I just came THIS close to stealing a dog...

[Dookus]

I pull into my local fast-food joint for a quick meal, and I notice on the minivan parked directly to my right a small dog sliding down the windshield. "That's odd," I say to myself.

I get out and walk over to him and the poor thing is crying and terrified. He's a puppy - maybe 12 weeks old. Inside the minivan is a larger dog - looked like a hound/doberman mix. Seemed nice, but he was also crying, presumably upset that the other dog was outside.

I walk around the van to find the open window the little guy escaped from. There is none. Two windows are cracked slightly, but there's NO way he fit through the window. So I comfort the dog for a little while hoping the owners will come out. The whole time, I'm stumped as to how he got there.

Finally, the pup slides all the way down the sloped front of the van and jumps to the ground and runs towards the street. I go racing after him and lure him back. I pick him up and am about to go into the restaurant with him to find his owners. Just then a young, well-dressed guy sitting in the front with his wife and two small children comes out. I ask him if the dog is his. He says yes, laughing. "He got down, did he?"

"Um... yeah. He was on the hood of the van when I pulled up"

"Ah, I was testing him. I put him on the roof. You can just put him back in the van."

I pick my jaw up from the ground and thought about throwing him into my car and taking off, but the guy would definitely have gotten my plates. So like a doofus, I put the dog back in the van.

Half of me says I shoulda tried to run for it. If it weren't for the other dog being upset about losing his little buddy, I might've done it. Fucking asshole.

[MuseRider]

1. Testing him for what???

What could a dog possibly learn from being left on the roof of a van? I kinda wish you had been able to get away with the puppy.

[Dookus]

3. that was MY question!

What the hell is there to learn? How to be terrified? How to slide down a windshield? How to run into a busy street? I wouldn't be surprised to find out the guy DROVE there with the dog on the roof. "I'm just testing his ability to hold on!"

[ajacobson]

13. Man, that makes me want to puke.

I have some friends that stole a dog to get it out of a really bad isolation situation, but by then the dog had gone nuts and ran away from them. Makes me so mad that people abuse animals like that, I cannot describe it.

Konrad Lorenz once said, it's not a wonder why there are so many dog bites, but why there are so few.

Breathing in and out, calming down now.

[Limbought]

11. Kinda makes you wonder how he tests his kids,

don't it.

[put out]

12. Hey, gang, got an idea.

If you could find this citizen, make him ride atop a vehicle a zillion times his size, and drug him so that he hasn't much reasoning capability (sounds like it won't take much), and then have his caretakers leave him separated from all he knows. See how he does on his test. No Jerk Left Behind. Well, maybe a few should be.

[brainshrub]

2. You should have run. (nt)

[Catfish]

4. I stole a dog

My neighbor's, the dog was left out in the yard without food and water. Then I had to see the woman kick and hit the dog when she barked and whined. After 2 months of sneaking food and water to her, I just took the dog. I brought the dog to a friend's place and we found a home for her, I don't regret it even though I probably broke the law. Someone has to protect and rescue the helpless. Not sure what you could have done differently. I had to wait until the woman wasn't home before I stole her dog.

[Habibi]

6. Good for you!

[kodi]

10. you did God's work my man. God's work

of my 6 dogs, 4 are rescues and i found a puppy outside my gate on thanksgiving, i found him a home with a neigbor the next day....but he and the pack had a mighty fine feast that night.... i had named him frodo (since he got to my safe house like frodo did to rivendel), and the name stuck.. he has been by already to visit and my pack treat him as a member of the pack when they see him.

there are some people who should be horse whipped for how they treat dogs.

[Limbought]

20. You did the right thing!

[Limbought]

5. Too Bad ....

You didn't get the asshole's tag number. He has to be accountble to some agency.

[GaryL]

7. I hope you did get his plates!

Then contact your local ASPCA and the police. Even here in Texas, that crap is against the law.

[Military Brat]

8. Maybe you taught them a lesson by the look on your face

Maybe, just maybe, it will dawn on that jerk that other people don't find his sense of humor funny at all. Good for you for doing the best you could under the circumstances.

[Booberdawg]

9. Give him to me!

That fucker!

[Demonaut]

14. well done

maybe the guy was testing you.

[Bunny]

18. Testing for what?

n/t

[RebelOne]

15. Poor little guy. What a jerk!!! He's an animal abuser.

[Dogmudgeon]

16. If you think THAT'S bad ...

... you ought to see some of the things that people do to their kids!

--bkl

[ibegurpard]

17. Testing him?!

It's a fucking dog, lamebrain!! They don't THINK the same way we do! What an asshole!

[joeybee12]

19. Take that dog!!! I almost stole a kitten once

Stupid airhead druggy neighbors got this cute little kitten who kept getting outside in the dead of winter. I mean, kittens naturally explore, but when you leave the house, you'd at least check to see if the cat was still around. And twice I took her in for the night, and really got attached--she would sleep right under my arm. The second time I was considering not giving her back, but relented.