Usually when I hang out in front of the tree, my head is filled with dancing milkbones. I count my blessings and hope for more; but this year has a somber feel. I can't stop thinking about the trickle down effect this whole recession has on the spiritual and emotional side of life. I'm not seeing much to get my ears up about. I know my own good fortune, I have lived all my life in one home, have only gone to one vet, never been an only dog and have a "stay at home" Mom.The last 3 years have been hard for me at times, a crutiate repair went well, Uncle Doug did a bang up job on that, but my reaction to the anethesia was not good. I lost my tear ducts and my salivary glands; I've also developed some pretty strange immune disorders. My Mom calls me a " walking pathology" I'll be 9 this March and I am starting to feel the years. I have lived beyond all my siblings, so the immune problems were genetic. I am worried now about all the pets that won't get needed care. I take about $250 a month just for stuff to keep me comfy and give me a pain free life. How are the animals in shelters getting treatment, and are they ? Some well meaning person told Mom the other day she was going to have to take her dog to NHS she couldn't afford the Rimadyl. I bet they don't give it there either, as more people surrender pets and they ( NHS ) cling to the idea of only keeping them alive at any cost, I wish they understood the true cost. What we are doing to these poor animals is inhumane. HSUS says wait til after the Holidays to adopt, and I agree......... The only thing meaner than keeping an animal caged for your personal agenda, is taking one home you can't care for. Because it will keep getting recycled.
Mom looks at me and cries sometimes, I know more than they think, and it is not good. We are thinking about writing to Maddies fund, there must be someplace to get help for a dog who has a great quality of life, yet could be put down because, without the medicene the eye pain is unbearable. That's what the vet told Ma the last time...Unbearable.
Pictured is Oreo in front of the Tree, eyes wide open and feeling good......
22 comments:
How would you get the medical records from a private agency? I don't think the animals are given tratment, I just cannot get any information about people who have walked them up to the clinic for care. I think they get altered and that is it. They go out with the same problems they were brought in with. They still have that pitbull, it had been there a year when they did the surgery for hips or ligaments, and the dog is still sitting there, un adopted. Not good use of funding, why can't donors see that ? Maybe they will. This horrible crisis will force better choices.
Many times I have thought about the same things, especially the ability to render medical care. Look at CraigsList sometimes and see the people begging for help for their pet. I know it sounds cruel but don't get a pet unless you are able to give proper vet care and maintenance. I had a fund to help low income senior citizens pay for medical care for their pets. I know that many don't get care and actually suffer because seniors are on limited incomes. YET NKE INSISTS ON PROGRAMS SUCH AS SENIORS FOR SENIORS. Like senior citizens have the money to provide care for senior pets. Stupid, stupid program. And does NKE realize that senior citizens go into the hospital, who takes care of their pet? Senior citizens die and who takes care of their pet? I have no problem with pets for seniors and in fact, think all seniors should have pets, it makes a better quality life for them. But to push off pets with problems onto senior citizens is ethically and morally wrong. This is what NKE does.
And Philly did release how little they spent on vet care. People in Philly were surprised at how little was spent considering the PACCA flu. And look at Lied and how they let the animals suffer. And the newspaper quoted staff as saying they didn't know the animals were sick. How can you not know? Because NKE "gets rid of" the experienced people who could see the animals were sick and hires inexperienced people who don't know.
Yes, my friend, we are in for hard times, our pets are in for hard times, and the shelter animals are in for even worse times. Hopefully, cities won't be so stupid as to spend what little money they have to hire the likes of Winograd. This crisis may be just the thing to stop him.
This is a bad time of year to be trying to bring a new dog into your life. No holiday adoptions unless there is one person who can stay home. Adoptions are hard anyway and during the stress of shopping and trees and no time for training, I think it is a bad idea. Keep plugging away Oreo, life would be boring without your goofy ears.
If I have a dog available during the holidays I will place it. But I double check everything, especially the reason behind the adoption at that time of year. When handling adult dogs it is urgent to let the new owner know this may be a puppy in a grown up body. That some of these dogs while beautiful to look at, have no living skills. I cannot give them a life time of experience in a couple of months. So presents on the floor and balls on a tree can fly if the dog is rowdy. Many of the middle-aged girls I rescue have known only puppies and kennels. To put them alone in a house, just because they are full grown is irresponsible, it will take time. The no kill movement has done disservice to the animal community by insisiting on adopting out animals that are not ready and may never be.
Hi Honesty, I agree with you about people not getting pets they can't afford. But, what we are seeing now is a lot of people who could afford the pet when they got it. I know we couldn't afford what Oreo has evolved into. I don't see how anyone could anticipate that. My wife and I were talking about the post where Oreo mentions nice and adoptable are not the same. Is anything happening with the records request ? I don't want to butt in, but we all would like to see some changes made and I think that may force some honesty, which is way overdue in no kill.
Merry Christmas from Digger and Dozer. They are doing well on Eukanuba and the skin condition is completely gone. I know that Pedigree they feed at the shelter is garbage. The county feed is better I hear. Would there be any point in buying some decent dog food for the NHS dogs, or would that just give them the trots ? They are asking for food to give away, I would like to see them feed their own dogs decently. Lack of proper nourishment causes many emotional and health problems. Our dogs did a big turn around with the trainer and a decent diet.
Has Oreo thought about setting up a fund to help with her treatment ? I know we would make a donation if we knew where. She gives so much and if we lose her before her time it would be a tragedy.
Thanks Jeannie,
Oreo writes this to help others and she never wants to cloud her purpose. We only mentioned it now to make everyone aware that this is affecting people you wouldn't ever dream of. Like many people, perhaps some who visit here, our days at work have been cut. With a seriously reduced income and rising cost of living, it is hard on many families. Sometimes
( like with Oreo ) if the company closes its doors, Oreo is not adoptable. We need to support the people faced with these awful facts. Quit pretending there is a home for every dog or cat.. some are going to live or die, based on money. That hurts.
My thoughts on the holiday live animal gift are negative. If you want a pet, it doesn't matter what time of year the need arises. To select Christmas as a time to get a new animal is crazy. You are running all over the house is full of activity...bad timing and the impulse is what bad shelters count on. I used to envy Maddies Fund, today I think it is misguided in the way it is being manipulated. By rewarding bad policies the fund becomes part of the probem. Nobody in their right mind believes old dogs and old people are a good match. And to encourage the adoption of lame or infirm animals is unfair to the animal. I love when I read the sucess stories, you read about the honeymoon period and a few months down the road, nothing. I also the the bell ringing crap when a pet gets adopted, do the ring a bell when it comes back ? Adopting an animal should be for companionship, and life. It isn't, or shouldn't be like half time at a football game. I was reading Winograds blog on his workshops, he only addresses cats and dogs. What about wildlife? Do small mamals count ? Where are the hordes of people lining up to get the vicous pitbull that just needs a few month rehab ? He is getting further from reality eveery day.
Seasons Greeting from " Mate & family" Unlike many here, I do still go to NHS somebody has to keep an eye on things and since I don't know anybody with a restraining order, everybody is safe. The choir thing was lame in my opinion, just a few of the same old faces.Staff doesn't seem able to keep up and the dogs were not groomed like one would expect for a special adoption function. I don't believe they even have a grooming room, I asked one volunteer ( about 15 ) and she had never heard of one. I was going to brush one particular dog who was matted badly. I check almost every day, I haven't missed anything about the records request have I ? Is Oreo waiting to see what they do as the end of the r/o gets closer ? Why doesn't she sue their ass ? Happy Holidays from Oreo ! I think that would be great.
I was at the pound Saturday looking for a puppy with a friend. It irks me that I have to jump through hoops to see a dog in the pound then bond with it at NHS and they won't do anything untill you practically sign the the adoption agreement. They are more worried about getting the adoption credit thatn the welfare of the adopter or the dog or cat. It should not be that hard to meet an out of stray dog. Let Animal control adopt their own dogs they did a good job of it for 25 years as a Reno animal services. That bunch at the other side is only interested i cats, and theya re a little overcrowded to say the least.
As has been mentioned we are inching up to the date of expiration and you know they are whirring away over there looking for some new unfairness to perpetrate. Oreo is going to take action, I want first to give them every opportunity to just "shut the hell up" take the energy they have wasted on court and vindictive behaviour and use that to actually help an animal. There's a concept, help a living creature with no thought of making a buck. I am so weary of this bunch, I have tried so hard to see some misguided good intentions, I just don't see one good thing, nada, they are without any redeming social value in my book.
Butters Mom, you are so right that the holidays are not the right time for a new pet. How many times have I heard of a new pet getting out during the holidays. And to answer your question about the Whino and wildlife, he "stole" a report from a friend of mine in LA and put it into his Philly program. She wrote the policy for wildlife in LA. The Whino didn't realize that Philly has a policy to euthanize any wildlife (which is terrible) and his program on wildlife went against Philly law. She has considered suing him but she has already been the victim of the ADL-LA and can't afford to put more on the table.
And the Whino either doesn't know or doesn't care that many pit bulls are surrendered to the shelters or are not adopted from the shelters because of the insurance industry redlining the breed. He doesn't see the outside influences that affect our shelters. These outside influences need to be changed such as the insurance industry. The insurance industry has a stake in altering pets since one in five to one in three homeowner claims every year are for dog bites. Think of how much good they could do if they required their policy holders to alter pets rather redline breeds. Unfortunately there is little documentation to show that unaltered dogs are the ones doing the biting and attacking. So this leaves the insurance industry to rely on reports such as the CDC on fatalities, an older report.
There are areas that we all can work on to make it better such as this one with the insurance industry. Encouraging your local animal control to keep records on bite cases as to whether the dog or cat was altered is the first step to present the insurance industry with credible record keeping.
Isn't there anything anybody can do about the number of animals being stored there ? I don't believe if the public knew how long some of the animals were being kept and how croweded it is they would support it. I thought about calling or writing to HSUS or PETA, anybody who could come in and count the damn animals. We do have laws in Nevada on how crappy the air can be, and how much room and animal meeds to be healthy. There is nobody for wildlife, no home checks, what a stinking mess.
Mastiff Dad, HSUS and PETA keep a close eye on NHS. There are probably members of PETA checking it all the time. The problem is that if they intervened they would be accused of coming after the Whino. When HSUS came out against "no kill" a number of years ago, their donations fell enough that they recanted. It's the stupid public that falls for these deceptive terms such as "No Kill", pound, killing, high kill, etc. Both organization rely on donations from this stupid public. But if there were an organized effort to "document" inside the shelter and this documentation was supplied to either organization, they would probably appreciate it and use it to come down on NHS.
That's the problem, the volunteers are in there to see the stuff, and they gripe to each other, but won't come forward. They are all afraid of losing the right to pull animals. In the end it is going to cost more lives because people like me are backing away instead of standing up. Is it true they're having Winograd up ? I couldn't believe that when a current gal told me. That would be such a joke ! Where is animal control on this, can they do anything about the crowding ? How stupid is the county if they let this continue. The SPCA is private with no connections to government and they run a better store than NHS. Honesty I hope you are right. .
Hi Honesty, I sure hope you are right. I know PETA told me to let them know if they could help, but we need troops on the ground. My biggest concern is with animal care, right now there is no way to know how many poor beasts are crammed in there. Since they went to petfinder there is no information to stay abreast of the situation. They show 50 dogs and I know they have more thatn that. About 100 cats, just to lazy to upload I suppose.
Rancho has done the same many times, not loading animals as they come in. Their numbers are all over the scale. They are turning in different figures to the State than to the City, although the ones to the City are even more damning. The staff doesn't have time to do such stuff because they have no volunteers to take up the slack.
I bet that if you did a public records request for complaints against NHS, you might be surprised. Petfinder is not my choice anyway, I have always found Pet Harbor better and more user friendly. Note on Petfinders that the search results puts the shelters in competition with the rescues, unlike Pet Harbor which is strickly shelters. Many people don't know the difference, all they see is rescue. Little do they know that rescues pick and chose plus get a donation if possible and their animals stood little to no chance of euthanization.
And Volunteer, you are so right about people not speaking up because they are afraid of getting booted out of the shelter and they would. You are always to think of the animals first. But the Whino and NHS depend on this, they know the score. Another intimidation trick taught by NKE, scare the volunteers into not talking by some examples of people being kicked out of the shelters when they talk. If this were not true, the Whino would not stand a chance in hell of getting any shelters on his side. I know many more people who are against NKE than are for it.
Pet Network says the numbers support holiday adoption. I believe Becky Goodman and she said that quite some time back. Maybe if judicious screening is used that could be the difference. Without looking into exhaustive research we will never know. I think getting a pet on impulse is bad any time of the year. I would like to see even stronger screening during the holidays though.
No doubts that some adoptions at the holidays turn out good. This is the cry of "no kill", to look at the good ones or the live release rate. But I can't get pass the "bad ones". I'm more worried about the ones that come back, or escape during the holidays, etc. I say common sense says that holidays are not the right time to bring home a new pet. People in and out, leaving the door open. Kids in their excitement getting bitten by a new dog. I say to issue vouchers to be given so that someone can pick up their "gift" after the holidays. Course when shelters are overcrowded, this can't happen.
Strange the things that get your attention, it was on here somewhere about the bell ringing. I dislike that as well, that cannot do anything to lessen the din of shelter life and it means nothing. The people feel great until they go home and the dog pees on the floor. My friend who volunteers at PetNetwork is pressuring me to try it. I don't want to. I love kitties, and I am busy trying to help in the bigger picture with legislation and get rules into place, not get them removed. We are in dire need of stiffer regulation of this industry again. Following this blog without the hysteria attached to no kill has open my eyes to the plight of animals, but bell ringing is not the solution. Spay/ neuter is the answer and that will take time.
I met a fellow while walking the labs at Idlewild. He had a recently adopted lab mix and it appeared in good health and very happy. It seemed to well adjusted to have come from a long shelter stay, so I nosed up and asked where he had gotten such a nice dog.
I was surprised and happy with the story. His neighbors were stacking up the U-Haul, knowing they were on the edge of bankruptcy this man was watching to make sure the dog moved with them. After going over and helping them load a few things, he brought up the dog, was he nervous about the move, etc. The husband said the dog was going to the pound, they couldn't afford to keep him. He swore that if they didn't let him leave the dog there with out the $25 fee he was going to put him back and in his old yard and let the bank make the place take him.
Several serious flaws in the desperate family's plan.
This man ended up keeping the dog, he wasn't looking for a dog, but he has one now, and they are fine. Never hesitate to ask about the animal welfare if someone is moving. After the family moved and a couple of days later when the dog was settled into its new digs, 25 feet from the old one, the new owner called the shelter. He left a number and someone called him from the help section. It was just as the moving neighbor had claimed. The run around on "why can't you keep the pet?" we can give you food, there is a fee, make an appointment, give us a week, take your dog to training class. When people lose their home, there is a lot going on, often no time to find a new place for the pet, maybe the phone is disconnected, people are moving and hard to reach, this is not the time for the "Helping Hand of NHS to be passing the buck. I call this turning away. This dog was very lucky, and it seems like he sure got a good home, but there should have been real help for that family and the dog.
Amen !
That is a happy ending trl, not to many of those going around.Retention ( which is basically making it difficult to surrender your pet ) is one of the mainstays of Winograds plan. Force the owner to abandon the pet and then in lands on someone elses doorstep. Where does the public go to complain about the policy ? I think hittling them in the wallet is the only answer. Get your friends to donate to a shelter that makes the best use of the money.
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