What would you do?

Largo FL

Description

WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT. Please do not read if you are sensitive to sad or depressing real life situations. I promise you that Every word is true and can be backed up by evidence. I live in a 55 and up Mobile Home Park. Back last August my next door neighbor, "R", adopted a pitbull. He adopted the dog because he was very very ill both physically and mentally and he really needed a companion. Barney, a pit bull, would be His emotional support companion. His very good friend, "A" lived with him to take care of him. They had known each other since childhood and considered themselves to be brothers in spirit. And even though "A" worked a lot, he agreed to allow the dog to come and stay. My neighbor "R" said that he got the dog from some people he knew that had to give him up because they were moving to an apartment. They told him that the dog had been attacked by a cat when he was a puppy and was terrified by cats. They told him that they had two other dogs, who were aggressive, that this one had been raised with. They also had three children under the age of 12. So anyway, my neighbor "R" gets the dog and he loves him. He takes Barney to the vet and treats a skin condition that the dog had, he paid for all of the vaccines and flea medicine and got some toys and a collar and Leash,etc. "R" loved Barney a lot and for the first time in a few years, he managed to get up and walk a little bit so he could take Barney outside for a little walk and some fresh air. I had never seen him smile or even look forward to waking up the next morning, but he did. Because it seemed like that he felt that he had something to live for. For a little while. But around 4 weeks later, "R" had a mental breakdown. And one day, I was sitting in my living room, when the police began knocking at my door to tell me that my next door neighbor "R" had shot himself in the head with a handgun with a silencer. I was literally sitting 50 feet away, from inside my living room to his. I didn't hear anything. "R" was sitting in his chair with this beautiful Pitbull, Barney, in his lap, when he lifted the gun and put a bullet right through the center of his forehead. My other neighbor "A" had not come home until several hours had passed and came upon this scene. "A" found his best and oldest childhood friend in his chair with the gun in his hand, a hole in his head, and poor Barney sitting in his lap, trying to wake him up and whining and crying. For the past 8 months my neighbor "A" has been trying his best to take care of this dog. He walks hin several times a day, he makes him healthy homemade food, takes him to the dog park, and provides him with the very best vet care even though he is very short on money. He bathes Barney every week and brushes him daily. He talks to him and tries to love him and comfort him, because Barney whines and cries randomly, for no reason that any of us can see. My 19 year old son and myself (female, 40-ish), have taken the dog out for "A" when he has to work a 14-hour shift. Barney is so very sweet to us. He is always so excited and happy to see us. He lets us put the leash on and walks a little bit and goes to the potty and then he lies down in the sun while we brush him and talk to him. He has never once been anything but loving and calm with our whole family and to any other people that visit his home. But, earlier tonight, a good friend of ours, "D", was walking by with his Akita on a leash and all of a sudden I saw this blur and Barney somehow broke Free from his leash, where he was tied out to get some fresh air and "A" was within 5 feet of him. And within a Split Second I watched Barney latch onto the Akita's chest and shoulder area. "D" started yelling and trying to push Barney off and my husband ran and got our hose and sprayed it on the dogs. "A" grabbed his hose and yelled for Barney to come to him. I yelled to hit Barney on the nose so that maybe he would let go. "A" tried to pull the dogs apart. "D", the Akita's owner finally was able to shove Barney down to the ground with his knee and my neighbor "A" was able to pull him off. In the end, the Akita wasn't hurt and Barney had suffered scrapes and abrasions from being pushed on the ground. The Akita's owner had a bloody scraped leg from where he had fallen to his knees. All the neighbors from up and down the street came just to see what was going on. They all reached a common consensus within 30 seconds even though the only actual witnesses to the entire incident was myself, my husband, the owner of the Akita, and my neighbor "A". Their conclusion was that the Pitbull had to go and that it should be put to death. The manager of the park came by and said that the dog had to go. My neighbor "A" tried his best every day with the dog because he knew that his best friend "R" had loved it, even for that short time, and it had made his life bearable for a short time in the 30 years of absolute pain and Agony that he had been living in. And the dog had been traumatized by watching his death. Up close and personal. "A" knew that Barney needed a place with no other animals where he could run and play and be free, after everything scary that he had seen. And as it turned out, Barney had been quite abused in the past from the people who gave him away in the first place. And now my neighbor feels like he has no other choice but to take his dog in a couple of days and have him put down. I just don't even know what to think about this. I have researched no kill shelters all night but we all know how impossible it is to get a pitbull who has shown aggression into a shelter. He has always been a sweet dog to humans. I don't know what his fear of other animals is except for that he was tormented by them when he was young. I don't think he deserves to die. We all know that he can't be here and that this is not the right place for him. See, the rules in this place only apply to certain people at certain times. As I mentioned,there is an Akita here, at least 3 Rottweilers, at least 10 more pitbulls, a few German Shepherds, and many other large dogs that are considered "aggressive" breeds. And these are just the ones that I know about. My neighbors "R" and "A" brought this dog in with permission from the management. Now of course I have sense enough to know that an aggressive dog cannot stay in a 55 and up Mobile Home Park. I have a small dog myself and a cat and a teenage son. I certainly wouldn't want any of them to get hurt. But my neighbor has no chance because every other neighbor and the management has decided that Barney needs to go and that he deserves to die. But they think it's okay for everybody else to be able to have any dogs that they want. The rule in the park is that you may have two dogs that are each under 40 lbs unless they are a service dog. None of the large dogs are service dogs. Sometimes you just can't fight management because you have to live somewhere in peace. What's that old saying? Different rules for different fools? Barney shouldn't have to die just because he wasn't treated right by people in the past and just because my neighbor killed himself in front of Barney and my neighbor "A" has tried his very hardest to take care of Barney and give him the very best and keep him away from other animals and he just can't do enough. And now all of the neighbors are calling for the dog to be killed. He's just a dog following his instincts. I'm guessing that he could be acting out of fear. So I have a decision to make. I can stay out of this completely or I can speak up for what is right. Why get involved and speak up to my neighbors and risk getting everyone angry with me? Risk getting kicked out? Do I say something to the management about other people having so-called "aggressive" dogs? Like the Akita and the Rottweilers and many other pets in the park. I've been here long enough to know that all that will get me is nowhere. I have been doing research for the past 8 hours, hoping I can try and find someone to adopt Barney and probably they never will. Tomorrow we are going to contact every no kill shelter within a 3 hour radius, but any pit bull owner knows how that's going to go. I am posting this on here as a last-ditch effort. I've seen how Craigslist is lately, and my ad will probably be flagged and I'll probably get a lot of nasty responses from people who have nothing better to do then to hurt other people. But I don't care because Barney is a beautiful, loving dog who deserves a chance to be in the right environment with the right people. It is not an animal's fault when they react with instinct. The fault lies with all the people who were involved with bringing him here in the first place and doing everything else that they did. But casting blame upon people is not going to help the situation. Right now we need to focus on Barney. His time is short. We need to keep the people here safe and we need to keep all of the other animals safe. And we need to try and get Barney a happy, loving home that he deserves. So there is my question. What should I do? What would you do? I am reaching out during this time of a global pandemic when we should all be pulling together but we have all been drifting apart. We need help. I know some people will say it's just a dog. But that's not the point. He is a living and feeling creature that is completely dependent upon humans and was completely molded and condition by humans. So it is up to us humans to make sure that we do right by him. I pray for any help that is out there. If you have made it all the way to the end of this long long post I thank you very much and appreciate your time. Thank you and God bless you.