[VENT] My sister keep getting animals that she won't take care of [LONG POST]

I've wanted to post this ever since I subscribed to this sub but refrained because I didn't want to just bash on my step sister in public. But the other day she gave me a whole new reason to be upset and I just want to vent. And who doesn't love reading a rant? I know I love reading all of your rants!

So for the purpose of this story I'm going to call my sister Amber and her husband Ben. They have two children - a twelve year old and a five year old.

The first dog Ben and Amber ever got together with a Husky. This was the first dog that Amber has sole responsibility for and it was Ben's first dog ever. You can already see where this is going. This poor dog did not get nearly enough exercise and was constantly escaping, destroying the house and the backyard, etc.. They kept her for maybe five months before surrendering her to a rescue because she was "a bad dog."

Almost immediately after this they bought a puppy. Reggie was a boxer/bull mastiff mix and my step dad actually bought his brother from the same litter. These dogs were wonderful - naturally sweet tempered, medium energy, literally the best dogs I've ever met. But Amber and Ben had a habit of of letting Reggie out in their unfenced front yard to go potty at night, forget about him, and a few hours later he would show up on at my front door in the middle of the night to play with his brother (he knew where we lived).

One night that he did this, Reggie had apparently rolled on some trash or a dead animal before coming to my house because he smelled AWFUL. When Amber came to pick him up she refused to put him in her clean car. So she clipped him to his leash, closed the leash into the car door, and slowly drove home with the dog running beside the car... they lived about 2 miles away.

Reggie passed away from bloat related issues when he was 9 years old. The whole family was devastated so Ben thinks, "Oh getting a puppy will cheer everyone up!" And 3 weeks later he brought home a 4 month old puppy labeled as a boxer mix at the shelter. This dog was nothing like Reggie. She was extremely hyperactive and at this time their son was 7 and their daughter was just learning to crawl. So the dog was kicked outside and only allowed indoors at night, and only to be put in her crate because she was always so excited to come inside that she would get the zoomies.

Then for some reason Amber decided that this dog was her son's responsibility. He was in charge of feeding her, walking her, cleaning up after her, and everything in between. But him, being only 7, couldn't control the puppy on walks so he barely walked her and lied to his parents about exercising her. He also only picked up her poop in the backyard about once a week, so this puppy was constantly laying next to her own feces and she smelled terrible 24/7. Being alone most of the time also made her develop anxiety and a barking problem. Ben would say mean things like "I wish she wasn't microchipped so I could let her escape and she couldn't be traced back to us" or just straight up "I hate this dog." This went on for two years until they finally decided to send her back to the shelter.

I didn't know this dog very well but I knew that if they gave her to a shelter she would be killed. Now that she was full grown it was clear she had some Pitbull in her and the last thing the shelters needed was an under socialized, anxious 2 year old Pitbull. So I adopted her. (I've had her for three years now and I love her to death. Ben even loves her again.)

No more than 2 months later they got ANOTHER dog. Amber picked up a 5 year old terrier from the shelter thinking "We just needed an older dog who doesn't need exercise." And while this dog was really lazy, he hated kids. He absolutely hated their now two year old daughter, who constantly terrorized him. He nipped her multiple times for trying to pick him up and he growled at her whenever she so much as made eye contact. Their son would kick him when he did this. So he got the same treatment as the last dog - kicked outside and never played with. They kept him for 6 months before giving him back to the shelter.

After this Amber thought, "Maybe we just need a cat." So she got a 6 month old kitten on Craigslist for free. Again, her toddler terrorized the small animal by constantly handling it, chasing it, and general toddler things. The cat would hiss and scratch at first but then it turned into biting. Not just the kid, but everyone who tried to pick it up. After two months Amber literally "set the cat free." She put it outside with no food or water, and waited for it to leave. It stuck around for 2 days before finally going elsewhere in search of food. I still see this cat around the neighborhood to this day (it only has half a tail so it's easily recognizable) and it has a collar on. So at least someone adopted it.

All of this left Amber with the permanent impression that she needed a "fresh" new born animal with no problems like Reggie, the only dog they have ever kept. She went hunting for breeders. Although she was set on getting a miniature Poodle, Ben found a BYB on Craigslist who had Black Mouth Cur puppies for sale, so they got one of those instead. However, Amber didn't want a dog this big so she intentionally fed him less than he needed while he grew up so he would be smaller... I didn't know about this until recently.

Fast forward two years later they still have this dog, who is sweet tempered but an absolute nightmare health wise. He has severe allergy problems and his skin is always scabby and raw. No one likes to pet him because of this and he, like every other dog, is shunned to the backyard during the day with no social interaction aside from a 15 minute bike ride. They never take him to the park, play with him, or do anything fun for him. Whenever my family gets together my other siblings bring their dogs, but the Cur never leave the house. Their son is also in full charge of this dog's exercise needs and if their son is too busy with school or sports to be home, then the dog just doesn't get walked that day. Or week. However long he's gone.

What really pushed me to make this long ranty post though was the new kitten. The other day Amber got her daughter a 3 month old kitten for her birthday. Her daughter still doesn't know how to handle small animals nicely, and this poor kitten is terrified of her. This just set me over the edge.

Oh and even better, Amber and Ben just bought a new house with a bigger backyard. And Amber still really wants her miniature Poodle... I'm so worried that she is going to get one and they're going to get rid of their Cur. Amber has expressed over and over how she is at her wits end with his health issues. I'll update later if anything changes or you guys even want to see an update.

TLDR: My sister and her husband have adopted and gotten rid of multiple dogs in the past few years and every dog they owned is left all day in their backyard until the family is tired of it. And then they get a new dog.

Thanks for reading my long ass rant. I really needed to get this off my chest.

EDIT: Thank you everyone for your comments! I know I have been letting this go on for too long and posting this has inspired me to get over some of my fear and confront my step sister. But if I know anything about people, it's that they don't take kindly to rude comments, and she will likely shut me out if I don't approach this slowly. I'm going to start by gently saying something like "Hey, I know that your dog's health problems are really stressing you out because you've spent so much money managing it. I'll help you find him a good home. You have more to worry about and you don't need a dog to add to your stress." And ontop of that convince her not to get another fucking dog. THEN, I'm going to anonymously call animal control, first for a barking complaint or something, and then again later for them to really survey the dog's living condition. Hopefully this kind of pressure as well as my offer will push her in the right direction. Thank you everyone for all your helpful comments!