Just Saw A Homeless Dude Torturing A Dog...

and nobody seemed to give a damn. The crazy dude was holding the dog's mouth shut with both hands, while he held the poor thing down on the cold and wet sidewalk with his left knee. The dog was whimpering big time, and at least 50 people (I was waiting for a cab in front of Fred Meyer) pretended not to notice.

I finally got so angry and disgusted that I approached the crazed dude (he wasn't wearing a shirt, and was yelling at the dog to shut up) and told him that what he was doing was not cool, and to leave the dog alone ASAP. He suddenly stood up, and asked me if I had a problem. Again, I told him that what he was doing was not cool. He got in my face, and said that he'd seen me at Fred Meyer before, and I should learn to mind my own business.

That's when my cab showed up, so I told the homeless dude he was the one with the problem big time, and I began putting all my groceries in the back seat. After I got in the cab, he started pounding on the window and yelling a bunch of crazy shit about kicking my ass the next time he saw me at the store. The cabbie was freaking out, so I told him to just hurry up and take me to my address.

I've always had a lot of compassion for the homeless, so this sad situation totally bothered me. Also, why was I the only person to confront him? I know most people ignore the homeless, so is that the reason nobody said a word? You'd have to be deaf and blind not to be aware of what he was doing to that dog. Is society really THAT indifferent? I don't regret a single word I said to the crazy dude. At least he left the dog alone while he tried to intimidate me. But I do find it disturbing that at least 50 people pretended not to notice. What would you have done? I know I can't be the only person to give a damn.

 

A lot of people wouldn't do anything in a situation like that because they fear that the guy might get violent. So I think you did the right thing in confronting him and showing courage.
Also some people would say it's none of their business.

I too feel compassion for both homeless people and animals. If I came across a situation like you did, I'd probably try to say something.

 

Waited till you got in the cab to harass you? What a brave soul. As if. I had a step-father who attacked our dog in a similar manner when he grabbed a burger from a plate on the dinner table. I thought it was disgusting that he'd beat a dog for doing what dog's do. But people are like that sometimes with dogs where they might not be with people. People are complicated sometimes. Who knows? The mutt may have just gulped down their last Vienna sausage.

I used to feel sorry for homeless people as a group. I quit thinking like that a long time ago. That's not to say that I don't occasionally help people out who are down on their luck. But if I see the same fool on the same corner for weeks, no way. I noticed one with a really distinctive cardboard sign, looked like something my daughter would have done when she was 8 and with a pile of crayons. A week later, I see a woman with the same sign on the same corner. Which, conveniently, is across the street from a liquor store.

I won't group all homeless people, but some of them are groups of soulless freaks who border on being genuinely dangerous. If I'm in downtown Schenectady, Albany or NYC, I always have a pile of $1 bills in various pockets to pay the trolls so I can pass. The alternative is what? Fight with them? In a suit? Or carrying something valuable? Fk that! It's worth a few bucks. In the last 30 years I have only encountered maybe 2 panhandlers who put a hand on me. But that's different. Most of them, even though they act crazy, are not. And most of them are not looking for trouble and will just try to guilt trip you.

The hostile ones or the ones who follow and heckle you, can be people geeking from a lack of crack or hurting for heroin. Ain't that worth a few bucks to having walking away from you?

So, Support the Homeless!!!!!!

 

It could be that the fact that he's a homeless person is irrelevant.

 

Hardly. The reason so many people pretended not to see what he was doing is because most people ignore the homeless. And he was conspicuously a street person.

 

That's good to know. I wish you'd also been in front of the store when this happened

 

I agree people are in most cases more prone to avoid a dirty and aggressive homeless person than a 'normal' aggressive person, but I mean in regards to how he treated that dog. That kind of behaviour is not restricted at all to homeless people and if the person looks aggressive enough (very possible for a non homeless person ) bystanders will still not be eager to intervene. So yes, it could have been irrelevant. And I thought you were asking us who so many people pretended not to see it. Now it seems you have concluded the reason with certainty. Ok.

 

I'd like to think I would have said something to him. Good for you for at least trying to help the dog.

As far as paying homeless people to pass.....I'm all for helping those less fortunate but fuck that. I'm not carrying a bunch of one dollar bills with the idea of paying tolls to walk down the street. I grew up in the city and learned how to deal with homeless people.

 

Last homeless person that asked me for something asked for food. And I just gotten a mango and a box of macademia nuts (my mom gave them to me).... Had to give it away. Felt both good and bad

 

Yeah, I have been homeless in the past (plus I've done volunteer work for a homeless shelter). It's true that many of them are not easy to deal with (because of substance abuse issues), but I met several really talented and cool homeless folks that had lost their jobs because of mental/physical health problems and ended up on the streets. It really is true that many of us are only one paycheck away from being homeless. That's why it took me so long to confront the abusive dude. But it's not an easy thing to see an animal being abused. So I acted accordingly

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-MKBIftxsg
1:09

 

I have a lot of sympathy for clowns. I don't know what I would have done if I saw one of them mistreating a dog in public

 

I think any decent person would/should have said something to him As far as handing out dollar bills as a way of dealing w/the homeless issue, every major city offers homeless people a chance to make a living by selling a newspaper that helps to inform working class and middle class folks what it's like to be homeless. There's poetry, essays, columns, articles - all written by homeless people. And on a good day (I used to do this myself before I became a writer) a homeless person can make $50-$75 bucks a day just selling the paper.

That's how I ultimately got off the streets, so I know other homeless folks can do it too

 

most people ignore "homeless" people because they don't wanna be bothered. keep walking and don't look at them, some of them make over a hundred dollars a day panhandling. I don't feel bad for most of them cuz u kinda have to force yourself to not care, someone that looks genuinely miserable and is respectful I might give them some change but if I sense even the slightest bit of disrespect or especially if it feels like they are trying to intimidate or act like people owe them something then then they're not getting one cent. there also the panhandlers that often recite a speech like rehearsed story about their personal hardships and explicitly stating that they are in fact "not homeless" but simply "need help" as if that makes them more likely to receive money by not carrying the stigma of being homeless. there's no telling what someone's real story is.

as for the dog, that's fucked up on several levels. I always feel sorry for homeless people's dogs. on one note I know that it's probably nice to have a dog as a companion while being homeless but what that means is that the dog is now effectively homeless as well and may not be cared for well so I feel sorry for dogs in that situation. in some cases I'm tempted to call it animal abuse (making a dog live on the street). in the case of the dog in OP that definitely sounds like abuse.

 

How do you know that he is Homeless? I love dogs and Homeless persons. Maybe he is just an ass-hole?

 

It was a very small dog. And it was obviously in a lot of pain. Yeah, it was being abused big time, and it's not easy (at least for me) to see and hear an animal suffer like that less than twenty feet from where I was standing.

 

Because he was sitting on the corner asking people for spare change. And he's been doing this for several weeks now.

 

I would have taken the dog away from him. If he'd started abusing me maybe someone would have called the police; maybe not, but I would have tried everything physically in my power to stop him abusing the dog.

 

It's really hard to stand by and see an animal getting abused. It's one of the things that really makes my blood boil.

I know that some homeless people use animals to enhance their begging. I don't like to see it. I'd agree with ace-k - maybe it's already an abuse to make a dog live on the street in the first place. But there's also the issue of what happens to unwanted dogs. Many end up being put down. Cats too - although that's a different issue. It would be impossible I think to have a cat if you were homeless.

 

Here's a link about reporting animal abuse http://www.aspca.org/fight-cruelty/report-animal-cruelty


This guy also made violent threats against you and and pounded on the cab. That's enough to press charges.

If the cabby or anyone else would be a witness, you would have pretty solid case against him.