Another Abandoned Pet!

My project for today was to winterize 3 rentals. I have 4 units open right now. One is an upstairs apartment in one of my apartment buildings. It will receive enough heat from the apartment below and the apartment beside it to keep the pipes from freezing. The next is a 2 bedroom house that I'm just got back. I have been retrofitting all my rentals with PEX water line which easily allows me to put in quick disconnect fittings at the main valve in the basement. So, I shut off the water at the meter; disconnected the water line in the basement; and drained the lines. I also put antifreeze in the toilet bowl and all drain traps. I'm obviously hoping to have this rented for December, but winterizing is much cheaper than running the heat even for a few days.

The next unit is a 3 bedroom house that I should get back by the end of the month. Even though I don't have possession yet, the tenant is already living in their new house (that they bought). Unfortunately, I don't have a new phone number for them and they don't have cell phones. Anyway, I needed to be sure that the pipes weren't going to freeze (it's going to be 15 degrees tonight), so I went over there to see if I needed to winterize the house. The good news is that the heat is still on, so I won't need to winterize until the first of the month. With a little luck, I'll have it rented by then.

The final rental that needed to be winterized was a one-bedroom house that I just got back today. The tenant's father called me last night to say that his daughter took a job out of town and had moved out. He said that the key was on the kitchen counter. So, I went down to check on the unit and winterize it as necessary. As soon as I opened the door, I knew that the house wasn't completely empty because a dog started barking at me. However, as I walked in, I could see that the dog and a dog blanket were all that was left, other than quite a few piles of dog doo! From the number of dog piles, it looked to me that the tenant actually left 4 or 5 days ago. That instantly made me angry, to think that this scumbag tenant would abandon a little dog. The dog was obviously scared and thin, but otherwise looked healthy. I found a lid that I could use to give the dog some water and the tenant had left a container of dog food on the counter. Since the dog didn't seem to be in need of emergency attention (other than food and water), I proceeded to clean up the apartment. I cleaned up the dog's mess on the floor. I cleaned the stove and refrigerator. I cleaned bathroom sink. That was it. The apartment is ready to re-rent.

I brought the dog home and will take care of it until I can find someone to take it. We've already put out a call to several people and have e-mailed pictures of the dog to a couple of people.