Recently my mother and I rescued a puppy from our neighbors. A couple of houses down there was a litter of puppies. Whenever we went out to our backyard we could see the puppies running around in their own yard. This also means we could see and hear the terrible conditions in which the puppies were living.

It’s fall, so there have been some very cold and very rainy days. No matter the weather, these puppies were outside. We could see the puppies huddled together as they tried to stay warm. There was a dog house, but they didn’t seem to have access to it since we never saw them use it. The father dog was chained up in the yard with them and one morning I sprinted out of bed because I heard what sounded like a dog fight. I checked on my own dogs and realized it sounded more like the father dog had been attacking one of the puppies. This was a sound we heard more than once.

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Another problem was that the mother dog kept escaping and her puppies would follow her. We had been considering saving one of these puppies for a while, but the day we made the decision was when we had to return the mother dog and her puppies to their home twice in the same day. The second time we only saw the mom and three puppies. By the time the neighbors had answered the door, we realized a fourth puppy had also gotten out and had fallen behind the rest. She was standing in the street a few houses down. The neighbors said she was the runt of the litter and we realized that if we didn’t do something, she would be the next to die. The mother dog and her puppies were continuously escaping and she clearly could not keep up.

This litter originally had 13 puppies. We only know for sure what happened to three of them, one that was sold, one that is still at that house, and the one we saved. We suspect the rest either got lost on one of their escapes or were killed by the father dog. It took everything in me not to react when the neighbor said his son wanted to keep two of the puppies.

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The neighbor was very kind and gave us our puppy for free, but that doesn’t change that what they did was despicable. I wanted to call some kind of authorities, but my mother said that they would see that food, water, and a dog house were available and would do nothing. I’m glad my mother and I had the means to save one. I’m glad that I know I did something. I feel beyond relieved that I know that at least one of those puppies is safe and loved.

Having a pet is a privilege, not a right. Having a pet means being responsible for a life. If you can’t be bothered to give proper care to an animal, then you have no business having a pet. If you can’t or won’t give an animal the care it needs, then do the right thing and find them a home where they will be safe.