Nosy Neighbor or Concerned Animal Lover?

So we live in a neighborhood where people tend to let their dogs just wander. I don't mind it, although I realize it's dangerous and not a great idea. However, we live in the country/suburbs and people are used to doing this with their animals.


There is a huge chocolate lab (?) that always comes to my house to hang out with Gwen. Every day. The past three days he's had a cast. The cast started out purple, wrapped around his front left leg and wrapped again around his chest. Yesterday the the cast was no longer purple and was shredding. A bit was hanging off, but the cast was still fairly intact. Today, however, he came to our house with the cast in tatters and someone had duct-taped the wrapping around his leg. He was limping pretty badly.

Now he is a great dog. I let him on my porch, give him treats and water and don't mind him around. He's a very friendly big dog. We don't know who his owner is. We don't know his name. There is a "Davis" on the tag, so we just call him Davis.

The number on his tag is apparently his vet, so we called the number and informed them of the situation. They gave us the owner's number and said they were due back in tomorrow. We decided to give the owner a chance, and didn't call them. We plan to keep an eye on Davis.

I am in a tough spot, though. I see this friendly old boy limping around with his tail wagging and the dopey look on his face and I just want to talk him to the vet and yell at his owners. But I also like him coming around and I don't know if his owner doesn't realize how badly hurt he is or what. Is my concern unwarranted? Am I just being a nosy neighbor? Or am I just showing that I care about 'Davis'?

Here are some pictures of Davis with his current cast.

Untitled by ChrisandErinn, on Flickr

Untitled by ChrisandErinn, on Flickr

Untitled by ChrisandErinn, on Flickr

I don't think I could let that go... I would either have to take him to the vet myself or call the owner. If he wasn't in pain... no big deal. However, he is. Jmo...

I would assume if the dog is in a cast (that is falling apart likely from him walking around too much) and limping, then it's neglect that the owners aren't keeping him contained and rested till he's healed. I'd drive him to the vet if I were you and then if he's still running loose, report him to the SPCA in the area to see if they can go talk to the owners.

Poor guy!

Any owner who duct tapes a wound, broken leg or whatever should have their dog taken away. He deserves to be somewhere where he will get proper care and vigilance, especially when injured.
I don't think you're being nosy.

Ha, I've used duct tape as the top layer of a bandage many times on dogs of my own, and occasionally recommended it to others (if they weren't idiots). WHO WANTS THEM?

Personally, I'd wait and see what it looks like the next time he shows up before deciding what else to do. Either the person went back to the vet and got the splint fixed up, or they didn't. It should be pretty obvious the next time you see him.

If the dog had a slight limp, or a clean and cared for cast, I might let it go.

Uhhh, the dog is badly injured enough (which probably resulted from him running loose) that he needs a serious cast. Duct tape is NOT how to deal with that. Now, the owners are seemingly trying to do the right thing by getting him care and probably couldn't easily get him in as soon as the cast became a problem, but still.

I'd take him to the vet. They can call the owners and let them pick him up and pay for his care.

With sassafras on this one. They took him to the vet to begin with. Plus, you don't know what the injury is.. wrapping around his body could be to keep him from popping it off.
If the VET, who knows the injury, didn't sound too worried about it, I doubt it's that big of a deal.
And yah, who wants Rosey? I use duct tape often.

Oh and FYI, rosey limps badly at the smallest cut.

BTW it was most likely a splint and not a cast. The purple was probably coflex or vetwrap, and the duct tape was probably an attempt to keep it in some sort of functional state until they went back to the vet. I doubt it was a serious attempt to actually treat whatever is wrong with the dog. At least they are making some sort of effort and there is a recheck planned as far as you know.

FYI if the dog has a known owner and you take it to the vet and authorize care without their consent, it's very unlikely they'd be legally (or ethically IMO) obligated to repay you in that situation. If you feel the dog is suffering or isn't being properly cared for you should call AC or your humane investigator (if your area has one).

The reason we didn't rush Davis to the vet was because, while he was limping, he wasn't bleeding out or falling down. Limping is a concern, but to me, the situation didn't justify taking someone else's dog to a vet that it was going to see tomorrow.

I wish they would not let him roam when he is injured. We felt that was very irresponsible. Our issue was how long he was out and that the owner didn't realize what he might be doing while he was out and about. If he was a stray that was scraggly and not well-fed, I probably would have taken him to the vet. But I know I would feel awful if someone assumed Gwen was some un-loved stray and took her to the shelter or something.

As others have mentioned, if I see him tomorrow and he looks to be in serious pain or something along those lines, I will call the owners. I don't think I would take someone else's dog to the vet without at least calling them. We're a community here. I feel like that would betray some unspoken agreement.


Edit: I have no knowledge of medical stuffs. Especially for animals. I used cast because it seemed like a cast. A splint makes much more sense. I just know it's some unusual stuff attached to him. Lol

I am guessing he probably has a break up high near the shoulder. This creates the difficulty of casting high enough without it slipping down, which is probably why the vet wrap is around his body. Because he is walking around so much,. his splint is getting shredded,. which isn't uncommon. (it's why it's recommended to keep them confined) I will say that, seeing splints and bandages multiple times weekly, in an area where people do not listen to their vets' advice, I see duct tape often. Particularly if they are trying to make it to their next appt.

If his foot stays unwrapped like that for too long it may swell, but if he has an appt tomorrow, I'd not worry.

I'd certainly not be assuming neglect at this point, since he's obviously seeing a vet and has recheck appointments.

As far as limping...many dogs limp with their splints on. Sometimes more than with the injury itself, lol

The only issue I see here is that he's still being allowed to roam, with an injury like that. But he's obviously seeing a vet for the injury, the duct tape is likely just to keep the bandage somewhat intact until the next appt. The way it is now, is definitely not a long-term solution but if he's going in tomorrow... meh.

Duct tape is awesome lol I don't remember us ever bandaging a dog WITHOUT having duct tape on there somewhere.

I would be concerned that he is injured yet still able to roam as he pleases! How is it supposed to heal?! He probably got injured like that in the first place (eek, I hope it wasn't a car!).

Caring about an injured dog is not being nosy. It would be very difficult for dog lovers to ignore a dog that is injured or in pain. If the dog is in a cast and limping badly, the owners should have taken measures to confine the pet until the injury has healed fully. If you cannot contact the owners, it would be best to take the poor dog to the vet's.

I duct tape everything. Including my injured dog.

I see nothing wrong with calling the owners out of concern. Good for you for caring about this dog, he's super cute and looks like he loves the attention he gets from you!

If the dog has a vet appointment, I would call the vet and tell them the situation in a nice tone. Ask them if the vet could strongly recommend to the owners that the dog should not be out roaming in his condition.

I don't consider you being nosy, just a caring pet owner.

Ditto on this

Agreed.

I don't think the owners should be letting this dog roam (especially with an injury), but they have a scheduled vet appointment for a recheck. I'm assuming the bandage will be fixed at the recheck.

Maybe the vet will talk to the owners during the recheck about keeping the dog inside and/or adding a cone to keep him from chewing his bandages. I'm sure the owners aren't going to want to keep paying for his leg to be re-splinted and wrapped. At least they're taking him to the vet. I've heard so many stories about roaming/outside dogs with wounds that end up with maggots because the owners don't care or pay attention.

Emma's had that purple vet wrap a couple of times- twice for an IV catheter (incase we had to rush her back to the vet, it was easier to just keep it in). If she pulled it off, I probably would've re-wrapped it with gauze and ducktape as well. Haha.