My inlaws stumbled upon an abandoned puppy in Petsmart yesterday.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

Someone had put his leash under a 50 pound bag of dog food and left him there. They walked around to see if maybe they had just walked away for a moment, but they couldn't find anyone. So, they found someone who worked there. When the girl took his leash out from under the bag, he walked over to my MIL and leaned up against her leg. It was like he was thanking her. She picked him up and loved on him for a few minutes, and gave him to the clerk. She said he had been so scared he had piddled a lot. She said he must have been there for a while because he had pooped. The employees of Petsmart, she said, were so sweet, and he was getting lots of love and attention when they left.
I guess at least the people left him somewhere where he would be taken care of and there was little chance for him to get hurt, but dammit, I'm still pissed someone abandoned their sweet puppy. It made me sad. People astound me.
Mom and Dad said that they would have taken him home, but their dog is old and can barely move around. They were afraid he might hurt himself, even though he'd love the puppy, they didn't want to take the chance. So, they left the puppy in their capable hands.

Duckie

[warrior1]

1. I wonder

what this little guy's story was before he was rescued?

[YellowRubberDuckie]

2. We will probably never know...

But Mom said he was the sweetest puppy. It broke her heart to leave him, but she knew he'd be taken care of. They work with one of the local no kill shelters.
Duckie

[Deja Q]

3. Damn.

That is sad to read. :(

I hope petsmart can take care of the puppy until a proper home (or at least the owners of the puppy) can be found.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

4. I'm sure they called the shelter.

The shelter goes there on Saturdays and Sundays to get pets adopted, so they would have called them.
Duckie

[femmocrat]

5. Hopefully they have the abandoner on videotape.

It's against the law to abandon a puppy, even in a safe place.

[flvegan]

6. In many states, this is a crime.

I'm glad they at least chose PetSmart. They work closely with rescues in every locale, so I'm sure this dog will find a new home. Still, imagine that poor dog as his people walked away, then didn't come back.

Maybe the people were facing hard times, and rather than taking the dog to a certain death at animal control, they chose this route.

Sorry for the apologist optimism. I have a sincere hatred of people when it comes to animals sometimes. It keeps me from participating in violence.

[Bunny]

7. I agree with you in this respect:

"Maybe the people were facing hard times, and rather than taking the dog to a certain death at animal control, they chose this route."

As loathesome as we may find this, the owners probably did the best thing they could do under the circumstances.

[Wcross]

8. He couldn't have been dumped in a better place.

Better than dumping a pup on the side of a road. I have three animals sleeping at my feet right now who were dumped by the side of a road.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

9. At least they had the sense to do that.

I am so sensitive when it comes to animals that I have literally bawled my eyes out when I see an animal ran over in the street. I have had to pull over. Especially dogs. I can't stand to see them suffer. It tears me UP.
Duckie

[Arugula Latte]

10. I keep wondering about this foreclosure crisis and how many animals will be abandoned because of it

:cry:

[Gidney N Cloyd]

12. It's already started.

The "owners had to move and couldn't take the dog with them" stories are increasing. I just adopted a dog that probably was surrendered because of that.

[applegrove]

11. Some people are so irresponsible. That just stinks that they would

abandon their dog. Perhaps they though leaving him at a pet store would be safer than a shelter because he could be euthenized. But really if you cannot handle a pet don't get one.

[samsingh]

13. i hate cruelty to animals