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How long is it safe to leave a dog without food or water over here?
Our neighbours dog (Labrador) appears to have been left for several days outside without food or water. She does have some shade but the garden is enclosed and gets very hot as it’s south facing.
We give it some dog biscuits and also managed to give her some water but I am quite concerned about it’s welfare. She is a very friendly dog who whilst quite lean doesn’t look malnourished but is VERY hungry. She also gets quite distressed at times.
I am finding it difficult to understand how some people treat their dogs over here.....very sad.
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I find it difficult to believe anyone would leave a dog without water. It has to be the easiest thing
to leave several large bowls of water.
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Strangely enough not long after posting this someone appeared, fed the dog put water in its bowl and took it for a short walk, then left again.
I will keep monitoring, such a shame because she is such a lovely dog.
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I am absolutely appalled at this!
Whilst a dog may be able to SURVIVE up to 3 days in a normal climate, that doesn't mean they should, nor that it is not detrimental to them!
A dog should ALWAYS have access to water. Of course the dog will be distressed. No dog should be left alone longer than, say, 9 hours, and that should only be a one-off not a regular occurrence and certainly never for several days.
Whilst it is true that most Labradors will always act hungry, of course she will be very hungry with no food or water for several days.
If somebody has now finally come in I would have spoken to them to see what the situation is (and to give them a piece of my mind!) It may be that the owner had instructed them to look after the dog while they were away and do not know that they are not watering and feeding every day.
Frankly, if I were next door I would take the dog into my home, water and feed it and give it company.
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11-03-2019, 07:27 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-03-2019, 07:29 PM by Decho.)
I agree but the situation is complex. I live on a Community and dogs are the biggest single issue ALL because of irresponsible owners. We have complained many times but neither the President nor the Administrators are prepared to address the issue.
The dog is normally left unattended from 7am to 11pm and sometimes the Spanish owner disappears for days. Maybe someone is coming in occasionally....I don’t know because I can’t watch the place 24 hours a day, however I have now started puttin a telltale on the front gate so I WILL know when someone appears. The garden is lower down than ours so I can see the water bowl and it appears to have been empty for several days. We both talk to the the dog regularly, give her treats and water and even play ball with her. She is a very clever dog and is even bilingual! We say ‘go get your ball’ and off she treks trying to find the ball (LOL) amoungst the huge amounts of dog poo in the garden.
Unfortunately my Spanish is not good enough to have a conversation with the owner and actually making contact with her is very difficult because she is never there!
I can’t take the dog into my own garden because there is no way of rescuing it, and besides, the trouble it would cause might even lead ME to being arrested for entering her garden. Don’t get my wrong she has been a very good neighbour and always says hello(when she is there) but recently she appears to have changed jobs and also taken on looking after this dog full time - previously she would look after it only occasionally.
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