Consider this before taking your pet to the shelter

Something I found out in my local Craig List, very worth to read...

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.

First off, all of you people who have ever surrendered a pet to a shelter or humane society 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 stop flagging the ads on craigslist and help these animals find homes. That puppy you just bought will most likely end up in my shelter when it's not a cute little puppy anymore. Just so you know there's a 90% chance that dog will never walk out of the shelter it's dumped at? Purebred or not! About 25% of all of the dogs that are "owner surrenders" or "strays", that come into a shelter are purebred dogs.

The most common excuses: "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 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 the shelter gets paid a fee to euthanize each animal and making money is better than spending money to take this animal to the vet.

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 shelter workers depending on the size and how freaked out they are. Then a shelter worker who we call a euthanasia tech (not a vet) 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. You see shelters are trying to make money to pay employee pay checks and don't forget the board of directors needs to be paid too, so we don't spend our funds to tranquilize the animal before injecting them with the lethal drug, we just put the burning lethal drug in the vein and let them suffer until dead. If it were not a "making money issue" and we had to have a licensed vet do this procedure, the animal would be sedated or tranquilized and then euthanized, but to do this procedure correctly would cost more money so we do not follow what is right for the animal, we just follow what is the fastest way we can make a dollar. Shelters do not have to have a vet perform their euthanasia's so even if it takes our employee 50 pokes with a needle and 3 hours to get the vein that is what we do. Making money is the issue here not loosing money.

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? Or used for the schools to dissect and experiment on? 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 this everyday. I hate my job, I hate that it exists & I hate that it will always be there unless you people make some changes and start educating the public. Do research, do your homework, and know exactly what you are getting into before getting a pet. These shelters and humane societies exist because people just do not care about animals anymore. Animals were not intended to be disposable but somehow that is what they are these days. Animal shelters are an easy way out when you get tired of your dog (or cat), and breeders are the ones blamed for this. Animal shelters and rescue organizations are making a hefty profit by keeping this misconception going.

Between 9 and 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters and only you can stop it.

I just hope I maybe changed one persons mind about taking their dog to a shelter, a humane society, or buying a dog. For those of you that care--- please repost this to at least one other craiglist in another city/state. Let's see if we can get this all around the US and have an impact.

I love my no-kill shelters.

But that did bring a tear to my eye. How people can be cruel to dogs and cats just baffles me.



This documentary discuses this. Along with all the different types of animal abuse.

I found a link to watch the entire movie on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHA4HNbmDLg&feature=related

You guys should really read these books. Food for thought as to how shelters and rescues are run.
http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?page_id=164

All week, I've just been reading awful stories everywhere. It's horrifying, I don't want to know anymore, but things like these really make me despise humanity.

And zaza, I know we have no kill shelters, but when I did some research a few months ago, I found out that the animals stil get put down around here.

GlassOnion wrote:

And zaza, I know we have no kill shelters, but when I did some research a few months ago, I found out that the animals stil get put down around here.

"no kill" generally still means they put down animals to relieve "suffering" or deem "unadoptable". "Suffering" can be something minor like an eye infection. "unadoptable" can be a temperament test that's pretty much impossible for a dog to pass - This was a huge scandal with our local humane society last year.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/sep/20/humane-society-critics-seek-more-adoptions/
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/oct/20/pet-tests-cause-shelter-rift/

On all over the word is the same. People are forced to believe, that we're now so humanitarian, that nothing like that happened. There is no money to cover food and medical expenses for every animal, so another solution is to put to sleep "overpopulated" animals.
And by overpopulated I mean, just unlucky to have care-taker, who wanted no messy alive toys, statues

My absolute BIGGEST gripe with "rescues" is that they go to the pound and take mostly the cute puppies and little dogs (the ones that won't have any problems getting adopted) and then adopt them out for several HUNDRED dollars. Whereas if you go to the pound (here in San Diego, at least) you can get a puppy for $69 - spayed/neutered, microchipped, vaccinated.

A few years ago I was at the pound looking for another dog. I was noticing all they had were ugly larger dogs, including this one really high strung shep mix. Then I saw a truck full of the cute little dogs and puppies in the parking lot. I approached the guy and he said he was from some "rescue" and these puppies and cute little dogs now belong to the rescue and that I could adopt from them. I asked him what their adoption fee was - it was almost $300. I told him I was ready to adopt one at that moment and to let me have one for the pound price (we're in the pound parking lot). He said no. I asked him why he didn't take the shep mix that was really distressed (the least likely dog to get adopted there). He told me the dog looked like it had problems and they didn't want to deal with it.

I WAS LIVID.

Sorry, but I have a very bad view of "rescues" for these reasons.

Oh goodness! I just couldn't picture Gideon & Fynn being anywhere but a home.

I have moved with really weird animals - back in the day when I rented. I've had no problems finding places that I could bring my Bearded Dragon, Chinchillas, and birds. I'm sure these family members freak some people out, but I moved a lot when I was in the GTA, with the family in tow. I dislike the "I can't bring my pet with me" because I never found it difficult.

I feel awful enough that while we're selling our house (it sold a week and a half ago - but it was much easier to keep the house showcased) and looking for a new house (we're moving back to the city from the country), that the dogs and cat have been at my in laws, where they're loved and WELL cared for. Every time we leave though, Gideon has his tail between his legs as he knows we won't be back for a few days. I end up leaving with tears in my eyes it's so sad.

I just couldn't fathom leaving them in a shelter. Period. Not an option.

I had a friend who bought a Pomeranian as a puppy. She didn't train it, and always left it in its SMALL crate because the dog peed and pooped inside (she didn't potty train it). The dog came to the point where it just growled and tried to bite people from its kennel. It bit her fiancee one time too many, and they dropped it off at the shelter. THEN she got a Great Dane and a Golden Retriever. I was supposed to be in her wedding party and didn't find all this out until I went to go visit her (2.5 hours away). THESE dogs were also always in their barely big enough kennels. Needless to say I dropped out of the wedding and called the Animal Control for a review of their living conditions. Goodness if they didn't want a Pomeranian biting them, let alone larger pups.

Enough morning Rant. Time for coffee!

People really make me very sad sometimes.



Also, the moving excuse is BS. If you look long and hard, there are a great deal of places that will allow pets, even if for a fee. If you're buying a house, you can pretty much do what you want within city ordinances.

I think it is a very similar situation here in Australia. People just dont think things through. Oh a cute puppy/kitten/rabbit or whatever. There are even ads for free pets, a deal too good to pass on?? (I say that sarcastically cos we know how it will end up). A few months later, the animal is a hindrance (wont call it a pet cos only those who love and care for their animals can call them "pets") The animals are then dumped/surrendered to the pounds without any thought by the owners of the animals future. So sad.

We do have a low incidence of bird surrenders tho, dont know why. But I live in Victoria and apparantly in this state, birds are NOT allowed to be rehomed thro the shelters. If any are surrendered, they are euthanised immediately and I dont know or understand why. Its not the same for all states of Australia tho with bird rehoming.

Too many people treat animals as a commodity and a throw away article. I think laws need to change regarding pet ownership, I am only talking Aust here, cos I have never been to the States and dont know how your system works.

That article made me feel sick to the stomach, maybe cos I am not able to "dump" any animal at a shelter. My belief is "I took it on, I care for it and take responsibility for it"

patdbunny wrote:

... Then I saw a truck full of the cute little dogs and puppies in the parking lot. I approached the guy and he said he was from some "rescue" and these puppies and cute little dogs now belong to the rescue and that I could adopt from them. I asked him what their adoption fee was - it was almost $300.

Yikes. That kind of scenario never occurred to me. I do understand that no-kill rescues have expenses they need to defray but this is just crass.

OTOH, I'm not sure the OP here was really written by a shelter worker as portrayed. I know people who work at "kill" shelters and who are dedicated to animal welfare. Although euthanasia is a terrible necessary evil, I don't believe the conditions are as inhumane as depicted... however, I've been unable to verify that either way. Maybe it really is a shelter manager, but if you've ever been present when a pet is put down, the "gasping for air" is what is called an "agonal gasp" and it is the result of the air equalizing when the diaphragm relaxes in death. Likewise urininating and defecating. Not pretty, but not a sign of suffering either rather a symptom of death. I think the article was written to scare people, not to provide an accurate picture of a sad truth. I'd rather people take unwanted pets to a shelter rather than dump them on the street to fend for themselves, so I'm not entirely in favor of the kind of propaganda that is likely to make a person more likely to take an unwanted pet out in the woods and turn it loose rather than take it to a shelter or rescue. MHO FWIW.

I would never personally rehome an animal lightly, but there are legitimate reasons for doing so. Some more compelling than others, but moving overseas is one case where it gets very complicated, for example.

ScooterNScotty wrote:

patdbunny wrote:

... Then I saw a truck full of the cute little dogs and puppies in the parking lot. I approached the guy and he said he was from some "rescue" and these puppies and cute little dogs now belong to the rescue and that I could adopt from them. I asked him what their adoption fee was - it was almost $300.

Yikes. That kind of scenario never occurred to me. I do understand that no-kill rescues have expenses they need to defray but this is just crass.

My vet used to do vet care for some rescues for free or very very low cost. He was pretty upset by the rehoming fees when their vet fees were minimal so he no longer does it for cheap for rescues.

ScooterNScotty wrote:

I'd rather people take unwanted pets to a shelter rather than dump them on the street to fend for themselves, so I'm not entirely in favor of the kind of propaganda that is likely to make a person more likely to take an unwanted pet out in the woods and turn it loose rather than take it to a shelter or rescue. MHO FWIW.

I know someone who set their netherland dwarf bunny loose in a field when they go tired of the bunny. Bet that bunny survived 24 hours - NOT!!

I can honestly say our rescue is definitely "no kill". If anything, some of the birds we get have a better life in our hands than they ever did. We give therm fresh fruits and veg daily and we don't give them crap dry food. They get toys, clean cages and numerous trips to the vet if needed. We've never put down any of our rescues and we don't sell what we have. We do charge adoption fees based on the size of the bird and/or part of the expense if they were a special case (multiple trips to the vet come to mind) but I've never seen any of our adoption fees go beyond $500 (and that was for a macaw hybrid in perfect condition that would have cost them more than $2000 to buy). Our policy has always been that if you can't afford the fee, we'll work with you because we'd rather one of our birds had a wonderful, loving home than withhold that chance because the owner can't afford it. (On the flip side, if an adopter cannot afford a low fee like $100, we usually deny the adoption because if they can't afford $100, they certainly won't be able to afford to properly care for a bird)

I have to watch some of your videos, but I'm in relatively good mood and down want to end my day on a downer. Maybe some other night.... but thanks for bringing this to light. Its one of our peeves as well.