A few days ago I was walking Cooper down my street when I noticed a Samoyed walking along the sidewalk across the street. I didn't think too much of it; I figured it was one of those "smart" dogs that can walk off-lead. However, I noticed there was no one near the dog and it started crossing the street which is a pretty busy street and it was about an hour after rush hour so there were still tons of cars.
I freaked out because I didn't want to see it get hit and called it over, which, miraculously, it came up to me. While Cooper was snarking in its face and being a dick, I managed to hold onto the dog, Cooper, and call the number on its tag. I noticed that the address for the owner was in a town like, 20+ miles away and was wondering what the fuck that dog was doing all the way in downtown Denver. Luckily, the guy answered and this was our conversation:
Me: "Um, hi. I found your dog wandering around and managed to catch it."
Guy: "Oh? Why the hell is my number still on the dog? Look, it's my ex's dog, she took it when we broke up and I haven't seen the dog since."
Me: "Um...ok. What do you want me to do with it?"
Guy: "She lives pretty close to where you are, just take the dog back and just make sure the gate's closed. Oh, and can you do me a favor? Can you please take my contact info off the dog's collar?"
Me: "What if the dog gets out again? How will anyone know where to take it or whatever?"
Guy: "Honestly, that's not my responsibility anymore. Please take my stuff off the dog's collar."
There was a UPS delivery man who had some spare rope so I was able to walk the dog to its owner's house. Once I got there, there was no one home and I had to ask a neighbor to make sure that the dog does live there. After saying Bye to the dog (who didn't look happy to be at home) I did what the guy asked and took his tag off the dog.
I don't know why I did it. I guess I sympathized because when Corey and I broke up, he and I spent a good few hours changing all the information for Pickle and Cooper. I didn't want him in my life so I needed to make sure that Pickle's chip information correlated with Corey's information and made sure that Corey was off of Cooper's chip. Pickle was Corey's responsibility and Cooper was mine.
The guy sounded really upset; he told me he didn't see the dog in over a year even though he and his ex agreed to have mutual custody of the dog. It must have sucked to hear that the dog got out and that was the first thing he heard about his dog in forever. I hope the dog doesn't get out again and I hope that the girl noticed the missing tag and got a replacement.
Another thing I wanted to note was that the Samoyed, while friendly and well-mannered, was fat and its fur was knotted. The neighbor told me that the dog is let loose outside all day and every day. The poor dog was probably bored and got out. I just felt bad for it and I really wanted to bring it home, brush its fur, and then bring it back. But I know its not my responsibility and it's up to its rightful owner to make sure their dog is happy and healthy.
