Terrible dog owners in PetSmart today!

[CookiesMum]

It has been awhile since I last went to PetSmart, but I wanted to get Cookie a kong and a few toys for Christmas. Granddaughter was with me and had a fit when she found out Cookie had to wait to get her toys, so we ended up giving them to her today. LOL! But that's another story.

Anyway.....while we were there, we see a family with two young girls about ages 5 & 6 years old. They had a new puppy. Not sure what it was, but it was white and very fluffy and small. It looked like a Maltese, but not positive about that.

We ran into them in the aisles several times, and each time, we heard the puppy crying and whining. The older girl was carrying him by the two front legs, like it was a doll!

I said, "I think you are hurting your puppy. They liked to be carried gently with your arms supporting them, so they aren't afraid of falling." Well that little girl held him up in the air by one foot and said, "He likes for me to play with him like this!"

And I said, "No, sweetie, you'll hurt him doing that. Don't you hear him crying?"

The puppy was yelping very loudly at this time, and the parents turn and look at me like I did something! I tell them what I said to their daughter and why, etc. I was as polite as I could be. I just couldn't stand for the puppy to be hurting like that.

The father looked at me and said, "This puppy belongs to my kids and they can carry it any way they choose!" He was so cocky and rude! I was in complete shock! He didn't even care if the puppy was hurt or not.

I wanted to tell this man off, but I just took my granddaughter's hand and walked to the check-out to pay for our things. I was literally shaking with anger! The cashier said she heard the entire conversation. She said that she has seen a lot of horrible pet owners since she started working there.

I just do not get it. Why would any parent allow a child to hurt an innocent animal? This has bothered me all day.

 

[milos_mommy]

The dog will bite the kid and end up in a shelter, and the parents will say it's because the dog is vicious and crazy.

 

[Sit Stay]

How sad ): I don't think I could have handled that, had I been there - I would have been fuming mad.

 

[CookiesMum]

The dog will bite the kid and end up in a shelter, and the parents will say it's because the dog is vicious and crazy.

This is exactly what I was thinking!

 

[Snark]

I'd like to dangle that jerk of a dad by a leg (or something else) and see how he likes it...

Otherwise, I think I just might have whipped out my phone, taken a video of the kid torturing the puppy and told the jerk I was calling the cops/animal control about the abuse. If they left, I'd have followed and taken a photo of their license plates... If the cops refused do anything, well, there's always uTube...

 

[CookiesMum]

Snark, I wish I could have thought of those things at the time! I was just so shocked by this man's uncaring attitude.

 

[Dani]

No way. Those parents deserve...I don't even know what they deserve.

 

[Romy]

I used to wonder how people could grow up without any empathy for living things. Now I know. :wall:

 

[Snark]

Snark, I wish I could have thought of those things at the time! I was just so shocked by this man's uncaring attitude.

Yeah, but you also had your granddaughter to consider...

 

[CookiesMum]

Yeah, but you also had your granddaughter to consider...

That's true. I would never want her to see me behaving badly. She was upset enough about the puppy crying.

 

[HayleyMarie]

That is terrible.

I cant believe a child would treat a puppy like that and the parents dont give a sCrap.

Augh!! I would of so given that man a piece of my mind and then some.

 

[skittledoo]

It just breaks my heart to see people being so unkind to their pets and it makes me really mad

 

[PixieSticksandTricks]

Ugh that is so screwed up. I can't understand people like that. Do they think because its a dog it has no physical feelings? Most likely they just don't care. And won't.

Im kind of ashamed of this story but its pretty similar so im gonna share.

When I was 14 and our family still had our farm, our neighbor across the street bred his two Rotties. The female had a huge litter most of which didn't live past a few days. But those that did I visited everyday. He actually payed me to socialize his puppies because he "didn't have the time" (he was a Dairy farmer and the local Playboy). So I did.

My sister was in her early 20s and had my oldest nephew who was then about 3 years old, and she brought him over one day to look at the puppies. So I was there, she was there, and the dogs owner was there. My nephew proceeded to pick up the puppies by their legs and heads. And every time he did so I would try and rescue the puppy. Which was hard because my nephew would put the death grip on the puppy. And I was afraid of breaking the puppies legs or worse. The whole time this is going on my sister and the dog owner don't say a word about it.

It was when my nephew picked up a female puppy, gripped her by her two front paws. and spun in circles so fast that her rear end was air born. I mean if my nephew had let go she would have gone flying like a boomerang that I lost it. And even then the owner saw absolutely nothing wrong with it. And my sister and I had a HUGE falling out, I mean didn't speak for 6 months kind of falling out.

And the poor Rottie that gave birth to the litter? Right after she had her second litter she was spayed. The same day as her spay her owner put her loose in his basement. Two hours unattended later he found her with incision burst open and her insides.....out. It broke my heart because I was very bonded to her.

Anyways didn't want to hijack this thread. I just don't get people like that. They make me so upset.

 

[3dogmom]

Poor pup! I have a daughter and I have never let her treat any animal like that! Not only is that awful but those kids are asking to get bit and I honestly don't think their parents are going to ask what did you do to the dog?

 

[Whisper]

Now, no one get their knickers in a twist about what I'm about to say, because I don't mean in any way those children should never have been born or anything like that, but that man is someone who should be neutered. No wonder so many people grow up to have no empathy for animals.

 

[Maxy24]

He probably said that because you said something. Some people are like that, if you tell them what to do they'll do the opposite just to prove you can't control them. Torture animals to prove a point. My uncle is like that. One time Phoebe was barking, uncle yelled at her. She barked again and uncle smacked her. He then noticed his wife's daughter was hiding and making a small noise so that Phoebe would bark. So instead of calling her out on it, the next time Phoebe barked he grabbed her and just started beating her so that it would really upset the child. Which it did. But who suffered more? To me that's just sick, people have problems.

 

[ihartgonzo]

I work at Petsmart... and see this kind of stuff all of the time. I work in the hotel, so I tell customers in the store exactly how I feel about their mistreatment and irresponsibility. The worst is when people come in with their 6 week old puppy wandering around OFF LEASH, walking through the parking lot OFF LEASH, peeing/pooing aisles away from them and running up to strange dogs. I let those people have it! Sometimes, the owners and bystanders look offended... "how could you question a person with such an adorable tiny puppy?" It is so troubling, because people who shop at Petsmart are typically much more responsible and caring than the "average" dog owner who buys cheaper stuff from Wal*Mart or the grocery store.

 

[CookiesMum]

Exactly! I agree with every post so far! It is beyond me how people can be so unfeeling and cruel. But the ones that are probably had a dad just like that one!

 

[crazy_paws]

And this is why toy breed rescues have rules that say no kids under x age in the household. I know that sometimes people will say they are unfair, etc, but a rescue group has no way to know. And you can bet these parents will say that their kids take good care of the pup/are gentle, etc with it.

Kudos for your restraint, because I would have asked to hold the puppy. Then I would have a very hard time giving it back.