Calls Had No Responses

I'm writing in response to your article titled "More Hot Dogs Rescued" from August 19th. My mother was the person responsible for the rescue of the pit-bull cross close to Sutherland. Not only was the ordeal painful to watch but also extremely upsetting when her attempts to notify proper authorities were brushed off from one phone number to the next with no response for 25 minutes. When she spotted the dog in the car at 12:10 pm on Wednesday afternoon he was already jumping up and down, heaving, licking and chewing at the windows trying to escape. He then laid down on the floor of the rusty brown car with Alberta plates pressing on the brake pedal. When she looked in the window he was heaving extremely hard and his eyes were rolling back in his head. Keep in mind the car windows were not even slightly cracked open and there was not a drop of water in sight.

Her first phone call to Dog Control got her an answering machine, so she quickly dialed the emergency number given. That number led her to Crimestoppers who, after many minutes of story explanation, told her that is not their department and to phone the police. So she phoned the RCMP and related this story once again and was told that is not their concern and she was to phone Dog Control. She explained how that got her no response so she was put on hold for 3 or 4 minutes. She was then transferred to another department where she once again related this entire story to be told "Why don't you stay with the animal and see if the owner comes back." She told them she could not stay so they said they would finally have an officer dispatched.

It took 40 minutes from the time she spotted the dog until the police officer smashed out the window. She spent 25 minutes on the phone trying to convince someone to help this poor animal. When the dog was pulled from the car it had its head thrown back, mouth wide open and you could see the buds of adult teeth in the back...this was just a puppy. When the SPCA arrived they told my mother there would not have been any point calling them anyway as they were too busy to attend anyway....and 5 more minutes in the car this puppy would have been dead.

However, her ordeal was not over. When she phoned the SPCA on Friday to inquire as to the puppy's health she was told that the puppy was doing much better and that the owner had not yet come to claim him. She could not believe it....they were ready to give this poor dog back to the owner that tried to kill him! Being completely outraged she was transferred to a supervisor who explained to her that the owner had just accidentally fallen asleep on the couch. Her persistence on this matter led the supervisor to finally say the puppy "probably" won't be given back. She is completely unsatisfied with this response. At the scene she was asked to be a witness in order to charge the owner. She agreed completely....but has yet to hear anything in regards to any charges.

L.G.