Hey guys, I'm in a real tough spot.
So basically my family about 10 years ago now hit a dire financial spot, and my dad used to collect chickens and keep them in small wire cages. Never agreed with it but he quit. We always had dogs, but a lightbulb went off for my dad at one point where he wanted to start breeding Bully Pitbulls. We rescued my dog Lacey from a super cruel breeder, she came out of his trunk and had terrible mange, we fell in love with her instantly, and we nursed her back to health. My dad decided after about a year that he would breed her and we slowly got more and more dogs. A massive disclaimer: my parents would never beat these dogs and always supplied the food and water. The issue is, the other 6 or 7 dogs we would have at a time were "outside dogs" who would get to leave their huge kennels once or twice a day to run for about an hour. Just a water bowl was in the cage.
Being a kid I could never do much about it, and the good news is, with the dogs we bred we would thoroughly vet the people to make sure the people would actually love the dog (My dad's biggest fear is selling a pup only to find out the person is fighting them or abusing them). My siblings and I would take the "actually giving the dogs affection" role as only Lacey was allowed in the house.
Fast forward to now, all of my siblings are out of the house including me. My parents stopped breeding and everything seems to be okay, but then over time I realized how little of a shit my parents cared about the "outside dogs". One of the dog, China, imprinted with me super hard, her previous owner never really loved on her much, and neither does my dad so she knows when I come and visit she gets pets. The other dog, Pooty, is super sweet but kinda overweight and not trained at all. The final "outside dog" is Louie. Louie was born with Congenital Hydrocephaly and as a result is pretty slow and not good with the other dogs.
**Here's where things get worse**
My dad built huge kennels with fans in them for the dogs outside, but kept them in there with no toys and would let them out once in the morning to go potty and eat, and once in the afternoon to run if that. My brother who still lived there at the time would take play duty. Before he left, he finally convinced my dad to leave the cage doors open for the dogs to run and have free roam of the yard. The only issue is, this brought up 2 problems: #1) That means my dad would only feed them and just leave them outside all day, never playing with them, walking them or petting them, and worse, #2) Louie only gets out for 15 minutes a day since he doesn't get along with the other two and he's obese now.
I convinced my parents to let me take China to my house, but I can't do it because Pooty depends on that dog. That's his best friend and my parents refuse to let him mingle with the "inside dogs" because he's not trained. I can't let him be alone, and I desperately want to find Louie a home too.
The biggest issue is, even when responding to the question "Do you even play with the dogs back there?" with "No, I just feed them", and my mom refusing to even go back there to the point they barely know her, they see nothing wrong with any of this. When I present the issue they either yell at me to leave them alone, my parents answer with "They're our dogs", "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about", "They play all day", or "Leave us alone about it". It breaks my heart to see these dogs get no love or human interaction. They have no toys in their part of the yard or in their cages, but I'm unsure if it's neglect because they get food and water and don't sleep in their excrement.
I also neglected to mention they've never been to the vet. My dad handles all of that by giving them their shots and deworming etc. but I don't think that's right either. I can't fight them on this because I depend on them financially still since I'm still young. I'm lost and it hurts because I know they deserve better. Also finally, I've inquired about taking Pooty too, but my Dad's response is "he's my dog, you're not taking him"
Please help
**TL:DR** My "Outside Dogs" get to roam all day and always have food and water. The issue is, my parents do only that, they never pet them, play with them, train them, walk them, take them to the vet, leave our mentally handicapped dog cooped up for all but 15 minutes a day, or so much as give them toys back there. I'm helpless because I want to take one of them but I can't separate them because they're all they have and I can't leave them alone. I can't do any drastic measures because I depend on my family financially. My parents refuse to find them a shelter because "They'll kill them", but do the bare minimum to keep them alive but treat them like collectible livestock and not like dogs. What d
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/fppgqd/please_help_i_think_my_parents_are_neglecting/
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