WE all know- it’s EXACTLY why we do
this day after day–in sorrow and in joy….but it’s those that don’t that
NEED to hear this- NEED to see it firsthand at a shelter the fear in these
dogs….the dying hope as each day passes..SPREAD this in the pet stores,
shops, salons, coworker emails, family emails, friends…educate….let’s
pray that 2009 spares more live than the 11 million killed this year…

A 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 and why did you
choose that place instead of a petfriendly home?

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, rotti
e, 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 0
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, hey get to "The Room" , every one of them freak out and put the
brakes on 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

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