Okay so last night I was picking up my little brother and sister from school and there were two stray puppies running around outside the school. It was on a MAJOR street and they almost got ran over twice so I couldn't just leave them there. So i brought them home and kept them in the garage thinking ill just go to the local vets tomorrow and try to find their owners and then take them to a shelter. So this morning I go to all the local vets and noone knows who they are so I post flyers. They have no collars and no microchips. They both are EXTREMLY dirty and one of them is pretty darn skinny.So I take them to the shelter downtown so they can get adopted. I had already called the only No kill shelter I knew of and noone had responded and I had NO place to keep these dogs. So I ask how long they will be able to stay up for adoption before they get euthanized and they tell me FOUR DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOURRRR DAYSSS!!!!!!!!!And that their is only a 50% chance they will get adopted. So I walked out... thats just UGH!!!! And I go to another shelter that isn't as crowded where they tell me the exact same thing, but these people are ALOT nicer. So they go up for adoption on Sunday and I will be calling everyday and if they get put on the euthanization list then i will be picking them back up and my friend has offered to foster them. I tried so hard to keep them out of a shelter, I have called furever friends and am waiting for them to call me back and they can also pick them up from the shelter. They are both about 10 months old and look like they have been roaming for a while. Did I do the right thing?!? Should I have left them running around??? I feel horrible now and im so afraid that they are having a horrible time at this place. My heart is broken in half, I couldn't drive home i was crying so hard. The people at the shelter must have thought I was a nut. I couldn't just let them run around with no food or water. But now I feel like I have sent them to their death. But im not gonna let them get euthanized, im going to pick them up before then. I never even realized that this was such a problem. I was never really truly informed about kill and no kill shelters and how important it is to spay and neuter I never understood. Im so angry at myself and all these other people! I just dont understand... Im so confused! I didn't know that it was like this... Did I hurt these dogs by picking them up? I was just trying to help.... =[
Danielle
You sure did
Correct me if I am wrong here but anyone who is an animal lover would of stopped and picked up a dog/puppy if it was near a road and about to get hit... I have always tried to pick up dogs running the streets. But I knew that if I were to drive by and not attempt (many did not respond when I tried to get to them) that I would not be sleeping well for a long time! Guilt would overwhelm me. So, to answer your question, you sooooo did the right thing!
Cristina
Jack & Sydney's mum
Shelter workers
Shelter workers this time of year are exhausted, especially this time of the year with all the newborns coming in, and as someone mentioned below, most people just lie to them day in an day out. I'm the Director of a kill shelter, we don't have the choice to be no kill. In Alabama, we have a seven day stray hold. So every stray that comes in has to be held 7 days before disposition (adoption, euthanasia, or transfer out). In the last seven days we've taken in 147 cats and 90 dogs. Of those, 17 were matted up, urine soaked, poop covered "purebred and papered" ShihTzus from the same home. The same home that told us that they had 8 more that they were "still keeping", anyone have a guess why (not a hard question). Animal control and the sheriff's department have been there twice and no one answers the door. One of the dogs that came in is a senior cocker spaniel, signed over to us as a stray along with the comment from the man of 'how sad' it was that all these animals were here. Very sad, yes. But downright infuriating when we scanned the dog a few minutes later and learned the dog was microchipped--- TO THE GUY WHO JUST SURRENDERED THE DOG AS A STRAY. We've spent hours on the phone trying to get vet records, people list a vet on the paperwork and check the box saying "yes" to the question of whether their owner surrendered pet is current on vaccinations. Oh yes, definitely. Of course about 90% of the time the vets either never heard of the people or the pets last vaccine was "rabies only" and that was 4 years ago. It makes people who work in shelters very wary of humans, and very tired of hearing the nonsense we hear day after day. We don't know who to believe and who not to believe as the stories always seem to change, the info rarely is what we were given. I've become very hardened to people in these circumstances. I know that, and I try very hard to NOT show that, but it can be very hard. We see horrible things. Most of us have to excuse ourselves on a regular basis to calm ourselves, control the tears, or go throw up, depending on the circumstances. No, I can't speak for every shelter around, but for the most part we(shelter workers) do our best to show the animals what may be the only opportunity to feel love in their lives, we do our best to find homes for that we can find good placements for, and when we can't find them a good placement in the limited time/space we have to do it, we then do our best to peacefully and kindly help them along to a place that will be kinder to them than this world has been. There ARE worse things than euthanasia-- i imagine getting killed by a car is one of them, as is starving to death and the other things others have mentioned-- i also believe its better than being dumped in a back yard or penned up or chained for a lifetime-- so no question you did the right thing. You gave them a better chance than they had running loose, thats for sure.
Definitely!
Danielle,
I'll just 'ditto' what the others are saying - you definitely did the right thing. Shelters ARE scary places, but living on the street - not knowing what horror might lurk around the next corner - is often worse.
Also remember that the shelter workers at the first place are used to hearing every story in the book. People take their pets to shelters and lie and say they 'just found' them all the time. Their disgust with people was misdirected at you, but just remember what they have to deal with every day. Heather and I split voicemail duty for GDRNT - she takes the first half of the week and I get the end/weekend. Every week it's the same thing, I know that I'm patient and understanding and helpful to the first couple dozen callers who want to 'get rid of their dog' and I try to find solutions and alternatives. By day four I'm usually sick of the human race and I try my best to continue to be patient and helpful but I know I come across as judgmental and annoyed and disgusted. Fortunately, about the time I'm ready to reach through the phone and strangle the _______ (fill in your choice of cuss word), it's Heather's turn to take over. I'm 100% certain the routine is exactly the same for her.
For the record, there are some truly amazing shelter workers out there. Just like any line of work, there are people who suck, but I'm pleased to report that my dealings with shelters have turned up far more kind hearted people than not (they may not always be great with the humans, but at least they're kind to the animals).
Please keep us posted on these guys. We'll all be waiting impatiently to hear how everything turns out for them!
jamie
You absolutely did the right
You absolutely did the right thing. Had you not picked them up, they faced certain painful death. At least you have given them a chance at adoption-even if it is only 50 percent, it's still better than what would've happened to them on their own. I know how you feel, we live on the edge of our city limits on a quiet country road-the perfect place for people to dump their unwanted animals. We give them a night of food and water-which they are always so grateful for-then call the shelter the next morning. You just have to remind yourself that we do all we can, but sadly we can't save them all.
All I can say is, if it
All I can say is, if it turns out that the dogs do end up euthanized, it's a better end than being hit by a car and dying in a ditch with broke bones and internal bleeding. At least it's quick and (if done right) painless. It's a good thing that you picked these poor dogs up as they would surely end up hit by a car, or attacked by other strays, or starved, or sick with some easily preventable disease, or worse, some horrible person could come along and treat them like they aren't living things.
It's a sad truth, but kill shelters do serve their purpose. There are just TOO many dogs (and cats) out there that nobody wants and if we didn't have a way to "get rid of" them, we would be over run more than we are now. There just isn't enough money, homes, and enough caring people to take in all these dogs that people either breed on purpose, accidentally or that just end up on the street for other reasons. No kill shelters are great, but because they don't euthanize animals because of a lack of space, they often have animals for LONG periods of time, turning away other animals in the meantime that could be adopted more readily. Hardly anybody goes to the shelter looking for a blind, deaf, injured, ugly, or old animal.
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