All of these dogs are fostered by the St. Louis Senior Dog Project
please stop by www.stlseniordogproject.org if you are interested in adopting or fostering.

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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The Dogs of Divorce -- Zippy's story

Hi all, 
My name is Zippy and I am the Dog of the Week. 
I want to share with you all a bit about myself.


So how did I end up with St. Louis Senior Dog Project?
I was rescued as a stray by St. Charles County, MO Animal Control and was taken too the pound. I stayed there for a couple of days until they found my owners. The Animal Control officers thought my previous owners would be relieved to find me, well.....  that was not the case, my owners had actually been the ones that had dumped me out on the road :( . At 10 yrs old I found myself without a home. 
The reason they got rid of me was because they were getting a divorce. 

There are situations and you may read up on this all over the web where the dog/cat/mouse etc is cause of a struggle between owners and there are custody hearings and negotiations about visitation. I consider those animals lucky because at least someone still cares enough to fight for them, I on the other hand got the boot as soon as they both realized neither one of them cared enough about me to keep me. This actually happens a lot more than you realize. Just three months ago another dog of divorce named Jetta was rescued by St. Louis Senior Dog Project,  her owners dumped her at animal control as well, neither one of them wanted her. Jetta was fostered for a few months and finally got her happy ending: she found a new family that loves her :)

Divorce is awful, for the couple, for the kids and for the pets. I just wish people thought more about how we pets are not an object to be gotten rid of, we are alive, we have needs, we want a nice cuddle, if you have to undergo the pain of a divorce please take your pet in to account in your future plans. Don't dump your pet on the road, get information of options for your pet.  If you are struggling through a bad divorce find a safe place for your pets, with a relative or at a kennel, somewhere where they can stay until you are ready to take care of them again. I was a pet for 10 yrs or more and suddenly I found myself struggling in the streets, please don't do that to your pet. I beg you.

A final thought: What would happen if people could dump their kids in an orphanage/foster care when they got divorced the same way they dump animals? How many would actually do it?
Thank you for reading,
Zippy

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6 comments:

Pup Fan said...

That's just so sad... I will never understand how people can just abandon their pets that way. :(

Ellie@STLSeniorDog said...

I know :( I can never understand why someone would get rid of a 10-15 yr old dog or cat.

Pup Fan said...

Pets are part of the family... so sad when people don't realize that.

PS - I think your blog is awesome and you do great stuff here. I tagged you with an award on my blog to show how much I enjoy it:

http://istillwantmorepuppies.blogspot.com/2010/08/more-doggie-bloggy-fun.html

Ellie@STLSeniorDog said...

Thank you Pup Fan! Our leader Ellen also has a blog, she talks about our rescue and some of the ups and downs. I have link at the top of my blog to her blog :) Thank you for reading and your nice comments! :)

Gucci said...

My first home gave me up because they had too many dogs and I was the biggest. My second home gave me up because of divorce.

My third home is never gonna give me up. :D

Don't worry Zippy, you'll find your forever home soon and they'll spoil ya rotten and it'll be the best thing ever! <3

xxooo.
gucci.

Millie said...

That how I got my Bo. He is a darling little Pekingese - a victim of divorce. He was adopted a couple of years ago from SLSDP. The couple got a divorce and dumped him at a Waterloo shelter. I fostered him, fell in love and the rest is history.