A Letter From A Shelter Manager

This was not written by me. This letter was written by a shelter manager. It tells the realities of life in an animal shelter. It has been going around facebook and the Internet for a couple of years now. But I felt it was well worth sharing with all of you. This is the reality of what happens each and every day in this country. Thousands upon thousands of animals are euthanized every day, Please do everything humanly possible and explore every last option prior to turning your pet in to an animal shelter.

"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 every day 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 maybe I 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 on Facebook and it made me want to adopt". Author unknown

That would make it all worth it." please share

Don't Let Your Dog Become A Bait Dog

 

I’ve given quite a bit of thought to whether or not this blog entry should be posted. IN the end I decided that it should be posted because people need to know what’s going on. I’m sure everyone’s knows by now how much I dislike Michael Vick. If you ask me why, this is the reason! But sadly, Michael Vick is not the only dog fighter out there, just one of the more famous ones. There are many more just like him or worse. 

This is also what might happen to YOUR pet if you give it away free on Craigslist. If you must re-home your pet, contact a genuine rescue that can help your pet find a good home, or research the people who are interested in adopt it. Ask for a small re-homing fee. Do a home visit. Ask for follow up visits. Remember, their happiness and health is YOUR RESPONSIBILTY.

Humans use punching bags to train for fights. Except we all know that dogs don't punch, they bite and tear. Dog fighters use bait dogs to let their fighting dogs practice mutilating another dog, without being harmed in the process. To prevent their dogs from being hurt, they will either use duct tape to tape the bait dog's mouth shut, or break out their teeth so the bait dog can't fight back. They will also either put them in a pit, or tie them to a tree or pole, so they can't get away from the fighting dogs. And it is dogs, not just one dog. They will generally unleash several dogs on one bait dog at the same time. It makes the fighting dogs more aggressive, since there is competition.

This is one of the most horrific forms of animal abuse there is. With the many forms of abuse, using bait dogs is right up there at the top. The majority of bait dogs do not survive. They suffer horrible deaths, spending their last moments in excruciating pain and scared to death. Those who do survive are maimed and scarred for life, both physically and emotionally. It has to be the saddest thing you'll ever see, looking into the soul of a dog who has just been rendered helpless and defenseless, and mutilated by his own kind, at the hand of a human. Some of these dogs do make amazing recoveries and are able to transition into a somewhat normal life.

A bait dog can be any dog. It could be YOUR dog. Although dog fighters prefer to use non-aggressive or submissive Pit Bulls, they will easily use anything they can get for free. When they get Pits who won't fight, or don't fight well, they use them for bait dogs. They are well known for stealing other people's pet Bullies as well. They will take them right out of your yard or fence if they can. But, they will also take any other dog they can get their hands on. When it comes down to it, they need fur, flesh, blood and meat to replicate a dog fight, so anything with all of that is fair game.

I believe if people really knew what was going on out there, so many more would stand up and do something to end this. It’s the job of those who know to educate those who don’t and to get them to open their eyes. It’s the job of those who know to wake up those who don’t, to get their heads out of the sand and to make a difference and change things. This has got to be stopped. Those who do this must be punished and punished harshly for their actions, not slapped on the wrist, as was Vick. We are the only hope and protection these abused animals have against human monsters. It is our responsibility to stand up for them, and fight back against these abusers.