[jaded2nite]

An Open Letter From A Shelter Manager - *Price: Free *


First off, all of you breeders/sellers should be made to work in the "back" of an animal shelter for just one day. 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. So 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.

The most common excuses I hear are; "We are moving and we can't take our dog (or cat)." Really? Where are you moving too that doesn't allow pets? Or they say "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 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 & how stressful do you think being in a shelter is? Well, let me tell you, 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 in 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, rottie, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door. Those dogs just don't get adopted. It doesn't matter how 'sweet' or 'well behaved' they are.

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, but not for long . Most dogs 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.

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. Until they get to "The Room", every one of them freaks out and puts on the brakes 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 the size and how freaked out they are. Then a euthanasia tech or a vet will start the process. They will 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. 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 pets 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?

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 deal with everyday on the way home
from work. I hate my job, I hate that it exists & I hate that it will always be there unless you 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 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 persons 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 and it made me want to adopt". THAT WOULD
MAKE IT WORTH IT

[Alffe]

Dottie it was hard to push the thanks button after reading that but people need to be educated about what really happens.
.

[Curious]

Maybe I see it differently...that this letter should also be addressed to all pet owners who don't get their dogs spayed or neuterted.

If it's a 50/50 on which animals end up in shelter, then all who plan on owning a pet should spend a day or a week as a volunteer before being allowed to adopt or buy a pet.

I also don't think all breeders are irresponsible.

[redtail]

I did one day in a dog shelter when I lived in Perth. Just as I was about to leave at the end of a long sad day, the lady in charge asked me to sit with a new dog. She handed me a tablet, saying "its a sedative, to calm her down".

This gorgeous boxer dog was so very young, not a puppy, but young. When I sat down she climbed into my lap, looking up at me in total confusion, I was heartbroken. As I pushed the tablet down her throaght, she didn't even flinch. I just sat and help her, whispering into her ears. I've never forgotten that even 18 years later.

I have worked at a vets and helped put down old sick dogs and cats, this is usually very peaceful. I've also helped put down unwanted pets, and thats totally different, you can almost see there eyes saying "what have I done". Yes I agree with almost everything this letter says. Some breeders are responsible, where my sister got her Ridgeback, they make sure they have homes for puppies, people have to come several times to their house while the puppies are there, and they keep in touch afterwards. They are also very involved in the local Ridgeback rescue, they are great dog people, and there dogs are thier family, and when we visit, the dogs have the run of the house, and are all well loved and cared for.

[karousel]

That letter should also apply to all pets, no matter how big or small, and everyone should have to read it before getting a pet. I couldn't read it all the way to the end, it just broke my heart.

When my daughter wanted a guinea pig we did research and in the end found out the guinea pig was easier to care for than we thought. He is happy, healthy and very loved. Yet another family we knew just bought one without any thought. Sure enough after a few months, they had to try to find it a new home because it was too much work and the kid didn't take care of it. I could never bring myself to ask them what happened because it would hurt so bad if they said they had to drop it off at a shelter knowing it would probably never find a new home to love it.

It is so sad when people get a pet only to not care and love it and just get rid of it because it just doesn't fit their lives anymore.

[Doody]

Yes, in a perfect world ((Dottie)). I understand the breeders who are doing it for the love of it. But they're also doing it for the money because I don't think they give them away.

There are lots of animals out there needing homes.

Yes, it's very hard to read, people don't wanna, and I understand that too. But, there are people who literally devote their lives to saving animals. My hat is off to those people for having the guts and wherewithal to go to deplorable places and see firsthand the tragic lives so many pets are living. For most people, it's too painful for them to even consider thinking about it.

Like they said on Westminster last night...know your breeder!

The people who do this for a living or on a volunteer basis, like the HUA people, well...I think there are more angels walking this earth than we think! At the very least, their higher consciousness is very 'in tune'.

You know, once (somewhere in the last 10 years) I took a cat to the pound. Actually, I had gotten to know Sammy, he kept coming to my house. He was a beautiful black cat. Didn't belong to anyone. I just figured, well hey....the shelter will adopt him out, it's better than him being on his own.

I balled like a baby all night long!!!! I felt terrible! Went down there the very next day and paid to get him back.
.
He eventually ended up dying by a driver on a gravel road...because I was much too stupid and let him out of the house.

[CrystalSword]

We have two dogs and they are both "fixed", microchipped, up to date on shots, and we got them as babies....Munchie was 7 weeks and Bearbear was 10 weeks, but they are brother and sister and I wanted no puppies. I really didn't want a male and female, I'd have preferred two females....but Bearbear stole my heart. They'll be 2 1/2 years old on the first of March.

Bearbear was hurt in a freak accident and broke his leg, we're still dealing with that...he still may lose it....and we've spent over $2500 on his care, which we really can't afford, but he's a member of our family. I would die if I
couldn't wake to his bubbly personality and wagging tail. He's healthy except for the leg.

Both dogs are trained as hearing assist dogs and go everyplace with us. Its like getting a child ready to go someplace, you make sure they potty, strap them into their seat in the back seat of the vehicle (in this case, ours travel in crates for safety), you strap the small ones into a stroller or the child seat of a shopping cart, ours are strapped into their own stroller, they can't jump out, or fall out...they are safe.

These dogs have a home here, for the rest of their lives....even after they are too old to "work"....and I hope that I am holding them when they draw their last breath...in the comfort of our own home....but they won't be allowed to suffer, the right thing will be done when the time comes....I will do everything in my power to make sure another accident doesn't happen, but they are like human children...kids go out and get hurt, you can't bundle them in bubble wrap and keep them from experiencing the world, but I will do my best.

[braingonebad]

Thank you, Jaded. I agree, that all people should READ that before getting any pet.

They should know what they're taking on before falling in love with some animal. I know who I am, I fall in love in 2 seconds with any little creature. But I also know I'm in it till the end - no matter what.

My dogs are all adopted. When we walk, every person who will ask about them, I'll tell their stories. So many other people have found their pet through adoption because we speak up about ours. My SIL got me started on petfinder, and I'm sold. She just adopted again, and strangely, her new BFF looks just like mine, the one in my avatar!


CS - I hear you, spending the money on your dog. I once sold my diamond earrings to pay my dog's vet bills. TG I have 2 more, plus a german doll if anything comes up, lol.

[Snoopy]

Although I agree with some of the post I also believe there are some areas that are incorrect depending on the shelter, at least in my opinion.

I have been working for an animal shelter for several months. Our dogs/puppies and cats/kittens are not put down after 72 hours. In fact we have approximately 350 cat/kittens and another 120 in foster homes. Even though there is over crowding the shelter has made space for these animals. Some animals have been at the shelter for months. They not only have dog walkers but a treadmill specificlly for those dogs who need more exercise.

Rescue groups are called when a purebred has come in. They take animals off sight to local petsmart stores to try and adopt them - this past weekend 21 dogs were adopted.

Do the animals get sick? Yes. Do they get put down because they are sick? NO, they are given meds. Bully breeds are not put down they are available for adoption with an approved application and home visit to make sure the dog is not used for fighting.

Each animal that leaves the shelter is spayed/neutered, microchipped and given their rabies shot.

When an animal is put down it is done as humanely as when your vet does it.

The over population lies squarely on humans.

[kycountrymom]

I've read that letter before and it always makes me cry. We have 5 dogs, 4 dachshunds & one dachshund/min pin mix. One (our first) was actually purchased from a reputable breeder as I had planned on showing. The others are either rescues from the local 7-day shelter or other people's "throw-aways" found elsewhere because they had some sort of issue. One has a skin allergy & has to be kept on special food, one wouldn't house train, and my personal favorite "she's not cute anymore like she was as a puppy".
.


Our dogs are members of our family, ther oldest is 6 years, youngest is around 1 year old. They keep my husband's spirits up and can make him laugh even on his worst days, they're my buddies when I work outside. I can't imagine getting rid of them no matter what...and Lord knows there are days when they put that theory to test LOL. Even after destroyed mini-blinds, devoured football cleats and peed-on carpet they're still here & going strong.