Many of you think I'm "mean.'' Here's my point of view....

[Toast n Jelly]

Quote:
Having been a rescuer I understand all too well....Burn out is the outcome for me.

 

[Missouri chick]

Saddly, the vet I used to work for is the one who goes to the shelter EVERY week to put down A LOT of animals. I had to go with him to assist a few times. VERY heartbreaking!!!!!!! I remember one time doing over 30 cats, it was horrible. People PLEASE spay or neuter your animals. Don't think that just because they are at the shelter they will be adopted. The percentage of that is LOW!! Our shelter stays overbooked with animals,,,,sometimes having to turn people away because there simply isn't room. Letting them have a litter for your enjoyment is not a good thing. I'm not one of those animal rights people, but if you have ever seen that many dead animals in a pile,,,,,,,,well............

 

[ILoveJoe]

Quote:
Amen to that!! I volunteered for a brief time at an animal shelter, a very good one. They held animals a long time and really tried to place them before euthanising them, but the excuses people gave for giving up for instance a 7 year old family dog were reprehensible.

The most common excuse is "we are moving".

I hate people sometimes too, but we have the power to change the ignorant, one fool at a time.

 

[texasgirl]

Hey texasreb (this is texasgirl from ofish, small world huh? LOL)

We have a county shelter that sounds about like yours, very high euth rates and very low adoptions rates. Just last year an amazing "low kill" opened and they are having awesome adoption rates, 30+ animals a day. They are totally vaccinated, parasite free, in good condition and highly adoptable animals there. I think it is a good thing and they get about 75% of their animals from the county shelter.
I'm considering adopting in the next year and I feel guilty when I think about adopting from the new shelter because most all of those animals will live out their life there if they aren't adopted but those at the county will probably be euthanized with no chance. But with the county animals I run the risks of illness. I adopted a kitten from the county last year and she was sick with URI and ringworm but she would have been euthanized otherwise.

I have never been a supporter of 100% NO KILL because some of those animals go crazy living in that atmosphere their whole life, it's not much of a life for those who aren't adopted to live in a concrete run for years.
I'm really torn on what to do.
What do you think someone in this situation should do?

 

[texasreb]

Nice to 'see' you over here, texasgirl!!

Adopt from where ever you find the perfect match! Go to both places several times and any other place you know of. Adopting an animal makes room for another. Period.

As bad as county run shelters are, they are better than the alternative, which is usually neglect, abuse, or abandonment. More of our animals go into other "partner" organizations than are adopted directly to the public. If another organization takes one of ours, we don't charge them a "pull fee" they can just take the animal.

We volunteers have lists of other organizations that have taken one or more of ours in the past. Whenever an animal comes in that might be interesting to another organization, we call, contact, email, etc to get them to take notice.

No-kill shelters and breed or cause specific shelters are part of the solution. They have to move (adopt) animals too. Because they have adopted a no-kill philosophy, they are generally pretty picky about the animals they pull from public shelters. They don't want to take on an unadoptable pet. The often don't accept drop-off from the public. The public shelters (county/city pound must take any animal found within the city/county limits. No exceptions. The non-profits/privates often charge more for their adoptions, but the animals are "hand selected."

Thank you for considering adoption. Again, good to see you on another forum!

 

[rooster-red]

As a former Animal Control Officer whose duties included euthanizing literally multiple thousands of animals in my time there, I for one, completely understand.

I'll leave it at that, otherwise I'd go off into a very long rant.

 

[texasreb]

Oh yeah,

I forgot to say, 100% no-kill is an ideal that isn't often met with positive results. Like you said, pets don't do well in an institutional setting. They need interaction that only a home can provide. Most no-kills are actually limited kills. They euth the elderly, sick and aggressive but save the rest.

The only successful 100% no-kill organizations I've seen are very small and consist of a network of foster homes. There is no central shelter. Fostered animals are considered to be the most "safe." They are not in danger of going crazy or being euth'ed, so they are often the last to get adopted because they already have a home of sorts. Animal turnover (adoptions) is often very slow and there are lots of "foster failures" which is good for that animal, but bad for the organization because it takes away a placement for another animal.

Animal horders often think of themselves as no-kill entities. They start out with perfect intentions, but soon become over-whelmed with animals their upkeep. The sick get sicker, the unaltered breed, etc.

 

[go-veggie]

I know a lady who goes into the ghetto in Milwaukee and brings wads of donated cash with her to buy sick, neglected or abused looking animals from people. She rescued a litter of German Shepherd puppies who were all thrown from a 2nd story window by some punk kids. The kids parents didn't think their kids did anything wrong and didn't get it that the puppies now needed medical care for possible breaks or whatever, so this lady came up with the idea to gross them out and pretend she saw worms crawling out of their bottoms and ears and whatever, and the people freaked and told her to get them out of their house. All of the puppies survived and ended up in good homes, but it cost this lady thousands in vet bills. Those poor puppies. I pray every day that all of the future lottery winners are animal lovers who use the money to rescue as many as they can. I know how depressing it is to have the suffering of these amazing creatures on your mind all the time. I have rescued so many animals in my life, but I would give anything to be able to save them all. My sister worked at the humane society in Milwaukee, WI for 2 days...all it took for her to quit was seeing "the pile" of euthanized animals-and some were still alive. She has PTSD still to this day from what she saw, although she's talked about it less and less as the years have gone by. If only we could duplicate what Best Friends has done....everywhere! They are amazing! They are a no kill sanctuary on tens of thousands of acres in UT. It has been my dream FOR YEARS to take a trip there and stay in one of their cottages for a couple weeks and volunteer. I have to wait until my kids get a little older though. They have a network all across the country to help find homes, transport animals and connect people with eachother to get animals placed. They have resources now that other shelters don't have, so they have been able to lead the rescues in the U.S. and other countries after natural disasters too. They are just a wonderful organization. Please check them out online: www.bestfriends.org
Another one I recently found is www.dogsindanger.com - they try to find homes for dogs on death row at county shelters.
I also know a lady who has been working for years her in WI to put an end to puppy mills-another issue that needs attention NOW!
I thank God for animal rescuers every day!! If only the world was filled with compassion...
Thank you for this post.

 

[hooligan]

I used to volunteer at a city shelter and worked for a humane society. The only real difference between the two was that the HS looked nicer.
At the city shelter I saw a Rottweiler get shoved in a gas chanber that was hardly big enough for a 45 lb dog much less a dog of its size...it was also forgotten for almost 2 weeks in the middle of summer in that gas chamber. 10-15 cats were put in at the same time fighting a scrambling to get out, dying a slow death bc there were too many in the chamber at one time.
At the HS I saw dogs that were struggling against the catch pole, when it came time to euthanize, get their necks stepped on bc they didn't want to deal with a struggling dog. And then at the end of the 'rounds' a hundred dogs just tossed into the dumpster.
It sickens me every time I see a 'my dog/cat/rabbit' etc just had a litter posts on here bc I know those very same animals will eventually end up in shelters, not all but some and that is too many.

 

[Emzyyy]

Not all people are like that some are, but I have ALOT of pets and I take care of all of mine and im only 15, and some people really CAN'T keep their pets. Like the lady my mom worked for had a cat for 10 or more yrs she was diagnosed w/ cancer so she had to find it a home. She did and the cat is happy, but I do agree that people are lazy and do not care w/ their animals the way they should.