. Unfortunately there is no shortage of that in the world.
Anim8dtoon
FirstBastion, unfortunately you're right about there being no shortage of irresponsible pet owners among us. We are responsible for providing shelter, food/water and veterinary care to our companion animals for their natural lifetimes, and if those needs aren't met, then we have failed them miserably. They give so much of themselves and ask for little in return; why is that so difficult? I will never understand such people and their selfishness.
Thank you for stopping by and commenting. Have a wonderful day and please give your pup(s) a hug for me!
OberonRex
Me again. I want you to know that your image is so impactful that it haunts me. It hurts to see it in my mind's eye. It makes me want to cry and rage and fucking GO GET THAT DOG! I've got the start of tears even as I type this. I had to move the email from renderosity to somewhere else in my gmail folders so I wouldn't accidentally stumble across it again. Can't bring my self to just delete it.
I'd love to see that as a poster put up in every vet's office, every animal shelter, subways, sides of buses.
YOU JUST FUCKING DON'T DO THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anim8dtoon
OberonRex, I couldn't agree more with you! It seems to me that a lot of people believe animals don't have souls or emotions. Believe me, that is so NOT true! As a former animal shelter employee, I saw many dogs and cats shut down emotionally and physically in their cages and kennels, refusing to eat or drink and becoming sick from the unrelenting stress, noise and strange people coming and going.
I would NEVER, ever betray my pets that way; I have every intention of being with them until they take their very last breath on this earth and cross over the rainbow bridge. That is the very definition of commitment and it's awful that most pet owners don't take that to heart. After all, they wouldn't ever dream of abandoning their children somewhere....why would it be different for companion animals? They're a lot less trouble (cheaper too) to care for than children!