It’s Up To You: A Message About Responsibility - a podcast by Ty Brown

Today I want to give you some harsh words about a phenomenon that I see a lot. In fact, two separate examples of this issue had already surfaced by ten o’clock this morning!

Here’s what I want to tell you: no matter what your parents told you when you were a kid, there is no magical farm where dogs with problems go to live out the rest of their days, jumping through the grass and playing in streams and chasing butterflies through a meadow. That place doesn't exist. I know a lot of parents tell their kids that it exists when Rusty goes off to be put down, but it’s not real.

Why is this on my mind today? Because, as I mentioned before, two instances of it popped up today. The first was someone who emailed me to ask me to place their dog for them. The second was a man on Facebook who posted something along the lines of: “I have a dog who’s been fighting my other dog. She killed a skunk and a chicken, and I really need to get rid of her. Is there someplace that will take her?” Essentially, these people wanted someone to take care of their problem.

I’m not downplaying this burden because I understand the pain and the struggle that comes along with a dog whose problems you don’t know how to solve. But people need to ask themselves this question: if the owner and family member—who presumably loves the dog, and has attempted to teach him, and has spent money on his vet bills and food—is not willing to put in whatever it takes to make sure their dog goes to the right place, then why would anyone else do so?

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