:mad: Abandoned Dogs by My Home Depot

[apostle83]

I went into Home Depot and on my way in I saw two dogs that someone had abandoned. They put food right on top of the sewer drain.*

I called my wife to come because the dogs seemed skittish.*

She told me to go to them, so I did.

Well, the dogs jumped down into the sewer. And they are there now. And we could get them out if they would come
out of the pipe they're in. They are barking at my wife, who won't hear anything about sitting back and letting them come out on their own.*

Animal control is closed and not taking any calls for the night.*

I am taking any ideas to get them out. Help!

 

[auntiehill]

Put food down and then turn your back and just sit still. Might work.

Staying still, quiet and calm might help them relax to the point where they'd come out.

 

[apostle83]

Put food down and then turn your back and just sit still. Might work.

Staying still, quiet and calm might help them relax to the point where they'd come out.

Thanks. We tried that. We even left and came back.

They seemed to be there about 6:00 AM, but animal control wasn't open. My wife will drive by later, and see if they're still at the site. If they are, we will call animal control.

 

[marillion]

That sucks. That REALLY sucks... Good on you for trying to help, but the poor pups obviously are scared out of their wits..

Hope this comes to some good resolution.

 

[cooleddie74]

I might have a shitload of issues with how you normally behave on the boards, but if this story is true then kudos to you and your wife for doing what you did. It was the right thing.

More people should be concerned and proactive when they see animals neglected, mistreated and downright abused. If they're still there later on, make sure you get animal control down there to help these guys.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

Did the both of you go down to the sewer? Two strangers at once might seem intimidating to the dogs.
Leaving food (and fresh water!) and withdrawing a few yards is the best strategy in such a case.
As a general rule, always let the dogs take the first step. Let them decide whether they want contact with you or not. Sooner or later they will realize you are no danger.

There's no such thing as animal control in my country. What exactly is it they do? Are they like those dog-catchers in the movies? (Catching stray animals and putting them in big cages and if they can't find the owners within 1-2 weeks they'll kill the dogs?)

 

[SmoothieX]

I call bullshit. Unless someone popped open the catch basin or DMH, how could they get into the storm sewer?

Part of my job involves specifying MH covers and CB grates, I've never seen one that could let a dog in. Did they open it themselves and climb down the stairs into it? Plus the invert of a storm drain is a minimum of 4-5 feet deep, so running for the hills sounds a lot more reasonable than jumping into a confined space.

Plus, what's with all the asterisks?

 

[RobertVA]

I call bullshit. Unless someone popped open the catch basin or DMH, how could they get into the storm sewer?

Part of my job involves specifying MH covers and CB grates, I've never seen one that could let a dog in. Did they open it themselves and climb down the stairs into it? Plus the invert of a storm drain is a minimum of 4-5 feet deep, so running for the hills sounds a lot more reasonable than jumping into a confined space.

Plus, what's with all the asterisks?

First please ease up on the acronyms. This BBS doesn't have the strict length limitations a certain social networking site has and many of us aren't familiar with your trade's shorthand.

I've seen multiple retail sites that were relatively recently built which included their own storm water retention ponds within or adjacent to the parking lots. The retention ponds included an outlet basin that restricts water flow unless heavy rains bring the water level close to the top of the retention pond, apparently to reduce the introduction of things like silt, rubber particles and cigarette filters into natural waterways. Perhaps the storm water pipe mentioned above has an open end where it discharges water into a retention pond

 

[Trekker4747]

ManHole covers, Catch-Basin grates. Manhole covers being those round things in the middle of the street often mutant turtles use for entering/exiting the sewer. The catch-basin being the "storm drain" often to the side of the streets the grates being the gratey-bits that catch debris gong into the storm drain.

I say this having never worked as a plumber or part of a public-works crew specializing in municipal waste-water control.

I've seen some storm drains/"catch basins" with large enough holes (usually between the horizontal grate and the vertical drain itself) that a small enough animal could get through, especially if the animal were small enough or the grates/drain were damaged enough to make the slats in the great wider.

As for the OP? I say leave the dogs to their own devices, if you help them out they'll never learn to help themselves and will depend on others to get them out of storm drains for the rest of their life.

 

[NebulaClassGuy]

I'm with Trekker4747... the fact that these dogs seem so wary of people leads me to think they're simply strays, and not recently abandoned. I'd leave them alone.

 

[Trekker4747]

Well, I was being a touch facetious, playing on the old political stance of "not helping weaker people or they'll become reliant on The System rather than themselves," but, yeah I'd also seriously say to leave the dogs to their own devices. They may not stand a good chance of survival on their own but unless apostle plans on adopting them and taking care of them for the rest of their lives it'd probably be best for them in the long-run to leave them to their own devices. Maybe at the "most" call animal control and let them take care of the dogs.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

thanks for explaining the acronyms Might come handy for me in the future as I do work with sewers, channels etc. and am often at international meetings.

I doubt apostle is familiar with the specific terms and with the finer points of stormwater or wastewater treatment, so that it might well be some other structure that involves big pipes that are not properly secured. You should give him the benefit of laymanship, so to speak.

I agree that the dogs sound like strays, still, I wouldn't let them live free. Milennia of deliberate breeding have made dogs emotionally dependent on humans. They are not cut out anymore for living wild, like wolves. Plus: in towns it'd be very difficult for them to find food (nothing to hunt there but rats and mice) and the risk of being run over by a car is etremely high.
If it was ensured that the authorities won't kill them after a few weeks, they should be handed over to a pet asylum or similar organisation.

Admittedly, keeping them would be ideal, but I guess if apostle had the capacity, time and space to do so, he and his wife would have done so.


Btw, apostle, can you please update us on the situation?