Yesterday after dinner at Rhonda's house me and Sam were starting to get ready to go home when Matt (Rhonda's son) and Dad noticed something outside. This huge dog came limping into our yard, and the first thing we noticed was duct tape around both his legs, and one of them was bleeding and probably infected. He was shaking like a leaf and very malnourished. The first thing we did was bring him out food and water, and we had to refill both big bowls three times, he gobbled everything up very fast. He acted very friendly, so Dad tried petting him, and he was letting us, so I felt comfortable to kneel down and take a look at his tags. It said his name was Tank, and it gave an address and a phone number. Rhonda called the phone number, and apparently it was the owner's cell phone, because they said they were in Idaho, and they left this dumb kid Rhonda and Matt knew to take care of him, and that we could just drive Tank over and put him in the backyard, and he would be okay.
While this was going on, Matt noticed that Tank's teeth were in terrible shape and had awful tarter on the back teeth, which could lead to really bad health problems. His front legs were also still shaking, like something was broken inside them. It was becoming pretty obvious that this didn't just happen because some dumb kid wasn't taking care of him, though that ws obvious too, given how fast Tank ate and drank everything. This had been happening for a while, and was a clear case of neglect or abuse.
So, we drove Tank over to his house (which took a lot of effort because it was hard to move him, wwe didn't want to touch his legs and cause him more pain), and brought him into the backyard. We looked around but we didn't see any food sources, and the only water was in a dirty old bucket. Rhonda went and tracked down the kid and brought him over to talk to him. The kid said that the owners had left food in the shed, but there wasn't any, and he didn't have their number so he didn't know what to do. He had also been the one who had left the gate open that left Tank out in the first place. So, all in all it was a very bad situation. We brought over some more food for Tank and a clean water bowl, and told the kid that he needed to do his job and we'd be back to check up on him.
By the time we found Tank the Humane Society was closed, but we're calling them first thing in the morning and having someone from there come over and look at him, because that poor dog was not being treated right at all. I would be shocked if they didn't take him away. I think that would be bes, anyway. Tank is such a sweet, loveable dog, he'd have no trouble at all finding a new home with people who will actually love him and care for him. Heck, I'd take him myself but we couldn't have a dog, no one is home enough to care for a high-maintenance animal. Minnie Mac's good for us because she just sleeps all day, and she's so independant. I'll update when we find out what happens, and if he gets put up for adoption. I just wanted to share this because I can't believe how people will treat their animals. If you can't take care of one, put him up for adoption, don't neglect him. Anyway...just needed to get that out. Man, people really piss me off sometimes.

, 4m0rz
