Food for Thought (Warning!! Graphic Descriptions)

[LuvtheCooper]

I came across this on craigs list today. A friend has lost a pet and I was seeing if she had posted it on Craigs List.
I think this needs to be read and passed along to all the people we know who want to "breed", or get a pet without any thought to what pet ownership involves. It's very sad and graphic, but unfortunately it is also too true.

What really happens when you take your dog or cat to a shelter…
Reply to: (see message body)
Date: 2009-03-09, 9:51PM

What really happens when you take your dog or cat to a shelter…
Hate me or flag 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 thing on craigslist and it made me want adopt”…that would make it all worth it.
I am posting this because I think our society needs a huge “Wake-up” call.
I am going to share a little insight with you all...a view from the inside if you will.
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 or kitten you just sold will most likely end up in a shelter when it’s not a cute little kitten or puppy anymore.
So how would you feel if you knew that there’s about a 90% chance that your cat or 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 (or cat)”.
Even WORSE are the owners who feel the need to INVENT a reason such as claiming their pet does not get along with the other pet in home or soils in the house (does not always use the litter pan). Did you realize we will mark your pet's record as "not likely to be adoptable", clip the information you gave us to the cage so as potential adoptors view your pet, they do not want to adopt it, a few days later your pet is grabbed by the scruff of the next and taking to the "back room".
Did you say your pet bit you? does not matter if it was hiding because of your chaotic household or its scared because you recently adopted it, you grabbed it trying to force it to act like life is ok, it bit you trying to stay hiding! yes we will take your pet, put it in a cage for 10 days as unadoptable, just to see if it shows signs of rabies then euthanized.
Yes 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 (or cat) 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. Some of them will be so upset they will stop eatting. Some of them will be terrified so they will be grabbed and tossed to the back room.
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.
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…not for long though.
Most 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”. YOU DID NOT EVEN BOTHER TO ASK IF WE WERE A NO KILL SHELTER, REALITY IS DISPITE WHAT YOUR FRIEND, CO-WORKER, NEIGHBOR SAID....WE ARE VERY HIGH KILL! 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 breaks 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 deafened by the yelps and screams. They all don’t just “go to sleep”, sometimes 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 do 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! Please SPAY and NEUTER!

[sarahcals]

Oh my word. What a sad description. But probably exactly true. The thought of dogs wagging their tails thinking they are going for a walk when they are really taken to be euthanized absolutely kills me. I don't understand how anyone could do such a thing.

[LibbieLu08]

This is sooo sad

[DanielleAllen]

wow! now that gets you thinking now doesn't it!?!? that is really sad!

[bcrass2]

Wow...I have never dropped off a pet to a shelter...I can't believe that people do. I read those excuses and can't believe people! I have someone in my family who goes through dogs, cats, birds, snakes and lizards like crazy! They're great until the novelty wears off. I don't associate with them anymore.
My kids have always brought home strays. We clean them up, feed them...try to find their owners. We usually end up keeping them until they die of natural causes.
People don't understand why we have so many dogs! I'd like to print that thread and tell them..."This is why"

[megansmomma]

Sad but true!

[DanielleAllen]

Originally Posted by bcrass2

Wow...I have never dropped off a pet to a shelter...I can't believe that people do. I read those excuses and can't believe people! I have someone in my family who goes through dogs, cats, birds, snakes and lizards like crazy! They're great until the novelty wears off. I don't associate with them anymore.
My kids have always brought home strays. We clean them up, feed them...try to find their owners. We usually end up keeping them until they die of natural causes.
People don't understand why we have so many dogs! I'd like to print that thread and tell them..."This is why"

It is wonderful to have people in the world like you to take those dogs in. You know that they are happy while you have them. We have taken in dogs too. I can't believe they way some people treat them. We have had one for 6 years now...he is so happy here!

[hugz4all4]

Originally Posted by LuvtheCooper

I came across this on craigs list today. A friend has lost a pet and I was seeing if she had posted it on Craigs List.
I think this needs to be read and passed along to all the people we know who want to "breed", or get a pet without any thought to what pet ownership involves. It's very sad and graphic, but unfortunately it is also too true.

What really happens when you take your dog or cat to a shelter…
Reply to: (see message body)
Date: 2009-03-09, 9:51PM

What really happens when you take your dog or cat to a shelter…
Hate me or flag 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 thing on craigslist and it made me want adopt”…that would make it all worth it.
I am posting this because I think our society needs a huge “Wake-up” call.
I am going to share a little insight with you all...a view from the inside if you will.
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 or kitten you just sold will most likely end up in a shelter when it’s not a cute little kitten or puppy anymore.
So how would you feel if you knew that there’s about a 90% chance that your cat or 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 (or cat)”.
Even WORSE are the owners who feel the need to INVENT a reason such as claiming their pet does not get along with the other pet in home or soils in the house (does not always use the litter pan). Did you realize we will mark your pet's record as "not likely to be adoptable", clip the information you gave us to the cage so as potential adoptors view your pet, they do not want to adopt it, a few days later your pet is grabbed by the scruff of the next and taking to the "back room".
Did you say your pet bit you? does not matter if it was hiding because of your chaotic household or its scared because you recently adopted it, you grabbed it trying to force it to act like life is ok, it bit you trying to stay hiding! yes we will take your pet, put it in a cage for 10 days as unadoptable, just to see if it shows signs of rabies then euthanized.
Yes 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 (or cat) 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. Some of them will be so upset they will stop eatting. Some of them will be terrified so they will be grabbed and tossed to the back room.
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.
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…not for long though.
Most 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”. YOU DID NOT EVEN BOTHER TO ASK IF WE WERE A NO KILL SHELTER, REALITY IS DISPITE WHAT YOUR FRIEND, CO-WORKER, NEIGHBOR SAID....WE ARE VERY HIGH KILL! 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 breaks 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 deafened by the yelps and screams. They all don’t just “go to sleep”, sometimes 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 do 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! Please SPAY and NEUTER!

[Wylie's Mom]

Very sad and very true.

[gkathleenw]

Oh WOW!!!!! Thank you for posting, I'm going to send it to everyone I know! Once my tears dry up!