Do not read if you are a sensitive soul

So I'm on a Weineramer roll. I aluded in an earlier post to the dogs eating a bluebird nest so here's the story...

I take these dogs to a forest service road on Mitchell hill in Preston. We get a few hundred feet in and they get to go off leash. Lately they have bee eating everything in sight. Blackberries, human poo, dirt, grass etc. But the worst were the blue jays.

So one day we were walking along and they started snorking around in the bushes. The male raised up his head and and had a baseball sized bundle of twigs in his mouth. "Drop it" I barked automatically. For all the problems these dogs have this seems to be a command they obey. So he dropped it.

I walked over to see what it was. It turned out to be a birds nest containing four freshly hatched chicks. Very nearly embryonic and partially chewed. Oh shit, now what do I do?

Obviously since they were on the ground at such a young age they weren't going to survive. Add to that the fact they were now chewed and these poor birds were for sure goners. I started to walk away. I came back a few seconds later. Then left and then came back. I probably spent a good ten minutes trying to decide what to do. Talking to myself and cursing on the trail. Do I walk away? Try to save them? Let the dogs finish the job? I have a huge problem with letting anything suffer. So what did I do?

I found a large rock and killed the birds. It was one of the most difficult things I've ever done. I hope I never have to do it again. Now I hated it while I did it but feel no guilt now that it's done. I'm curious what would my blogger friends have done? I really see no alternative to what I did. What do you think?

I AM FURIOUS!!!

If you read my last post you met these dogs. They were not in this condition 4 months ago. I wrote a post about how they were eating everything in sight. Well two weeks ago I realized why...they are starving.

It's funny when you see a dog practically everyday you don't immediately realize changes. Two weeks ago after watching them eat human feces, a blue jay nest (with the baby blue jays in it...another post), the trash in my car and many other things I realized they were painfully thin. 

Right about the time I started taking care of them their owners changed their food to a raw diet. I don't really approve of raw diets. I think a high quality kibble is fine. It can be hard to get the proper amount of nutrients when feeding raw. But I said nothing they aren't my dogs. Then I finally took a good look and noticed the bones sticking out. The owner was home and I spoke to her. She said "Yes, we noticed too. We are feeding them more"

A week passed....they got thinner.

I spoke to her again. "Yes, I TOLD you were are feeding them more" 

Two weeks passed...they got thinner. Now had she really fed them the right amount for their energy level and metabolism two weeks should have been eough time to see progress in their weight gain, dogs do not mess around. So today I decided to not let them off leash and leash walk them. They try to eat everything on the trail and it's dangerous. 

The male had a bowel movement that was black and the consistency of asphalt....possibly showing intestinal bleeding. I lost it. I called the owner and told her until the dogs had a clear vet check I would no longer walk them. Then I cried for these poor animals

I fed them every treat in my bag. How can people do this to their animals?