What should I do?

I need help with an issue that has been bothering me...
I recently moved into my father's house in order to attend school. He
has 3 dogs and 8 cats, and I have 1 dog and 2 cats. Two of his dogs
live outside and he doesn't take sufficent care of them in my opinion.
They have food, water and shelter, but he does not do anything for flea
or heartworm prevention. He spends about a half hour a week with them
while cleaning their cement slab kennel, but they do not get to go for
walks or even spend anytime on grass. Because of their lack of contact
with other animals, one of the dogs has become aggressive and has
attacked three other dogs (including mine). The other dog is a large
long haired mix and he will only have her groomed once a year. She gets
so matted that feces and urine get caked onto her bottom leaving her
with sores. The short haired aggressive dog hasn't had a bath in over
six years. In the winter, my father doesn't clean their kennel at all
and they have no source of heat in our cold Minnesota winters.

I don't see the point of having a pet if you are not going to care for
them and enjoy their presence. I have considered calling some form of
animal services, but I'm afraid of him losing his inside animals (which
he takes excellent care of)....I have also thought of bringing them to
the humane society myself, but he would probably get very angry at me
and may not let me stay here while I go to school. I have tried to a
certain extent talking to him about it, but he just brushes it off. If
anyone has any good ideas on what I should do, please let me know.

Les Hilliard...

What you've described borders on abuse and neglect in my book. I'm
from up around your neighborhood of the country and the winters are
nortoriously brutal. That alone bothers me when I see it around here, I
wouldn't leave my worst enemy out overnight in these winters up here.
And the poor health conditions and grooming needs you describe are
terrible. But, he's your father and you have to live with him regardless
if you are staying in his house or not so I can understand your delimma.
I would have a hard time reporting a member of my family myself.
What Matt suggested is a good idea. If you can take over and see
to it that these dogs get taken care of properly would be the best way to
handle the situation and still maintain the family ties. My guess is
that he might not even notice if you snuck the dogs off to the vet or
groomer one at a time. Is there any chance of finding a better home?
One where someone has the time to train and work with the agression and
health issues? Or is there someone in your area that you could find to
come in and help you clean up and train these dogs? I don't have any
easy answers, I'm just trying to throw out a couple of suggestions. Best
of luck.

pfoley...

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This is definitely animal abuse. Why don't you try to sit down and have a
talk with your father, and ask him if it would be ok if you tried to find
homes for the outdoor dogs or take them to a shelter. Obviously, he doesn't
care about them or want to take care of them at all, so he might just like
the fact that he doesn't have to bother doing what little he does with them
anymore. The shelter will have a vet look them over and a groomer clean
them up, and they will have someplace warm to stay for the winter. If they
are lucky, someone will adopt them. If you want to try to find someone who
will adopt them, then you will have to have them groomed and vet checked
yourself first. But, I would definitely try to remove the poor dogs from
their desperate situation; maybe you can be their hero. Talk it over with
your father first. I don't know why he would treat the dogs that way; maybe
he is slipping mentally, and in that case probably animal services should
step in if you can't convince him to give them up.

Rocky...

What would happen if you took gradual control of the outside
dogs? Feeding them and cleaning their kennels. Perhaps
training stuff like sitting and not jumping up.

If you're going to be in your father's house for the next few
months, you can probably make significant inroads to these
dogs' welfare.