My friend/teacher got a yellow lab puppy not too long ago (I have spammed this blog with her photos). Her name is Hazel and she now lives in our little complex with all of us. Hazel's parents now both live in the unit. Now our rooms are less than desirable for a couple. Personally for me, it fits perfectly. I have my bed, my yoga setup, and a small desk and place for my clothes. We also each have our own bathroom. My room is on the end so it's one of the bigger ones. Hazel's parents room is not. Well for starters, they put Hazel in diapers. And no I'm not lying about this. Labs are the easiest to train and they cut a hole in the diapers for her tail...this went on longer than I care to admit. Though not without making a remark about the ridiculousness of this (she is 4 months old now). She also sleeps outside. That I can understand somewhat, but this has been what has been breaking my heart. The puppy is tied to a pole and not even given enough leash to properly stand up and there's no shade to protect her from Thailand's hot sun. No bed to sleep on (I know I spoil my pets, but a cement floor is hardly desirable).
If it were just that, I wouldn't write a blog entry about it. This is just how I am venting about this situation.
To take into consideration: the owners are Filipino and Thai and thus I know there's a cultural difference in how we (westerners) treat our pets and how they are treated out here and I am trying to understand but as each day passes I just pray that this puppy turns out okay. So she's tied to a pole all day with no shade and restricted on water intake as well. We live in Thailand! Our temps are 85-95 daily! So naturally I sneak her water when the owners aren't around (I have seen them throw out her water when they think she's had enough). We work all day and I doubt the dog gets taken out on even a short walk because we live at school. Where can she go? We can't have her out when students are around. So this dog (if she doesn't soil herself on the pavement, which she does) tries to hold it as long as possible so she doesn't have to sit in her own filth.
So we have covered the lack of exercise/potty walks she gets on the daily, the restricted water intake, and the soiling herself because her owners don't walk her when she needs to potty.
I wish I didn't have more to write.
The other night it was pouring rain and I got caught in the rainstorm without an umbrella or a raincoat. My own fault, oh well! Okay so I open our gate and as soon as I lock it I look over and see Hazel completed soaked, covered in mud, and she's whimpering. The leash isn't long enough for her to get under the roof to hide from the rain. Her parents have their door wide open and I ask about Hazel. When I mentioned a bed for her it was received with an astonished smile "no." As though that thought was inconceivable. So I go to my room and just sort of collapse on my bed. I wasn't going to sleep well that night knowing this dog is outside in this storm. I messaged a few friends as well as my mom because this is such a crap situation to be in and I didn't know if I was overreacting or not. Basically I wanted justification from family and friends and I wanted to ask the owners if I could let her sleep in my room. I had just decluttered my room so it would be easy to puppy proof it. I mustered up the courage and went and asked them if I could. Although they were hesitant about it they said okay. I immediately untied her and took her into the bathroom to bathe her and toweled her off. Walked her and finally got that muzzle off of her. Oh I forgot to mention, they have the muzzle on her at almost all times because they don't like her when she barks. She gets hit on nose and spanked when she makes noises, I've unfortunately have witnessed this on multiple occasions. I tell them she's just being a puppy. But clearly this is not how they want her to act. Okay so muzzle is off and we have a nice walk and we go inside and I find a blanket to put on the floor (picked up my yoga stuff to make room) and gave her a towel, a floor pillow I never use, and a stuffed animal to play with. She loved playing with the toy (she's never had a toy) and she fell asleep when I did. However she woke me up every two hours to be let out. First time I ignored her because I was half asleep and forgot I had a puppy in my room and she peed the floor. Felt so bad and after that I never missed a whimper again. Was hard to return her in the morning after that. So I thought that maybe things would get better. I kept the muzzle (and still have it in my room) and put the pillow and toy by her so she has something to play with and enjoys it now...
So then today (Friday) happens. We have a big ceremony at school (new bank branch is opening at our school) so it's been a busy morning. By the time we finish teaching we are all exhausted and thankful for the weekend. Well I head home and notice Hazel is tied up and owners door is locked so they're out and about and I give her a little water and go about doing my laundry. It's around 3pm. I come back around 4:30pm and no sign of owners and today the sun was really hot and Hazel has no shade. I untie her leash a little so she has more room, but there's no shielding the sun at this hour. So I give her some water and take her for a walk so she can do her business. Poor thing must have been holding this all day, she went twice and peed a few times. Sorry if TMI, but just took me by surprise. So I return her and owners still aren't home. I tend to my laundry and attack my room (determined to downsize my wardrobe). I give her a little water and take her for another walk (6pm). No owners still. Around 7:30-8pm my friend and I agree to meet at the market and just as I'm locking my door, Hazel sees me and starts whimpering. I know exactly what that means and went over to her and saw she had peed on the pavement. I untie her leash and take her for short walk so she can do her business. This time she is just trying to eat something, not sure when she was last fed. I just sighed and told her I was so sorry about this and played with her a bit and tried to get her to lie down on the cushion and play with the frog toy. My friend came to the hate to see the pup (I have been making a stink about this to my friends in town) and she couldn't believe the state the pup was in. She was shocked. I told her it's terrible and it's prison for her. This is abuse and it makes me sick. Our friend Sasha saw the pup the other day when she came over and even made a comment to the owner about how sad it is that she's tied to a pole all day. Of course the comment has no effect. So Gemma and I set off because Hazel started barking once I turned away and I told Gemma I needed to go because it's just too hard for me to watch at this point. I vented about it and was shocked at how upset I was/am about this. I've never seen anyone mistreat an animal this way. And for them not to realize it's abuse or that they're doing anything wrong. I'm honestly on the verge of tears when I think of this puppy. So I came home about an hour ago and Hazel is barking and I just about lose it with my neighbors. I asked my friend where the owners are and grab Hazel to walk her and she instantly went potty. It's past 10pm and the owners have been away for 7+ hours. If they want to go, that's fine, just let me or one of us know so we can look after the dog. Jeffrey called them because apparently she's been barking for awhile (her potty bark). I grabbed my cell on the walk and called my dad at work because I honestly don't know what to do in this situation. I'm in a foreign country where not everyone views our treatment of pets the same. Why get a puppy if you won't bond with her? Oh and the owners are annoyed that her coat isn't one solid shade of yellow. She has a darker streak on her back and that upsets them. I have taken a lot of deep breaths and done a lot of yoga, but I can't keep witnessing this and not do anything.
My friends and I are going to talk to one of our Thai friends (who loves dogs) and ask what we can do about this because this is unethical and inhumane. The owners are really really nice, I love spending time with them, which is why it's so shocking to me that this treatment is okay for them. Maybe they don't see it as inhumane? I've mentioned a couple things about the lack of activity the dog gets and the water, but haven't brought this up to them entirely. They came home around 10:30 and I was just finishing the walk and gave the leash back. They apologized for the barking and they said they were just home and fed her 2-3 hours ago so maybe she got fed while I was out (I hope she did). And yet I just heard barking and went outside and their door is locked and the pup is tied on a pole outside another persons room. They shut the door so they wouldn't hear the barking.
My heart breaks for this puppy that just entered my life. Please if you have any advice, tips, info - anything on this, please share with me! Am I overreacting? I've never been one to just bite my tongue when something doesn't feel right.
What a week...
School has been good, just have been sick to my stomach over this puppy lately.
Until next time...
Hazel and Jao Chai (prince). Figured she needed the prince more than me ;)
I went outside and this is what I saw:
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