Abandoned Dogs Roam Detroit in Packs as Humans Dwindle

[cronus]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-2 ... indle.html

Abandoned Dogs Roam Detroit in Packs as Humans Dwindle

As many as 50,000 stray dogs roam the streets and vacant homes of bankrupt Detroit, replacing residents, menacing humans who remain and overwhelming the city’s ability to find them homes or peaceful deaths.

Dens of as many as 20 canines have been found in boarded-up homes in the community of about 700,000 that once pulsed with 1.8 million people. One officer in the Police Department's skeleton animal-control unit recalled a pack splashing away in a basement that flooded when thieves ripped out water pipes.

“The dogs were having a pool party,” said Lapez Moore, 30. “We went in and fished them out.”

Poverty roils the Motor City and many dogs have been left to fend for themselves, abandoned by owners who are financially stressed or unaware of proper care. Strays have killed pets, bitten mail carriers and clogged the animal shelter, where more than 70 percent are euthanized.

“With these large open expanses with vacant homes, it’s as if you designed a situation that causes dog problems,” said Harry Ward, head of animal control.

(continued)

[Rum]

Happy days..

[cronus]

Happy days..

...all to come here when the oil dries up.

[MiM]

"...in a basement that flooded when thieves ripped out water pipes"

I find that sentence to be the most chilling in that snippet. Stealing live water pipes

[Faithfree]

Detroit's gone to the dogs.

[laklak]

I have a business idea. Sell survivalist trips to Detroit. You're dropped in by chopper with nothing but the clothes on your back, a knife and a pack of matches. Your mission - get to the supply dump without being eaten by the cannibalistic hordes.

[MiM]

... Escape from New York, come alive.

[orpheus]

I should know by now, from my experience at RatSkep: I should not read threads like this, because they really rip my heart out. I grew up in Detroit and I still have old friends there.

[MiM]

Sorry about that, Orpheus. It's obviously easy to rave about it from afar. Is the situation there really as bad as it looks like, or is it exaggerated by the Internet?

[orpheus]

No problem, MiM. I didn't mean that as a rebuke to folks here. To answer your question, yes, it is that bad. I haven't been back in a while, but from everything I've heard, it's pretty awful. And getting worse.

[Tyrannical]

Wild packs of dogs are the least of the concern when you have wild packs of committing violent crime at the rate of ~ 1,000 per 100,000 people.

[piscator]

NAFTA and US taxpayer-funded logistical infrastructure made it easy for the US automobile industry to go wherever labor is cheaper, which it did at first opportunity.

Apparently, there were only 2 good reasons to live in Detroit:
1. You had a good job in Detroit
2. You were stuck in Detroit


Good news is, packs of feral dogs are an ongoing problem in Mexico City...



http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/fatal-attac ... -1.1105965

[cronus]

NAFTA and US taxpayer-funded logistical infrastructure made it easy for the US automobile industry to go wherever labor is cheaper, which it did at first opportunity.

Apparently, there were only 2 good reasons to live in Detroit:
1. You had a good job in Detroit
2. You were stuck in Detroit


Good news is, packs of feral dogs are an ongoing problem in Mexico City...



http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/fatal-attac ... -1.1105965

Proving logic isn't all it's made out to be in the long run.

[piscator]

One could say the same of Bloomberg...

[MiM]

No problem, MiM. I didn't mean that as a rebuke to folks here. To answer your question, yes, it is that bad. I haven't been back in a while, but from everything I've heard, it's pretty awful. And getting worse.

OK, thanks. Have to say I would have been happier if you had lashed out at the forum for being overly harsh.

It is really scary that a major city in a western civilisation (yeah, I do count the USA) can stoop that low.