Can we get along ? This blog has been reading other blogs and it doesn't look pretty in the " sphere", as Josh commented earlier, we need and want to place healthy animals. The big ones are harder to rehome and do get passed over, maybe more volunteer time would help them get trained and exposed .
Untill we all wake up in a perfect world we must learn how to function in the one we have. I personally wish we had more private shelters capable of keeping animals longer in a situation that provided for the mental and physical well being, but there is a period of time where no matter how nice the accomodations the dog or cat needs personal attention to thrive. The tolerance for lack of interaction varies from amimal to animal. A kenneled dog is a kenneled dog, I hope that isn't to complex.
I feel sorry for strictly" breeding" dogs, it is not the life I would choose for my guys, and everyone knows puppy mills are bad places. But, what about the big fancy breeder, where it is one dog to a run, food and water are not an issue, but the dogs just sit ? How does that vary from the guy who gets a lab for hunting and tosses it in the pen out back. Neither he or the dog ever set eyes on a duck. At what point does the backyard dog lose its will to go on, and just lay depressed in the corner of a very roomy kennel.
Having the dream of saving adoptable animals is a good thing, but only if we have a plan for when is " enough" because over time adoptability fades. If the facility is so hung up on numbers that it is clouded in it's vision for animal welfare, it goes from no kill to slow kill. When animals are turned away because the shelter is full, I promise you the quality of life for the in house critters goes way down. When the shelter runs at full capacity care gets the short stick, you just can't keep up with meds and mats. The quality of food deteriorates so more can be fed, and the mission gets lost.
Small shelters with limited intake have a much better chance of rehabbing the animal. I have studied 20 years worth of no kill stratagies and they all go bust in about 18 months, max ! Then you see the purge, and the guru's pop up in another city. I have 3 wonderful dogs here, I have been blessed. If I up it to 5 dogs, everything goes downhill quickly. I have dog sat for friends and with 5 dogs , there is no daily brushing, limited individual attention, and they begin to feel the pinch on their personal space. I hear the volunteer gong, but that isn't a home, it doesn't belong to the dog and the dog knows it is living in limbo. For a dog or cat that means fear.
Animals live in the moment, they're way ahead of us on that, never saw a dog with a 401 K. I have seen happy dogs living in apartments, and along the trails with the hobos . The key ingredient is being a part of the world around them. But when the animal becomes an object to be stored, it doesn't have it's place in this world, it is broken. In my personal relationships with my dogs, I have made them a promise. They don't have to prove to me they are in pain. Haven't you heard people say " Well I don't think he is hurting yet " When our old Honey bled out we rushed him to the vet, he had been vet checked 2 weeks earler as fine for his age, a bit chubby, but good. The heretofore hidden tumor was asymtomatic, but now we knew.
Our decision was that he had been a good friend for a long time, the cancer was confirmed, and we gave him up. It was so sudden we cried for month's, it was so far from anything we expected to happen to such a big healthy fella. He was so afraid of what was going on with his body that fateful night, we could never make him go through it again. So no, I don't understand someone taking a dog with cancer to the shelter, and I don't understand the shelter adopting it out. Animals trust us to take care if them, we need to grow up and do that, or deal with the fact that we can't. But putting sick dogs in a shelter system is shameful.
So if you want to open a shelter and save a few dogs, good with me, but be able to take care of the ones you are entrusted with and let me know if it works more than 18 months.......
6 comments:
Amen !! The folks supporting this stuff need to work in a shelter for at least a year. Not voluteer, WORK. Then they would get it. Being locked up is not fun.
Volunteers get it, it is the big wigs that don't see the fine print. I think we should have people sign a " will keep forever slip" right along with the euth release. Something like your dog/cat may live out its days in a 4 x 8 run, or in the hall in a small open cage with barking dogs and kids yelling. It will not be a good life after the first few weeks, but it will not be killed until it goes crazy with fear. That should give them something to think about when they sign up for a no kill dream.
No kill shelters have a lot of trouble financially, it is hard to get enough volunteers and money is tight. We should give them a break and not complain so much about health standards and crowding. When they get up and running they will be able to buy better food and keep the places cleaner.
Holy Cow Batman !!
I am not trying to be rude, but you made my point better than I could have.
Look at nature, The birds build a nest& make a family. In the wild, a den is created and then the the litter comes, we have it backwards in some areas. Get the funding, build the shelter, then get the animals . You can't declare your way into a compassionate community, slow steady slogging is the key.
Jeannie, you can't take that attitude because it can only mean suffering for the animals. If a shelter is not ready to go the full mile, then keep the doors shut. I don't understand why you would want to give them a break when animal's health and well being are at stake, just so we can say "THEY'RE ALIVE!"??? There are far worst things that can happen to animals than euthanasia. If you have the stomach, I can tell you a few.
Welcome to P and our other new friends. I sure do believe Jeanie is a caring person, but disgree with the theory. We must be able to offer a decent life if we hope to keep the animal adoptable. The mentality that allows cutting corners on animal well being is not part of any " Humane Movement"
We must go back to the fact that getting a pet is a commitment and this is not a very committed society, the answer is spay nueter, and I personally would like to see some legislation on number of animals owned. That is a good opening move. Strong financial incentive to prevent pregnacies, such as reduced fees on licensing. And finally as I have seen on this blog and others a need for honesty.
I don't think surrender counseling is any answer at all, but a frank understanding at the time of adoption would be. To have a staffer be willing to say " this predominant breed doesn't match the life style we have discussed " Many times the animal becomes unadoptable because of shelter life and being returned when they should never have gone to that home in the first place. Get the shelter up to snuff open the doors and be selective in placement. You don't want 30% of your population to be reruns.
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