My Volunteer Job

[Queen Mum]

I volunteer at a spay neuter clinic in Little Rock Arkansas. It costs $25 and comes with a rabies shot and a health check. I recently took in 4 week old pups who were the result of an accidental breeding from a dog that was dumped at a friends house. Tragically that lovely dog was killed by a pack of neighbor dogs - strays which are the result of other an un-spayed and un-neutered dog roaming freely and breeding indiscriminately.

I know quite a few people who let their animals roam around and breed without a thought to the thousands of strays that this creates. Those animals that just wander away become a nuisance for everyone. They get into livestock feed, spread disease and cause highway accidents. They form packs and attack people and other animals as well as livestock. Some of them die horrible deaths from disease and from auto trauma. I have seen many a dog and cat writhing on the roadways half alive suffering terrible pain from their injuries. Others think drowning a puppy or kitten is appropriate. That is cruelty personified. And it is against the law. In our state, letting unwanted pets suffer from disease and perish from lack of vaccinations is considered cruelty and is punishable.

Those owners who take their unwanted pets to a shelter foolishly think the shelter will find adoptive homes and this is JUST NOT TRUE! Please, SPAY AND NEUTER YOUR PETS!

My sister was an animal control officer for years and can attest that what is written below is the truth. She loves animals and hated every time an animal had to be put down. But it was her job.

The shelter manager's letter:

"I am posting this (and it is long) because I think our society needs a huge wake-up call."

As a shelter manager, I am going to share a little insight with you all - a view from the inside, if you will.
Maybe if you saw the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused eyes, you would change your mind about breeding and selling to people you don't even know - that puppy you just sold will most likely end up in my shelter when it's not a cute little puppy anymore.

How would you feel if you knew that there's about a 90% chance that dog will never walk out of the shelter it is going to be dumped at - purebred or not! About 50% of all of the dogs that are "owner surrenders" or "strays" that come into my shelter are purebred dogs.
No shortage of excuses
The most common excuses I hear are:
We are moving and we can't take our dog (or cat).
Really? Where are you moving to that doesn't allow pets?
The dog got bigger than we thought it would.
How big did you think a German Shepherd would get?
We don't have time for her.
Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my 6 dogs!
She's tearing up our yard.
How about bringing her inside, making her a part of your family?

They always tell me: We just don't want to have to stress about finding a place for her. We know she'll get adopted - she's a good dog. Odds are your pet won't get adopted, and how stressful do you think being in a shelter is?
Well, let me tell you. Dead pet walking!
Your pet has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off, sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn't full and your dog manages to stay completely healthy.
If it sniffles, it dies.

Your pet will be confined to a small run / kennel in a room with about 25 other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will be depressed and it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it.
If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers that day to take him / her for a walk. If I don't, your pet won't get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of its pen with a high-powered hose.
If your dog is big, black or any of the "bully" breeds (pit bull, rottweiler, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door. Those dogs just don't get adopted.
If your dog doesn't get adopted within its 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed.

If the shelter isn't full and your dog is good enough, and of a desirable enough breed, it may get a stay of execution, though not for long. Most pets get very kennel protective after about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment.
If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles, chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed because shelters just don't have the funds to pay for even a $100 treatment.

The grim reaper
Here's a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being "put-down".
First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash. They always look like they think they are going for a walk - happy, wagging their tails. That is, until they get to "The Room".

Every one of them freaks out and puts on the breaks when we get to the door. It must smell like death, or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there. It's strange, but it happens with every one of them. Your dog or cat will be restrained, held down by 1 or 2 vet techs (depending on their size and how freaked out they are). A euthanasia tech or a vet will start the process. They find a vein in the front leg and inject a lethal dose of the "pink stuff". Hopefully your pet doesn't panic from being restrained and jerk it's leg. I've seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered with the resulting blood, and been deafened by the yelps and screams.

They all don't just "go to sleep" - sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate on themselves.
When it all ends, your pet's corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer in the back, with all of the other animals that were killed, waiting to be picked up like garbage.

What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet food? You'll never know, and it probably won't even cross your mind. It was just an animal, and you can always buy another one, right?

Liberty, freedom and justice for all
I hope that those of you that have read this are bawling your eyes out and can't get the pictures out of your head. I do everyday on the way home from work. I hate my job, I hate that it exists and I hate that it will always be there unless people make some changes and realize that the lives you are affecting go much farther than the pets you dump at a shelter.

Between 9 and 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters and only you can stop it. I do my best to save every life I can but rescues are always full, and there are more animals coming in everyday than there are homes.
My point to all of this is DON'T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER PETS DIE!

Hate me if you want to - the truth hurts and reality is what it is.
I just hope I maybe changed one person's mind about breeding their dog, taking their loving pet to a shelter, or buying a dog. I hope that someone will walk into my shelter and say "I saw this thing on craigslist and it made me want to adopt".
That would make it all worth it."

Author unknown

Together we can end this senseless killing. Keep speaking out and sharing this page:
Advocate for Saving Dogs
https://www.facebook.com/Advocateforsavingdogs.org


Originally posted on Animal Cruelty Exposed

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I used to work in an emergency vet hospital and I've seen all of the above too and I'm with you.

 

[Bossroo]

HMmmmm ! I worked at a very large University Vet. Med. Teaching Facility , Pathology Dept. for years ... that part that stated that dogs freak out when they reach the "room" to receive the " pink juice" because the area smells like death simply is not true. The pathology area receives all types of animals from owners such as dogs, cats, mice, rats, sheep, goats, pigs, cows, horses, birds, etc.. with all types of illnesses, disease, injuries, research, etc. . I have put down hundreds of dogs as well as these other types of animals per year in that Pathology area with dead animals all around and I can count on one hand the number that ever freaked out over 5 years. Has anyone noticed the huge influx of commercials during Hollidays from these bleeding heart groups showing all types of animals in distress accompanied by sad songs by some moviestar so that it tugs at one's heartstrings and pleading for an $ 18 / month donation ? Well that part that states that dogs that are left at these shelters are destroyed within 72 hrs. may be true as they don't whant to spend this donated money on the animals, so they get rid of them asap. Some shelters are the so called "no kill shelters". These types ship their surplus animals to other areas of the state or country. Portland Ore. Humane Society just got a shipment of about a 100 dogs from L.A., Cal. right after they were having a media blitz a couple weeks ago to adopt dogs and cats because they were so overcrowded and prety please donate to us. So now they have another huge media blitz with sad stories to adopt these animals and plead for donations to cover the shiping costs. It's a tug at the heartstring business afterall!

 

[SkyWarrior]

I have rescued many dogs over the years, and have helped place many. Yes, spaying and neutering is vitally important.

Owner responsibility is just as important.

I have tried desperately to educate new owners. Lots of times the only people who buy my books are the ones who I am preaching to the choir to. Sigh.

 

[kstaven]

Personally I feel owner responsibility is the most important element. Unfortunate that many pet purchases are impulse buys with a throw away mindset that many in our society have developed.

 

[SkyWarrior]

Personally I feel owner responsibility is the most important element. Unfortunate that many pet purchases are impulse buys with a throw away mindset that many in our society have developed.

I'd like to think that those of us who try to educate people as to the responsibility of spaying and neutering have made some effect, but in poor areas, like mine, spaying and neutering isn't normally done unless there's a free or low-cost clinic. Last year, there was a spay/neuter clinic in my area and they were offering a $25 dog or cat spay/neuter. The cat portion filled up; there were a few dog slots left.

The good news is that our shelter has a 98.8% adoption rate. I think the few that aren't adopted are either too old or sickly, or have a real behavioral/aggression problem. We have several no-kills in the area that I will consider adopting a cat from when my cats finally go (they're both about 18 years old). And I'll probably be adopting a Malamute from the Malamute raid in Helena this weekend. (Malamutes are my breed).

The number of euthanized pets in the US is estimated somewhere around 5 million, but no one truly knows the number. Not saying that is good, but I've seen ridiculous figures of 25 million tossed about like they were fact. Ah well.

 

[Queen Mum]

Got news for you about the pink juice room. It isn't a "bleeding heart" story. This is not a media blitz. It is NOT a myth. I have been in the euth room at the shelter and the animals do freak out. Not all but the majority of them HATE it and want to get away.

Vet hospitals are different places. As are universities. They smell different and the animals are handled differently. Entirely differently!

As for shelters "shipping their animals" to no kill shelters. That is not true either. The No Kill shelters are hard to find and full to the brim. People send their animals to the shelter for a variety of reasons but the reasons described here are dead on accurate. I live in an area where animals run rampant because they are not spayed or neutered. They are not cared for, poorly fed and left to roam in packs.

Round here, people get purebred dogs as a status symbol and when the get tired of them they dump them on the side of the road, in the forest, in the street or just leave them in the house when they move. One of my neighbors just plain quit feeding her dog. Some of them try to give them away and others just dump them in a shelter. A couple weeks ago, I caught a guy on the property here getting ready to dump a beautiful purebred chocolate lab because he "wasn't turning out to be a good hunting dog." He was just going to drive away and leave the dog to fend for himself. (I took the dog to a friend who found him a home. )

 

[bonbean01]

Queen Mum...I applaud everyone helping at these shelters...it can't be easy

When I took my very old, and well lived dog Toby to the vet's to be put down...all his organs had shut down...I cried and prayed, yet knew this was his time. He knew the whole time I was there with him...if I moved to get another kleenex, he opened his eyes to watch me...this was after the pink juice...I stayed with him...yes...there are spasms...and yes, I knew I was doing the right thing for my dear old friend...but will never say that was easy.

 

[kstaven]

I have little doubt you folks make a difference trying to educate people. We have three dogs from shelters here.

What surprised me was seeing our third adoptee. This dog was highly aggressive/dangerous and was up for adoption. I took him on because I have worked with many aggressors in the past and after evaluating him figured I could work with him. He is sleeping on the sofa beside me as I type.