That’s what one mother basically told Animal Care and Control in Brooklyn, New York according to the article Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Child Skips Homework, Mother Turns His Dog Over to Kill Shelter when she turned in the family dog to the kill shelter already over run with dogs just like her. A beautiful Red dog with eyes that make you melt. The dog was a gift to her son and her son has not be completing his school work. The woman decided that as punishment the dog had to go and without a second thought delivered her to a kill shelter so strife with issues in the past year including the firing of the only person who cared enough about the dogs in their care to try and get them more attention by taking friendly pictures of them.
Now I get that the mother wants her son to do his homework. I agree school is very important and a child needs to learn in order to succeed in life but how is throwing out the family dog the way to go about making that happen? Ground the child take away phone privileges, or tv time, or make him do extra chores in order to learn responsibility. But no this mother decided those consequences weren’t enough and the dog simply had to go. Not to a breed rescue, or a place that would do anything possible to find Jewel a new home but to the most convenient place without caring what that meant for the dog. Jewel is currently listed on the urgent list at ACC in Brooklyn which means her time there is very short.
Now I would understand a parent making the decision that they had to find a new home for a dog if their child became violent in the home or was beating up kids at school and the family was worried for the dog (or cat or any other pet’s) safety. But all kids rebel against school once in a while and killing the dog or doing something which in effect could lead to the dogs death over missed homework is just unbelievable to me.I honestly don’t see how this is going to make things better and the child more obedient and willing to do his homework. If the child was truly attached to his dog the only way I see this going is very badly with the child becoming angry and mad and acting out in all sorts of ways for many years to come.
How do you think the child reacted to finding out the dog was gone? Do you think it will help with the problem of not wanting to do school work? Do you think there are consequences to this mother’s actions that will have repercussions for years to come?
Yes. I definitely think that there are serious consequences too giving the family pet away. While homework is important, so is having someone there who loves you and you can play with. Dogs are family to kids and you can’t just decide to give them away because the child isn’t doing homework. What you said is exactly right. A kid should have more chores to show them to be more responsible.
I so want to go to new york and get that dog.
Stupid, ignorant woman
Growing up I wasn’t the best student. Grade school was difficult for me. High school was even worse. But the one thing that really helped me get through those difficult angst-filled days was the family dog, ,Buck. Whenever it all got to be too much I would take him for a walk just to escape for a few minutes. I think he kept me sane. It’s too bad, this mother took that opportunity away from her child. – Katy
I’m really beginning to hate people. So not only did the mother kill the dog, she likely scarred her son for life. She hasn’t the skill to raise either.
Thank goodness for The Lexus Project who stepped in and saved precious Jewel.
I am choosing The Lexus Project for my Fridays Fiver donation on my blog.
Thank you so much for letting us know that Jewel has found her way into a rescue who will look after her until the right home is found!
Oh, I’m so glad Jewel found a new home!
Oh. my. gosh. What a freaking LOUSY mother. Talk about scarring your kid for life – she just did it. Take away something obviously precious to the child over homework?! Not that homework isn’t important, but so are relationships.
It makes me even angrier that she took that poor dog to a kill shelter. That poor doggy must have been so frightened. 🙁
The child is screaming for attention of any kind. This kind of tactic will surely backfire, I think!
ok, somebody is ripe for a straight jacket …
OMG that’s so sad!
Such a sad story. All of the pets we had/have were cast-offs someone else didn’t want anymore. Shouldn’t have been *that* hard to find a good family if he HAD to go, but still – surely there was a more effective discipline she could have used (like, maybe, sit down with your son and help him with the homework??)
That is awful. How sad 🙁 We love dogs and if we lived closer we would be bringing that dog home with us.
That is HORRIBLE! I’m so angry right now – grrrr! That mother needs to learn how to parent instead of traumatizing her child…and making that poor dog suffer 🙁
What kind of a mother is she? Apparently she is not a good one. I would suggest there are other issues besides the dog keeping the kid from doing their homework. Killing an animal over something like that is beyond ludicrous to say the least.
Oh, that’s just horrible! She’s teaching her child about something much more important than anything they are learning in school. She’s teaching him that it’s not important to honor your commitments when they are inconvenient to you. Rather than work to help her son honor HIS commitment to do his school work, she choose to abandon the lifetime commitment she made when she adopted that dog for her child. Her son may not be so sure that she will keep HIM after seeing that. 🙁
That kind of thinking shows you’re on top of your game