Letter from the Manager of a Shelter.

[lovethatgrey]

I am cross posting this letter from another forum. Definitely something to know about imho.

This is a very realistic letter written by one very frustrated shelter manager who wanted to get the word out... sad but true. Just food for thought. I don't want to start a debate or heated discussion about this topic. It was posted on the discussion group for the bird rescue I volunteer with because although it's mainly dogs and cats that end up it can also happen to birds and other pets:

 

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 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.

 

For those of you that care--- please repost this to at least one other list in another city/state. Let's see if we can get this all around the US and have an impact.

[Birdnut]

Yeah. I've been there. That letter really brings back memories. Used to work as a vet tech and got much of my training in the environment of a shelter. This letter doesn't exaggerate at all. In fact, it doesn't scratch the surface.

 

Sounds like this person works at one of the "good" shelters that uses the more "humane" method of injection for euthanasia. The shelter I trained at used the gas chamber: slower, more terrifying, more painful, and some of the animals weren't quite dead yet when they were tossed into the furnace. We used to feel like it was the lucky ones that we got to put down with the injection. At least they got some hugs and cuddles and praise and cradled in someone's arms as they went to sleep. That's how we reassured ourselves, anyway.

 

And then there were the dogs that were appropriately sized (similar to a human child) that were used for training doctors in new surgical techniques and equipment. We students got the job of holding them under anesthesia at the right level and keeping them alive for as long as possible while various organs were dissected or removed.

 

All of us ended up with yards full of dogs and cats as we counted down the days remaining for each poor creature, until we couldn't stand it any more.

 

If the shelter got too full, it would close. No problem; people who found the shelter closed just threw their pets over the fences.

 

Yeah. I've been there. (Sure did look forward to zoo days, on Friday, when we got to meet at the zoo classroom instead of the shelter.)

Edited July 16, 2010 by Birdnut

[judygram]

This letter you shared with us is quite an eye opener to say the least but yes I am aware this goes on every day of our lives and we have no one to blame but ourselves. I know I have had my cats and dogs spayed or neutered to keep them from breeding and if everyone would do that then we would have far less animals to have to put to sleep because no one wants them.

This is so sad but so true and who can read that letter and not have tears streaming down their cheeks.

[Georgiesmum]

This is so awful The poor innocent dogs! makes me feel sick!

[danmcq]

Thanks for posting this. We rescue Dobermans and this is very close to our hearts. It is very sad and this happens thousands of times everyday.

 

I wish we had a ranch that every sad eyed dog we see in the shelter could be taken and let loose on.

 

I will say though, that rather than holding breeders responsible, it should be the irresponsible owners that should have very strong restrictions and fines placed upon for taking a dog and then giving it up at the slightest upset or change in life circumstances. Why is "Get rid of the Dog" always such as whimsical easy decision for these people? They know when they drop that dog off, it is a death sentence in a matter of days if that dog is not picked up by someone in short order.

 

I feel so sorry for these dogs. We picked up a Doberman from a shelter a little over a year ago. She was such a sweet thing and happy to be "Out". Her name given was "Shimmer". Once we got her home, introduced her to the pack and let her sniff around, we found she was VERY sick. We took her to the vet first thing the next morning only to find she had advanced distemper, kidneys had failed and she was in severe pain.

 

Much to our dismay, he advised putting her to sleep, as she was so sick and in so much pain. We wept over that poor creature only known to us for 24 hours and said good bye as she was passing over the rainbow bridge. I don't know how we had so much love for her in such a short amount of time, but at least she felt that love while with us for just a day and then it was time to go to a place of no more pain and sadness.......

[quilter43]

That darn letter has been circulating for quite a while now. I see it on Craig's List all the time. The people who post it think it is the first time anyone has seen it!

[Luvparrots]

This is very sad, I like the policy that our local animal shelters have, if you adopt a dog/cat you must have it spayed or neutered. You must sign a contract to do so. I don't know how many people keep their word, I know I did when I adopted a beautiful German shepherd and my daughter's family did when they adopted a wonderful rottweiler mix.

Edited July 16, 2010 by luvparrots

[judygram]

That darn letter has been circulating for quite a while now. I see it on Craig's List all the time. The people who post it think it is the first time anyone has seen it!

 

Well it makes lots of sense and stands to be read over and over for the message is clear.

Our shelters here are the same Janet, you have to agree to spay or neuter the animal you adopt.

[Guest jamalbirdbiz]

same stuff applyies to bird shelters. very sad fur shure.

 

itz kind of sad when people are in denial about birds. like birds dont matter. well theys do matter and we all know that on this bored. we needs to get the other people to know it 2.

Edited July 19, 2010 by jamalbirdbiz

[DrTak]

I agree this letter describes horrible things. But I bet most people who read it and are moved by it are folks who would never abandon their animals. The people that do are unaffected by such stuff, it is preaching to the choir.

 

I guess I resent being told that by buying a puppy, and caring for it well, that I am somehow a monster for not getting a dog off death row. My last two dogs were rescues. I loved them dearly, but they always had "issues" that may have gotten better, but never disappeared. (freaking out at the sight of grey haired ladies and such) My current dog I got at 8 weeks old (he is 2) and he is a relaxed and confident fellow who is just utterly reliable and sweet. It comes from having him since he was a pup, I believe. I have trouble believing the letter writer's stat that 90% of purebred puppies end up in shelters. I think 85% of statistics like that are made up on the spot.

 

That said, I think education about pet needs is the most important thing. I bet many Grey owners are shocked at what their bird is really like -- it just seemed like a cute and amusing toy that they could show off to their friends. People do the same things with everything from Siamese cats to Labradoodles. Rather than sharing stories of gloom and doom, educating people about the commitment of pet ownership would seem to possibly yield some results.

 

Ultimately, animal cruelty, child abuse and neglect, wife beating and such will always exist. That doesn't make every pet owner, parent or husband a contributer to evil.

[Birdnut]

DrTak makes some good points. I spent a lot of time at a big city animal shelter as a student vet tech, and I also question the 90% purebred puppies figure. I also know that many of the adult dogs at the shelter had severe behavior issues and would sometimes show up again and again, as people were charmed by the dog and then got them home and discovered that they couldn't manage the problems.

 

The problem is not that prospective pet owners go and seek a companion they want to share their life with and obtain it from a responsible breeder or retailer, or even from a neighbor's backyard. With dogs and cats, the problem is overpopulation. With parrots, the problem, as DrTak points out, is false expectations, lack of knowledge, and lack of commitment. But even with the most loving and responsible of pet owners, stuff can happen: death, illness, and other disasters that life throws their way. There will always be sad situations. The best we can do is keep our hearts open ... to the pets and to the human beings who are doing the best they can at the moment.

 

(So sorry if this was preachy. Just my thoughts at the moment.)

[judygram]

(So sorry if this was preachy. Just my thoughts at the moment.)

 

Best darn sermon I have heard in a long time, thanks.