In the early 1990’s I saw a large dog roaming our neighborhood. This was concerning because we were/are pet lovers, had five of our own fur babies and years earlier out dogs got out of the yard when we weren’t home.

I got a long rope and got the dog to come to me. I tied it up in front of our house so hopefully its owner would see it. I gave the dog bowl of water, a couple of gnawing toys and of course a couple of biscuits.

I also looked at the dog’s tag. There was no phone number but the rabies tag was from the same vet that we took our animals to. I called the vet and with the rabies number they were able to give me the owner’s phone number.

I called the owner, told him who I was and that his dog was roaming our neighborhood and that I I had his dog tied up in our front yard. With an angry tone, the man said, “No you don’t! My dog is in my yard”! I asked him to go look because … I had his dog. He got back on the phone, very angry now and asked who I was and what I wanted. I told him who I was, where I lived and again, that his dog was wondering around our neighborhood and I tied it up in our yard so that he’d find it safe and sound.

This conversation lasted much longer than I ever thought it would. This man was convinced that I was holding his dog hostage because I wanted something from him. I finally told him to come get his dog and I wouldn’t even come out of the house so he doesn’t have to interact with me.

Yikes … someone had a guilty conscience.