An Open Letter To People Who Dump Their Animals Illegally In Midl

It happens more often than you think. People drive their pets to an area they think is suitable, and just let them out of the vehicle and drive off--as the pet watches you drive away and at first gives chase thinking you just forgot them; only to watch as you speed away faster. And they stop and watch you driving away thinking "What did I do to deserve this?". The people that do this is why t-shirts and memes with the phrase "I HATE PEOPLE" exist. Why ANYONE would make a conscious choice to abandon their pets is beyond the scope of rational thinking. They are domesticated animals that cannot fend for themselves in the outdoors. They rely on YOU--their FAMILY--for safe shelter, food, water, and affection. Basic care. Needed medical care when times arise. They can't take care of themselves. And they have no voices other than Texas State Law.

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Let's just start by saying IT IS ILLEGAL to abandon/dump an animal in the State Of Texas. This act is classified as animal cruelty. The MINIMUM penalty in the State for doing so is a $4,000 fine or a year in jail. And that's if it's misdemeanor cruelty, which is described as deprivation of food and water, transporting them in a cruel manner, abandoning them, overworking them, and injuring someone else's animal. If it's classified as felony cruelty--you're looking at a $10,000 fine and jail time from 180 days up to 2 years.

Unfortunately, scenes like this one are way too common:

In the case of this Husky in the video-the person in the car behind the people who dumped him that was taking the video-brought him to a shelter, where he was adopted 2 days later to a wonderful family. But that's not how the story always ends. If you can't take care of your animals--first of all DON'T GET ONE if you don't have the means/income to properly care for them or the time to train and spend with them. It's not fair to them to go home with you, stay for a brief time, and then you decide you can't handle it for whatever reason and you dump them. Save everyone the trouble AND DON'T GET ONE.

Second of all, there are places you can take them if you can't keep them. Shelters here in West Texas are a lot of the time full, but there are also rescues and other places like the adoption center at Petsmart. Use the internet, search for options, but never ever just dump or abandon your pet. Put yourself in their shoes-would you want to be abandoned like that with no help and nowhere to go? Nothing to eat or drink? Without the family you love? Animals have feelings too. Remember all of this next time you're thinking of doing something stupid.