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The following is a personal opinion piece by MDB Blogger, Liliana:
It is just the middle of June. So far I have heard two anecdotes regarding animal abandonment that made me sad and happy at the same time. I became angry when I heard one friend say “today I heard a dog barking from an empty apartment” and another say, “my daughter kept on hearing cats meowing. “As I listen to my friends narrate their story, I become deeply saddened by realizing there will be more stories of abandoned animals as we approach the July 1st “Moving Day” tradition.
For those that are reading this and are not familiar with “Moving Day” I will try to briefly explain the whole point of it. Not being born in Quebec makes me think of this day as a bit silly and unnecessary. On July 1, a majority of the residents throughout the province of Quebec, end their apartment leasing contract and take on the “adventure” of finding a new place where to reside. Many of these nomadic humans come to the unfortunate reality that many living spaces in our province are not animal friendly. When the time comes to move out the old furniture to the sidewalk for the trash truck to pick up, it also comes the time to dispose of the not welcomed animal to the closest shelter or sometimes even abandon them in hope for someone else will come to their aid and take them into their homes. Therefore, in my opinion, animal advocates fear “the ides of June.” Animals start appearing out of thin air and they surely need a hand from a compassionate human being that sadly is not their first companion guardian.
A new acquaintance of mine that I can say now say I consider a friend, told me that one lady from her building moved out. She did not make anything of it because they were not friends, just common neighbors. One afternoon when she came back from work, her 6-year-old daughter told her; “Mom, I hear meowing.” She went and listened through the door and her daughter was right, there was more than one cat meowing. She called the building concierge and they opened the door. The woman had left 4 kittens trapped in a closed cardboard box. She saw after the kitties even though she is allergic to them. She networked and found good homes for them. She is not involved in rescue or a cross poster of animals on Facebook. She told me that she could not leave them there. She said she did not understand how cruel and cold that woman was. She asked herself why did she have animals in the first place?
Then, yesterday, a friend of mine that is an animal advocate shared what happened to her on a Sunday evening. She told me that her and her partner kept on hearing barking coming from an apartment building in front of her own. It was a constant desperate yapping that apparently no one was willing to comfort. She became anxious and decided to cross over to talk to neighbors. Apparently, the dog had been barking and crying for two straight days and that the person responsible had not even come to feed the poor pup in two days. A small dog was left alone for two days. No food, no water… no human affection. She needed to see what was going on with the pup. She went to the back door of the apartment and by luck it was open. She had witnesses seeing what she was doing and the motive of doing so. She found a white little dog, scared beyond words. She could not get close to the pup because of how scared the dog was. The apartment smelled horribly, feces and urine all over the place. She left the dog with more than enough food and water. The first place where she thought of calling was the SPCA Montreal.
For some reason, the guy that answered the phone that afternoon was not very friendly and lacked phone etiquette. When my friend told him the situation of the dog, the guy just responded “ Call Berger Blanc, the area where the dog is located it is not one of our boroughs.”
My friend for sure was upset by this, and with all given reason. Berger Blanc is just a pound. SPCA stands for Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, their name calls for them to take action when an animal is in danger. She knew that SPCA works by borough contracts, but she expected the SPCA to have some sort of action or at least a bit of empathy for the animal that has been alone in an apartment since Friday of last week! She was upset and demanded for the name of the other person on the other side of the line. She got his name and after insisting and arguing for a while…the employee said “Give me your number and I will see what can do and call you back.”
When he called back, he told her that the SPCA Montreal would go, that they would leave a sticker and notice to see if the owner of the apartment would tear it whenever they would go in. She was asked to not return because what she was doing was illegal. I am waiting for an update on this situation and on the pup. There is a big chance that the pup will be brought to the SPCA and could be placed for adoption. I will give you the heads up as soon as I get an update from my friend. It turns out the owner of the apartment was not moving…but it shows how cold hearted people are and have no respect for their loving companion animals. The police were called too; the police confirmed it was not the first time to hear a complaint about animal neglect from that same address.
I am waiting for an update on this situation and on the pup. There is a big chance that the pup will be brought to the SPCA and could be placed for adoption. I will give you the heads up as soon as I get an update from my friend. It turns out the owner of the apartment was not moving…but it shows how cold hearted people are and have no respect for their loving companion animals.
So, as you can all see, the time for horrible animal abandonment stories is about to start. The only way in which we can help is by educating others and promoting animal adoption and rescues. Some people tell me I should mind my own business and I have no right to discourage people from buying from a pet shop. Some people believe that animals have no sense of time and they can be left alone for long periods of hours and they would not realize that their human was been gone or even think that their companion animal has no idea he has been abandoned.
I can’t prove to all of you that animals do feel time pass by and that they eagerly wait for us to come back. I can’t prove to you that my dog Nanners would recognize me years after I would abandon him. I would never abandon my dog just to prove a point to heartless people. What I can do is show you pictures of animals in pounds that look hopeless, sad and scared. They have no idea why they have ended up in a place that it is not their home. What I can do is beg for all of you to share what you know with others and continue to be a good example with your furfriend and keep as one of your family and never leave him behind…no matter what. Would you all leave a family member and just place a “free to good home add?” If you answered “no”…then why would you do it to your companion animal that loves you unconditionally and knows you as his or her only family? Their heart must break when they see their family not coming back to get them.
This month of June be proactive and make a difference in our society. Listen, share and educate others about abandoning animals in apartments or at the pound just because the new apartment would not take animals. Ignorance is the animal’s worse enemy. Stand for the animals that you love and give them a voice. Don’t abandon them. Thank you to these two special ladies for helping out animals in need. You two are my heroes.
Note: The following pictures are not actual pictures of the apartments mentioned on this blog posting.
