MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – There is no way to put a positive spin on the massive amount of animals that are abandoned by their families — most are just dumped in rural areas to survive on their own.
We have forever environmental problems due to discarded snakes and relinquished iguanas, but now it’s cats and dogs being thrown out like trash.
Some pet owners are so desperate, they are finding new ways to give up their family members with a wish and a chance.
One of those abandoned animals is a Shepherd mix named Tiberius.
Sisters Olivia and Sophia Kisch found him in a Miami Shores Publix parking lot with a note attached to him, written in both Spanish and English. It said, “I’m looking for someone who loves me. My owner abandoned me. I’m sweet and affectionate. I promise to make your days happy.”
“There was this dog but his tail was so between his legs that he was like really really scared and very very skittish,” Olivia Kisch said.
The girls were with their dad at the time.
“I was almost going to cry, like, I saw him there and I turned to my Dad and said ‘We can’t leave him here,’” Sophia Kisch said.
Olivia added, “We were laughing because we were like we have two dogs but I was like ‘We just can’t leave him, he’s too sweet.’”
Cristy Clavijo-Kisch, their mom, said the family took Tiberius to the vet, found out he was about seven months old and neutered but had no owner information.
“I was angry, I was like, this was enough to write the note and to say he makes such a great pet for someone, and I’m like ‘OK, well why didn’t you take care of him, whoever you are,’ right?” Clavijo-Kisch said.
Tiberius was lucky, but South Florida pet owners seem to be getting more desperate.
The same week the Kisch family found Tiberius, someone dumped a cat at Animal Welfare Society of South Florida in Miami: a diabetic feline in a sealed box.
The group saved her and is looking for a home for her.
Just a month earlier, someone dumped another cat on the group’s doorstep, with a note that read: “Hi my name is Santana. My mom has to move and can’t keep me. I am 8 years old and a good boy.”
A vet clinic is no shelter, nor is a parking lot, but shelters are busting at the seams. Rescue groups are overloaded and need adopters, fosters and donations.
While the story of Tiberius ended well, most do not.
“I already love him so hopefully he starts to love me,” Olivia said.
Shelters are only there as a last resort and rescue groups frequently save animals from shelters before they are killed.