What is your opinion on people who keep a dog from 6 to 8 weeks old and then dump her at the pound at 14 years?

I can't understand that kind of immaturity from ADULTS. Have it removed! Pretty simple. When an elderly parent becomes ill do you just dump them in a nursing home because it's too gross? Oh I forgot that happens often too doesn't it?

This annoys me so much, I clean up my incontinent Maltese's accidents daily, imo that's alot more gross than a tumor that can be removed. If I'm fifteen and can take responsibility for my animals why can't grown ADULTS? A dog is for LIFE, through the bad times, and the good times. Why can't people grasp the concept of that? Not everything is fluffy fur, and milk breath, puppies age, and some things aren't pretty.

People need to take responsibility for their pets and grow up.

ADD: My Maltese is 11, and also has cancer, we've had her since I was 4, and I can't imagine not having her, chances are we won't even have her for another 6 months. (estimation by the vet.)

People take so much forgranted.

Disgusting fools with no life. They shouldn't be allowed to EVER own another dog. When you get a dog, it comes with the whole pack, which may or may not include those *gross tumours*.

These people simply can't feel love... Just look at the dog's face. Poor thing. I wish her the best luck!

I also have a similar story... Of these stupid fellas who abandoned the dog about 2 miles from their household, the dog CAME BACK, and they still had the heart to send the dog away... Or those people that will get rid of the dog because it doesn't match the carpet. EGH.

those people sound like jerks. If they would have been responsible and taken her to the vet, that "gross thing" wouldn't even be there anymore. They probably just didn't want to deal with her anymore because she was old and they wanted a new puppy. I hate people like that. Dogs are so much cooler when they're older, and a lot smarter and more well mannered. But with what it sounds like, it's probably a good thing that they brought her in instead of "gassing" her themselves.

EDIT: just looked at the pictures... First of all, holy cow, that's a tumor. And second, that dog looks too happy and fun to be a 14 year old dog with a giant tumor and a family that dumped her.

The kind of person who buys a puppy, keeps it for 14 years, then dumps it because it has a gross tumor is probably the kind of family that kept her as an outdoor, neglected dog anyway. My parents had a cocker spaniel when I was in high school that had a massive mammary tumor. It was malignant, it oozed gnarly smelling liquid, and was downright disgusting and nauseating to be around. However, despite my horrid dislike for that dog in general, I would have NEVER dumped her at the shelter to be euthanized. When my parents finally got the nerve to bite the bullet and let her go they took her to the vet to be humanely euthanized.

The kind of person who just dumps their 14 year old family pet because it had an icky growth is the kind of person who went out and impulse bought a new puppy on the way back home.

Maybe when Mom & Dad start to get up there in years the kids will drop them off at a hospital with the message: "gas her, shoot her, or whatever it is they do... too gross for us to handle and we do not want to watch her die."

I question the quality of life the dog has had for the last 14 years as it does not sound like a beloved family pet. If the dog's health is failing then they should have the difficult discussion with their vet and consider putting the dog to sleep. But if it's just something "gross" you can't honestly tell me that this is the first gross thing the dog has done in 14 years.

In most states it IS illegal to part puppies from mother before 8 weeks. It is also immoral and unethical to even let any but the absolute top quality animals breed for any reason. Unless you have committed to do ALL of the following BEFORE breeding, you should NOT breed: 1. Contact a breed club for your breed. Ask for a mentor. 2. STUDY the breed standard. Learn about dog anatomy and ask your mentor to clarify anything you don't understand. 3. Learn what genetic faults and diseases run in your breed and test for any that can be tested for. 4. Show your dog in conformation events to see if it is of the proper quality for breeding. Winning doesn't always mean a dog is breeding quality, but being around so many others that know your breed and will talk to you will do wonders for your self-education efforts! 5. Study the past history of great dogs in your breed. You will see how your breed has improved and progressed since the beginning of the breed. 6. Study the breed standard some more! ;-) 7. Join any Yahoo groups about your breed. 8. Live, dream and study your breed. 9. Get a good book on canine reproduction, and educate yourself about the pitfalls, problems, and proud moments of breeding. Learn about the physiology of reproduction, such as heat cycles and venereal diseases in dogs, potential for problems specific to your breed, and what you need to expect at whelping. 10. Remember that whelping (giving birth) can kill your female. Being used as a stud dog can encourage bad behaviors common in intact males such as territorial marking, aggression, and desire to roam from home. 11. Prepare to be broke. Breeding properly is EXPENSIVE. 12. Line up potential homes for any puppies you produce and write up a contract. Remember to include that you will be willing to take back your puppies at any time in their lives that they might need you. If you bring life into this world, it is your responsibility FOREVER. 13. Prepare to spend sleepless nights attending whelping females, caring for fading puppies or puppies orphaned, and practice cleaning up after 24/7 poop machines. I'm sure there are many things I missed because being a responsible breeder isn't just a job. It's a way of life. You will live dogs. 24/7/365. There are lots of hard decisions. There is a lot of expense. There will be pain. But, if you do your darndest to always keep the welfare of your dogs and the future of any of their offspring, you can go to step 14. 14. Enjoy the love and success of a job well done.

My thoughts on this are fairly strong......so I'll proceed with caution.

As you will see from the picture, my previous male Dobermann had major surgery to remove a huge aggressive tumor located at the base of his neck, which left him with an impressive battle scar.

Boris had just turned four years old when he was diagnosed with aggressive skin cancer & all I was concerned with was deciding what treatment, if any, was in his best interest. When I collected from the veterinary referral hospital post surgery & first session of carboplatin, he was sutured & stapled together, with a wound that would need dressing, but did I care? NO!!

I cannot even begin to comprehend the minds of the GSD's owner. I would have loved to have been in their position & had my dog 14+ years, but after living life to the full for a further 3.5 years, Boris developed multiple new tumors {unrelated to his original cancer} near his major organs & DCM.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fallonbrooke/30487720...

I know that it's not easy placing a senior dog in a home, as people are reluctant to open their hearts to a dog when its life expectancy is limited, but so glad that someone has offered her the home she deserves.

That breaks my heart. My family dog had to be put to sleep after a two year battle with cancer, he was covered with gross things, but he kept holding on because he didn't want to leave his people. That last Christmas he was hardly eating at all, I'd flown back and all the family was there again, he tried so hard to hang on. The vet had told us that as long as he wasn't showing any pain he could have the holidays with the family, he sent him home to die. He lasted just into the new year, once everyone had gone back to college and he was alone with my parents he stopped eating, the cancer was throughout his body, and they had to put him to sleep because he was in such pain. Even over a year latter it still makes me cry, and to think that someone could just abandon their dog, when the dog considered them their family.

That's horribly sad, the poor dog. Evidently it was easy to dump the dog rather than taking time out of their busy schedules to get her to a vet and find out exactly what was wrong with her. If they have children, I'm willing to bet that's exactly what will happen to them (the parents) when they get old, disabled, just "don't look so good and who knows how much longer they'll live with all those wrinkles". How selfish. I'm glad that lovely dog ended up with your organization rather than being dumped on the side of a highway somewhere abandoned. And good on her, she's got a forever home, however long forever may be for her.

I think that the children who have grown up with this dog, assuming there are children (now teenagers or young adults) in the family, will very likely place mum and dad in the old folks' home as soon as they start to dribble and become forgetful.

I am not going to tell you all the trouble and expense we have gone to over the years, taking care of our injured, ill or senior pets, until the vets advised us that it was kinder to let them pass than to keep caring for them. I am sure many others have the same sort of stories, so I won't bore you with mine. But when it was time to euthanize an animal, it was always done at our expense and with us personally in attendance and I can't imagine doing it any other way, painful as it was.