I Failed
I failed today. To help. It is a terrible feeling.
I met with a friend for lunch this afternoon in one of Portland's nicer areas. After lunch I walked back to my car. I saw a person in the distance approaching on my side of the sidewalk. It was a woman. She was abusing a dog. Pulling it, violently trashing it around.
Loudly yelling at it. The dog was clearly very, very scared. A small female black and white pitbull type dog. As the woman was about to pass me we locked eyes. I decided to approach with kindness. I asked her if she needed any food or anything else for the dog, I informed her that I volunteer with a group and I have access to these items. The woman starts yelling at me. All kinds of word vomit comes out of her. She had marks/scarring along both arms and all over her face. She yanked the dog around and yelled at it more. Two men were sitting at a table nearby, they were watching. I asked if they could help. I said this is animal abuse. A woman briefly stopped then continued on.
Nobody did anything, said anything.
Then the woman announced that she was taking the dog in for grooming at the nearby upscale pet food and accessories store.
A place that I am very familiar with. She walked inside and I followed her. By now I am upset. Inside I tried to explain what I had witnessed. The woman continued to yank the dog around and yelled at it loudly while it cowered. She yelled in a made up language, I know this because I am pretty good at languages.
I was hoping to get some help or assistance with this situation inside the pet store by fellow animal lovers but the manager ordered us to leave. We were disrupting the well to do customer's shopping.
Outside again on the street we yelled back and forth at each other.
A man that had been inside the store walked by, looked at me and mouthed "thank you". I told the woman that I will call the police next time I see her (if I ever see her again with the dog). NOW I know I should had called the police then and there BUT I did not know that then. I was so upset I could barely think. She walked away, dragging the dog behind her. I walked to my car, crying. I called the non emergency police number. I am filing incident reports on this and I emailed the pet food store.
I wish that I had not witnessed this, it weighs heavy on me. You don't just shake it off and forget it.
That dog had clearly been abused before. I know the difference. I can only imagine how the dog gets treated when nobody is watching. It is truly heartbreaking.
There is a big difference between repeated animal abuse and an isolated incident when a stressed or tired pet owner yanks at a leash too hard or raises their voice. I have been that person and I still have pangs of guilt over those situations but my pets do not cower when I raise a hand or my voice.
And what bothers me is that nobody did anything. I asked the dispatcher on the non emergency line if animal abuse is a crime in Oregon although I already knew that answer to the question. And yes it is.
I do hope that others say and/or do something if they see abuse, whether it is a human or animal getting abused. In this case I spoke up but I failed. I failed the dog. I should had taken that little scared girl away from the abuser.
I feel sad and powerless. There is not much more to say on this. Beside.....we do not deserve animals.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE treat animals with respect, kindness and love. Thank You.
I met with a friend for lunch this afternoon in one of Portland's nicer areas. After lunch I walked back to my car. I saw a person in the distance approaching on my side of the sidewalk. It was a woman. She was abusing a dog. Pulling it, violently trashing it around.
Loudly yelling at it. The dog was clearly very, very scared. A small female black and white pitbull type dog. As the woman was about to pass me we locked eyes. I decided to approach with kindness. I asked her if she needed any food or anything else for the dog, I informed her that I volunteer with a group and I have access to these items. The woman starts yelling at me. All kinds of word vomit comes out of her. She had marks/scarring along both arms and all over her face. She yanked the dog around and yelled at it more. Two men were sitting at a table nearby, they were watching. I asked if they could help. I said this is animal abuse. A woman briefly stopped then continued on.
Nobody did anything, said anything.
Then the woman announced that she was taking the dog in for grooming at the nearby upscale pet food and accessories store.
A place that I am very familiar with. She walked inside and I followed her. By now I am upset. Inside I tried to explain what I had witnessed. The woman continued to yank the dog around and yelled at it loudly while it cowered. She yelled in a made up language, I know this because I am pretty good at languages.
I was hoping to get some help or assistance with this situation inside the pet store by fellow animal lovers but the manager ordered us to leave. We were disrupting the well to do customer's shopping.
Outside again on the street we yelled back and forth at each other.
A man that had been inside the store walked by, looked at me and mouthed "thank you". I told the woman that I will call the police next time I see her (if I ever see her again with the dog). NOW I know I should had called the police then and there BUT I did not know that then. I was so upset I could barely think. She walked away, dragging the dog behind her. I walked to my car, crying. I called the non emergency police number. I am filing incident reports on this and I emailed the pet food store.
I wish that I had not witnessed this, it weighs heavy on me. You don't just shake it off and forget it.
That dog had clearly been abused before. I know the difference. I can only imagine how the dog gets treated when nobody is watching. It is truly heartbreaking.
There is a big difference between repeated animal abuse and an isolated incident when a stressed or tired pet owner yanks at a leash too hard or raises their voice. I have been that person and I still have pangs of guilt over those situations but my pets do not cower when I raise a hand or my voice.
And what bothers me is that nobody did anything. I asked the dispatcher on the non emergency line if animal abuse is a crime in Oregon although I already knew that answer to the question. And yes it is.
I do hope that others say and/or do something if they see abuse, whether it is a human or animal getting abused. In this case I spoke up but I failed. I failed the dog. I should had taken that little scared girl away from the abuser.
I feel sad and powerless. There is not much more to say on this. Beside.....we do not deserve animals.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE treat animals with respect, kindness and love. Thank You.
