Oz's Story... A Sad Story All Around

This is just a sad story all around, even though you can see that Oz is a pretty happy guy!

His owner in New York City contacted us last Fall, asking if Oz could come to our sanctuary to live out his life. Oz had killed the owner's pomeranian and he did not feel comfortable with Oz around his daughter or in his home any longer.

We said "yes" and Oz came to live here at the farm. You can see from these poses that Oz enjoys it when it's his turn to sleep in the bed with us!

We know that people who send dogs here like to hear about those dogs. And we try to keep families and friends posted, and we always answer their emails. Most folks understand that Ricky and I put in long days here, strictly as volunteers, making sure that everything goes well. Taking photos of our dogs is something we'd like to do, but it does not always get done in the crush of other tasks. It is not our highest priority.

Today, we were blasted with the following attack on Facebook:

"We sent you a dog in October of 2010 named Oz. We just want to make sure he made it alive!!!There are no pictures of Oz on your farm in your website. Please> I beg of you for those concerned and for those who donated for him to have a safe flight and a home. You just recently posted a picture of Ruby and Jones welcome day. Yet we had not seen an inch or a spec of writing on welcoming Oz. Please. Is he alive? Is he on your farm? We are starting to think the worst....Here is our original posting: http://www.facebook.com/l/b6c8a/smilingdogfarms.chipin.com/mypages/view/id/4915a4905811137e ...Please relieve our worries."

This is a sad photo of Ricky holding Oz in front of our TV to prove that as of 2/26 Oz is alive and well and here at the farm. It is sad because Oz is really heavy and hard for Ricky to hold! And it is sad that we need to prove Oz is alive and well.

The writer ignores that back in October, we emailed all interested parties as well as telephoning Oz's owner. Everyone knew he made it to the farm alive and healthy. For the first couple of weeks, Ricky sent texts to Oz's owner every few days. Under these circumstances, for her to say "We just want to make sure he made it alive!!!... We are starting to think the worst" is just over the top.

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A couple months ago, this same woman created a similar stir with similar accusations and demands. We contacted Oz's owner to ask if she spoke for him, and to figure out if he was unhappy with his decision to send Oz here. He assured us that he would talk to this woman and tell her to stop making trouble.

But here we are again, tonight, with the same demands and accusations.

Many dogs' arivals here go unheralded. We do not feature every dog on the blog or on Facebook. Not because we don't want to but because we can only do so much.

One would think this woman would be grateful... not just because we gave Oz his second chance that we think he deserved, but because we place the dogs' care and welfare above Public Relations and photo ops!

Well, those of you who know me, know my computer skills -- or lack thereof! (When I was in school, a computer took up a whole floor of the GM Building in downtown Detroit. High tech meant an electric typewriter!)

And I know even less about Facebook. If you have asked to be my friend on Facebook and I have not replied, it is not because I don't like you!! I have no clue what to do to declare my friendship to all the people who have asked!! I just don't get Facebook, and I doubt I ever will. I am operating with a 1950 model brain and it does not have all the bells and whistles modern brains come with!

Well, I got this unpleasant Facebook message from this unpleasant woman in my email. I read it and felt equal parts of hurt and outrage. So I shot off what I thought was an email to Ricky. Turns out, I sent it straight to Facebook!! lol So this woman -- and I guess everyone else on the planet earth -- got to read my knee-jerk reaction to this hateful Facebook posting!

I am the "A" personality whose emotions are all over the map, and Ricky is the calm, steadying "B" personality. He figured out how to remove my email from Facebook. And then I typed an entry that he posted, since I am clueless how to do that -- well, unless it is by mistake!

We love Oz here at the farm. He has a pathological hatred of other dogs, but he is sweet as pie with humans. As long as we keep him separated from other dogs, he is a really good guy.

But if the family who sent him here is sincerely worried about the way we are caring for him, then Oz needs to go back home. Asking "Is he alive? Is he on your farm" is frankly insulting to Ricky and me. We work too hard for our dogs, put in too many long hours to take this kind of abuse.

There is also a measure of entitlement evident in this woman's diatribe because she sent some money to help with Oz's funding. So we returned her $40 tonight. We need donations, but not so badly that we allow donors to treat us as chattel.

Anyone who contemplates sending a dog here should do their due diligence on the front end, long before a dog embarks on the long journey to the farm. They should contact our references and check with our vet to see what kind of people we are, and what level of care we offer our dogs. Shame on anyone who sends their dog someplace they do not trust!

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I regret that my intemperate email to Ricky (I thought) was published. But I do not regret the sentiments, only the choice of words. If this woman means what she wrote on Facebook, Oz needs to go back home. And if she didn't mean it, she had no right to say it and needs to stop making trouble.