Hi, I didnt write this, but think its so important to share. Of course it does not represent all shelters or breeders, but it does represent an awful lot of of them. Please share! Letter From a Shelter Manager; 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 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 dont even know. The puppy you just sold will most likely end up in my shelter when its not a cute little puppy anymore. So how would you feel if you knew theres about a 90% chance that your dog is never going to walk out of the shelter its going to be dumped at? Purebred or not. About fifty percent of all dogs that are owner surrenders or strays that come into my shelter are purebreds. The most common excuses I hear, are: Were moving and we cant take our dog (or cat). Really? Where are you moving to that doesnt allow pets and why did you choose that place instead of a pet friendly home? Or they say, The dog got bigger than we thought it would. How big did you think a German Shepherd would get? We dont have time for her. Really? I work a ten- to-twelve hour day and still have time for my six dogs! Shes tearing up our yard! How about making her a part of your family? We would but shes too rambunctious to be in the house. Did you ever consider training classes? They always tell me, We just dont want to stress about finding a place for her, or We know hell get adopted, or Shes a good dog. Odds are that your pet wont get adopted. It will be killed. Your pet has seventy-two hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off. Sometimes a little longer if the shelter isnt full and if your dog manages to stay completely healthy. If it sniffles, it dies. Do you know how stressful it is to be in a shelter? Well, let me tell you. Your pet will be confined to a small wire cage or cement kennel in a room with about twenty-five other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. If your pet is lucky I will have enough volunteers on that day to take him/her for a walk. If I dont, your pet wont get any attention other than 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 dont get adopted. It doesnt matter how cute, sweet or well-behaved they are. If your dog doesnt get adopted within seventy-two hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed. If the shelter isnt full and your dog is considered good enough, it may get a stay if execution, but not for long. Most dogs get very kennel protective after about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression. Or they become so starved for attention, and if someone does consider adopting, your dog will be hyper and jump and not show well, and will be seem to be too ill behaved to be adopted. Even the sweetest, well- trained dogs will turn in this environment. If your pet makes it over all those hurdles, chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed, because shelters just dont have the funds or motivation to pay for treatment. Now heres a little Euthanasia 101 for those of you who have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being put down. First, they will be taken from their kennel on a leash. They always look like they think theyre 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 and fear or they can feel the sad souls left in there, I dont know. Its strange, but it happens to everyone of them. Your dog or cat will be restrained, held down by one or two vet techs depending on the size and how freaked out and terrified 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 doesnt panic from being restrained and jerk. Ive seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered in the resulting blood and been deafened by the yelps and screams. They all dont just go to sleep. Sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air, and defecate on themselves. When it ends, your pets corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer in the back with all the other animals that were killed that day, waiting to be picked up like garbage. What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet food? Youll never know and it probably wont even cross your mind, because you had to move, he dug up the yard, he got too big. I hope that those of you who have read this are bawling your eyes out and cant get the pictures out of your head that I deal with every day on my way home from work. I hate my job, I hate that it exists, and I hate that it will always be there unless you people make some changes and realize that the lives you are affecting go much further than the pets you dump at the shelter. Between four and five MILLION animals die every year in shelters, and only you can stop it. I do my best to save every life I can, but shelters are always full, and there are more animals coming in every day than there are homes. My point to all of this is PlEASE DONT 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 someone will walk into my shelter and say I saw this and it made me want to adopt, or donate, or volunteer. That would make it worth it. Please dont breed or buy while shelter animals die. Please spay/neuter to save lives and adopt from a rescue or animal shelter. Thank you. outofthedoghousedenver
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 04:38:52 +0000