Abandoned dog with 'Help Me' note on his collar hit and killed. His name was Copper. See the note...

[Bozita]

'Help Me': Dog abandoned with note asking for help

Added by Jill McLane Baker on April 1, 2009 at 9:56 AM
Kalamazoo County Animal Services and Enforcement Officer Mark Vanderberg recently responded to a call in which a dog had been hit by a car. Taped to the dog's collar was a bag with a note which said 'Help Me.' The note gave a list of the dog's attributes and the message, 'Please take care of me. My name is Copper.' Instead of taking the dog to a shelter, the owners let it loose in the Oshtemo area, where it was hit and killed. Vanderberg wants people to know that abandoning animals is illegal and that there are many options if you cannot take care of your pet, including the county animal shelter and various animal rescue operations. Jill McLane Baker / Gazette

Tags: Animal control | dog | Jill McLane Baker | Kalamazoo | Kalamazoo County Animal Services and Enforcement | Kalamazoo Gazette | MLive | photography | photojournalism | photos | pictures
This photo is part of the 04_01_2009 Kalamazoo Gazette Photojournalism gallery


Four more photos at this link:
http://comment-blog.advance.net/cgi-bin/mte/mt-search.cgi?Type=tag&search=Kalamazoo%20Gazette&blog_id=4472&tag=Kalamazoo%20Gazette&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=4472&offset=0

[myrna minx]

1. How awful.

:cry:

[FiveGoodMen]

2. Fuck!

[DemoTex]

27. FUCK, indeed. I should have skipped this one.

Reminds me of the kick-in-the gut the ending of Paul Auster's Timbuktu (about a homeless man and his dog in Baltimore) gave.


Timbuktu looks just like my dog Nick-Nick in this picture!

[roguevalley]

57. you and me both. my only consolation is that this angel is in heaven.

I want to go where dogs go when I die.

[amerikat]

3. So sad.

[tularetom]

4. I want to be pissed about this

But who can I be pissed at. Although the owner may be guilty of bad judgment in setting the dog loose, nobody goes to all the trouble to train a dog they don't care for. I'm guessing he or she became another victim of American capitalism and acted out of desperation.

I guess I'll just be sad.

[old mark]

49. I get monthly emails from our local animal shelter. They feature

seperate pages of the animals up for adoption, some from as far as Philadelphia (over 60 miles). I haven't looked at that page yet, and probably won't - I'd want to adopt several of them, and we have enough with 1 now.

I can't defend someone leaving a dog out like that, and I hope they know they killed him.


mark

[FedUpWithIt All]

51. Our local shelter OFTEN turns away animals when they are at capacity.

I have fostered a few litters over the years and have tried to find help for several strays. I cannot tell you how many times the local shelter has told me to try back in a month or so.

Times ARE tough and many facilities are struggling to keep up. Even private placement agencies will often lessen their placement requirements in order to keep animals moving out so they can accept more. Too many people are finding it hard to feed themselves right now.

I often reserve judgment on these types of stories because we do not know the whole background.

[givemebackmycountry]

5. My name is Copper...

Every day I read something that breaks my heart - cross today off the calendar.

I bet Copper was a good dog, and there ain't nothing better than a good dog.

[wartrace]

24. "Ain't nothing better than a good dog"

Amen. :)

[SammyWinstonJack]

60. Same here.

:-( and there ain't nothing better than a good dog. :thumbsup:

[bullwinkle428]

6. Absolutely heartbreaking story. Why couldn't the owner have at least

given the poor thing a chance, by finding a shelter that would take him?

[Deja Q]

12. Local shelters full? Lost his job so he couldn't drive 100 miles to dispatch him neatly?

Dunno.

[Merlot]

16. Owner may have thought they were giving Cooper a better chance than

he'd get in a shelter. Shelters are so overcrowded that the days of keeping dogs around for adoption are long gone. Unless a dog is young and a desirable breed, they will be first to be put down. Sad but true.

Owner may have been homeless and had no knowledge of a local rescue group. I feel bad for the human who probably loved Cooper and was in that situation.

[Blue Diadem]

7. Poor Copper.

That's so sad.

[AndyA]

8. I'm sure this was a very nice dog.

What a waste. How cruel. People can be just awful. I hope whoever dumped this dog sees what happened, and they have nightmares about it. That dog loved his human family. Very sad.

[BoneDaddy]

13. Yeah let's wish that upon someone

who obviously cared about the dog but couldn't take care of him. Probably hoped that someone would find him, see the note and adopt him. This is sad. get over the outrage.

[AndyA]

17. Bullshit.

If they really loved that dog, they would have taken him to a shelter. Only an uncaring idiot dumps a domestic animal at the side of the road to fend for himself.

Keep your worthless advice to yourself - no one asked for it.

[Lyric]

32. Keep your worthless judgement to yourself. No one asked for that, either.

Do you realize that most shelters require a local, valid, state-issued photo ID to surrender an animal? Do you know how many people don't have valid photo IDs because they can't afford them? Or because they've recently surrendered another animal, and now they cannot surrender another one for X-amount of time? Maybe Copper's owners had already given up one dog to the shelter, and had no other option. Maybe they didn't have the photo ID required, and couldn't afford all of the vital document copies and DMV fees required to get one. Maybe they were just well-intentioned-but-naive, and thought that he'd have a better chance of not being put down if he wasn't taken to the dog pound. An "uncaring idiot" wouldn't have bothered with the note, genius.

I am 100% against dumping animals--most of the cats I feed and care for are dumpees--but I am also familiar with poverty. If there was a way for people to surrender animals anonymously, more people would use shelters. Of course, more animals would also be put down, but at least it would be done humanely, as opposed to dumping them off and having them starve to death, get hit by automobiles, die of disease, etc.

As for me, I am in favor of making spay/neuter procedures FREE to anyone with an income at or below the poverty level, paid for by the government. It's stupid that we don't have this already. We'd SAVE money in the end--the money that is currently spent on multiple dogcatchers, food, shelter, vaccinations, and lethal injection/gas equipment for killing shelter animals. Free spay/neuter would do more to prevent things like this from happening than anything else our government could do. Thousands upon thousands of kittens and puppies are born to animals kept by people who don't have the money to pay for the ever-more-expensive spay/neuter surgery. This problem is only going to get worse as the economy collapses further.

[Raster]

34. Thank you for making some very valid points.

While this story breaks my heart--and it could be so easy to judge, I do not know the circumstances behind Copper's abandonment. I can say with a great amount of certainty that the decision to abandon Copper was probably one of the hardest decisions this person over had to make. I think Copper's former humans thought this would be his best chance of survival, knowing if they surrendered him to a shelter, his chances of survival were very slim. That said...

In my sometimes daily walks around Western Washington, I've noticed that the pet postings on telephone poles and soggy outdoor bulletin boards have gone from LOST pets to FOUND pets. And usually the FOUND pet(s) is collared and exhibits other signs of former lives with humans. It's glaringly obvious to me that a large portion of these new FOUND dogs are abandoned.

And yes, spay/neuter procedures READILY AVAILABLE and FREE to anyone qualifying for low income.

[AndyA]

37. There's always an excuse, isn't there?

Dumping an animal at the side of the road to fend for itself is cruel. Stop making excuses for these people. It's cruel and inhumane.

That dog stood there and watched the people it knew and loved drive away. It didn't know how to fend for itself, as it had always been a domestic animal. Animals have feelings, too. How upsetting do you suppose it was for the dog to be alone in a strange place?

If the owners lived in poverty, why did they have a pet in the first place? It's another mouth to feed. Pets require medical care, shots, etc., on a regular basis.

The fact is, we don't know what the situation was, but we do know that a nice dog got dumped on the side of the road to fend for itself, and ended up dying a horrible and painful death. The people who put this animal in this position should be ashamed of themselves. No excuses. People need to take responsibility for their pets, it should be a lifelong COMMITMENT.

Enough already! :eyes:

[BoneDaddy]

40. Self righteous comes to mind

No one is disagreeing with the premise of your argument. Of course animals need to be cared for properly. I think people (I know I am) are responding to your extreme judgement of a situation that none of us can really respond to properly because we do not know the intention of the person who abandoned Copper. What we do know is that the person obviously cared enough to spend the time to prepare a future owner with what the dog's name was and some of the training he had received. That to me does not sound like a heartless person deserving of the all mighty judgement you think you are justified in giving.


Edited for spelling

[AndyA]

47. If they'd put the dog's needs first, they wouldn't have dumped it.

I think they took the easy way out and we all know how it ended: tragically.

You may think what you want, but if putting an animal's needs and well-being first is being self righteous, then so be it. We need a lot more people to put animals first, animal abuse is running rampant in this world, and people need to start considering what's best for their pets.

Animals have feelings, and they feel pain, just like people do. There is simply no excuse for dumping an animal at the side of a road. Period.

[BoneDaddy]

59. No, self righteous

in the sense that you are over reacting with such surety as if you know exactly what happenend. Like I said, the premise of your argument (animal rights) is just. I am responding to your absolute clarity of what led up to this dog's demise. You don't know why this happened but you are sure that the person behind it is some monster who is purposefully being cruel to animals. I don't see it that simply. Someone who takes the time to write that note, with the dog's name and the tricks he knows sounds more like a child to me who let the dog go with the hope that someone will find him and take care of him.

What about this scenario:
It is a young boy or girl's dog. The dog crapped on the rug way too many times or ate the father's leather shoes and the message is "get rid of that dog or I am going to". So little fingers write a heartfelt message to the dog's future owner with all the tricks they have learned and sends the dog off with the fantasy that someone will love him.

That seems more likely to me than your scenario. Truth is I do not know, nor do you, yet your view speaks volumes about what you think about people.

[Lyric]

43. "If the owners lived in poverty, why did they have a pet in the first place?"

Um, because the poverty could easily be a new thing in their lives? Crashing economy? Job layoffs? Collapse of the stock market? Any of these things ringing a bell?

:eyes:

[AndyA]

48. Still no excuse for dumping the dog beside the road.

I'm not familiar with the area, but I'm sure there are groups that would have taken the dog.

There is no reason to cruelly dump an animal in this manner. It was a beautiful dog, did you see the picture of it lying dead at the side of the road? If this story does anything, I hope it makes people think twice before dumping their pet. I'm sure they could have found some group or animal organization that would have taken the dog. I realize things are bad, and that many people are facing situations they've never had to face before, but leaving your pet in this manner, or moving and just leaving them in your empty house to starve and die a slow death alone and afraid are not acceptable.

Stop making excuses for people who do this. It's wrong, and it doesn't matter what the situation is. It's ALWAYS wrong.

[tuckessee]

54. You're correct. There's NO reason to dump an animal.

I can't believe people are flaming you for stating as much.

I knew someone who recently was forced to give up two cats but for some reason wouldn't consider the shelter route.

What they did instead was ask repeatedly their friends, neighbors and associates if anyone would take them until finally they found someone who did.

Dumping or abandoning a domestic animal for any reason is always wrong.

[BoneDaddy]

39. I laugh at you

People like yourself make me chuckle. such outrage and indignation, hehe.

[AndyA]

50. And people like you who laugh off this kind of abuse are pathetic.

It's about one step away from shooting wolves from helicopters, just for the sport of it. Sarah Palin would be proud of you. Some people think that's cruel. :eyes:

[stop the bleeding]

56. I cry for people like you. Now stop it, you're wrong so own it or go the

fuck somewhere else with your misaligned thoughts.

[BoneDaddy]

58. Do you read?

Or just over react and act indignant all the time. How bout your read my responses. I didn't glorify this, I attempted to humanize and not over react like all the emotionally retarded individuals in this thread. We cannot guess the intent of the person who did this and all the haters, like you and Andy out there, who seem to know the mind of the person who let this dog go, should grow up a bit. Let's review the facts. The dog had a meticulous note telling us the dog's name and what tricks he learned. That does not sound like a hateful, animal abusing person.

I can imagine several scenarios of why the dog may be let go, and none of them center around the person being some monster like you and several others want to believe.

[iamthebandfanman]

25. yah,

its not illegal to be STUPID.

[northernlights]

28. at many shelters surrendered dogs are the 1st put down

many people don't realize this.

Also, I've read of dogs abandoned in shelter parking lots because their owners tried to surrender them and didn't have the money (some charge a fee to surrenders). For someone, that $20 might have been a weeks groceries for their kids.

These days, you just don't know. So while it's terrible that Copper was abandoned, I can't condemn his people. We just don't know what was going on there. Nowadays, it could be anything...

RIP, poor Copper. Godspeed. :cry:

[geegollygosh]

33. Why are surrenders first? Is it just because they know that no one is looking for them?

[Libby2]

9. Heartbreaking!

[BanzaiBonnie]

10. What an awful thing

I took my dog to the vet last week and when I was in there my dog, Lily, adopted an abandoned puppy with her eyes. Someone had dumped the pup out on a country road. THe vet says they're seeing more and more abandoned dogs.

We took him home to foster him for the next thirty days. If no one has claimed him, he will be ours. His name is Huck. A beautiful yellow lab/terrier mix.

I didn't want a puppy. Really I didn't. But Lily felt otherwise.

[Critters2]

30. Awww, good Lily!

:hug:

[SammyWinstonJack]

61. .

:hug:

[MadHound]

11. We're going to see more and more of this kind of heartbreak

Pets suffer horribly, and usually unnoticed in any economic downturn. The bigger the downturn, the more pets suffer.

Poor Copper, breaks my heart.

[Rob H.]

14. That's so sad--poor dog :-(

Abandoned animals are becoming more and more common in this economy.

I adopted my cat a year ago this month from a shelter where she'd been brought by a motel maid. Apparently her owner(s) checked out and just left her behind because they couldn't afford to keep her. At first I was really mad at them for doing it but as I got to know my kitty I realized how hard it must have been for them. She's a great cat and it can't have been easy for them to part with her. I can't even imagine how awful Copper's former owners must be feeling right now.

[stop the bleeding]

15. God I'm crying right now, I really hate people sometimes. NT

[ddeclue]

18. Poor doggie! PLEASE try to find an animal shelter or better yet an animal rescue if you can't take

care of your pets any more. PLEASE don't just abandon them like this. It's cruel and sad - the animal has no idea what is going on and is very unlikely to last very long and will likely die painfully by being hit by a car or slowly by starving to death.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't do this.

O8)


:cry::cry::cry::cry::cry:

[Mari333]

19. this just kills me. kills my heart. nt

[MetaTrope]

20. At least state laws now permit child abandonment

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/04/usa

[RedCappedBandit]

21. This is so fucking sad..

[wartrace]

22. I get a LOT of dumped dogs around my place.

Out in the country, isolated house near a long stretch of road with no homes (witnesses) on it. I keep some, find homes for others and the rest I have to drive to the county "shelter". I say "shelter" but it's just a kill house, they stay for three days & then are put down. I used to drive them a couple of counties over where they had a better chance of adoption but they ask for ID when you drop them now. It breaks my heart every time I have to do it. For some reason people think fluffy can "survive" if she is dropped off in the country. A dog has no chance against a pack of coyotes. They are often shot by farmers protecting their livestock. They often starve to death. Most of the dogs are right past the cute part of puppy. This is the latest one I kept;



This is the night she arrived. I had a pit bull mix dropped off recently with a collar (no tag), I couldn't keep him here as my six dogs had issues with him. I had to take him to the shelter :cry:

They made it a law in Tennessee that dumping an animal is a felony animal cruelty charge. I hope it helps, for some reason people don't spay or nueter their animals and they dump the offspring in "the country".

There are a whole lot of idiots out there.

[omega minimo]

23. those people are so stupid the dog probably wrote the note himself

[OhioChick]

26. How sad.

:(

[xchrom]

29. +9

[Critters2]

31. So sad. Copper was loved by someone enough to train him so well.

If only they had made a wiser decision in finding him a home. It breaks my heart to think of a dog who had once had a home and attention dying all alone. :cry:

[Richard Steele]

35. I think his human friends loved him, meant well, and hoped for the best...but were FUCKING STUPID.

I've had friends like that- we all have.

Too bad that Copper paid the price for their STUPID mistakes.

Life is unfair.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

36. Christ.

If there is a god... please endeavor to impart some common sense to people who would do such a thing...

My heart aches.

[nonconformist]

38. That just broke my heart. nt

[mod mom]

41. heartbreaking :(

[ellie]

42. Jesus Christ I hate people.

[bdamomma]

44. oh poor thing even animals are our innocent victims of this

economic crisis. This kind of stuff makes me really sad, I love animals.

[Marie26]

45. Why did I click on this thread?

:cry:

[myrna minx]

53. I've been haunted by this story since yesterday.

I made the mistake of clicking the link to see poor Copper lying on the side of the road. This story just crushed my heart. I'm imaging Copper running after the car as they drove away, being terrified and not understanding what's happening and not knowing how to survive. :cry: I hope for his sake that he passed soon after his abandonment. :-(

[Bryn]

46. Breaks my heart

:cry:

[hfojvt]

52. Wasn't Copper the dog in "The Fox and The Hound"?

Sad.

[Bozita]

55. I just found this story on the Detroit Free Press site...

Michigan dog set loose to find new life never made it
BY JEFF BARR • KALAMAZOO GAZETTE • APRIL 2, 2009
Read Comments(5) RecommendPrint this pageE-mail this articleShare this article

Copper would shake your hand, speak and even toss you a high-five. A note taped to the mixed-breed's collar attests to his talents, but these deeds are not verifiable by eyewitness account.

Copper, you see, is dead.

The 30-pound male dog, estimated to be about 1 year old by Kalamazoo County Animal Services and Enforcement officials, was found March 18 lying on the shoulder of an asphalt road in Oshtemo Township. There was a hole in his skull, inflicted when a car hit him.

It was too late to heed the message someone had written on the tape wrapped around his collar: "Help me."

Beneath the tape, in a plastic baggie, was a handwritten note describing Copper's charming talents — he could sit, roll over, crawl, play dead and shake hands.

But someone let Copper go, abandoning him instead of dropping him off at one of several agencies around town that could have saved his life. The case has haunted KCASE Officer Mark Vanderberg since he was called to investigate.

"I've never seen anything like this," said Vanderberg, who discussed the case on his day off in the kitchen of his Vicksburg home. "I've been carrying this note around in my pocket.

"I haven't been able to let it go."

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http://www.freep.com/article/20090402/FEATURES10/90402071