Taking care of a pet is not easy; it's cliche, but it really is just like having a child. They require a lot of your time, attention, love, care and money.

For any pet owner or animal lover, when you take one or more of those things out of the equation, owning an animal can become difficult and you might end up facing a difficult decision- do you find a way to make it work and keep your furry friend, or do you give them up?

I could never imagine giving my dog away, for any reason, so it fascinates me that someone would go to great lengths to surrender their animal just to avoid paying a small fee.

You might have seen this story last week- According to WISC-TV, a fisherman claimed that he saw a young man throw a puppy into the Rock River, rescued it, and brought it to the Humane Society of Southern Wisconsin.

The Human Society shared this poor puppy's story on their Facebook page and it quickly went viral.

Sadly, according to MyStateline.com, the man who turned in the dog made the whole thing up, just to avoid paying the animal shelter a fee to surrender the dog.

Because the story wasn't originally given to authorities, the man won't face any criminal charges.

Which begs to ask the question, what could've been done differently here?

If you have a pet and you need to surrender them, please consider some alternatives:

  • If the animal shelter requires a fee to surrender an animal, consider asking someone to loan you the money.
  • Try working with the shelter to have the fee waived if you can't afford to pay it or pay someone back.
  • Find a loving family that might already be looking for a pet.
  • While you can't screen every person or family who shows interest, try placing an add on Facebook, your local news paper, or Craigslist.

There are so many other options.

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