Those involved in the world of rescue will go to the ends of the earth to save the dogs and cats that society has thrown away.
These passionate rescuers will spend hours on the computer, phone or road. They will forgo nice cars and fancy homes. They will give up vacations and "free" time - going the extra mile to save one more life that another has deemed worthless.
The video included in this article is direct and to the point. The video is reality. The video needs to be shared with as many people as possible.
Too many people surrender dogs and cats to the shelter for ridiculous reasons - moving, change of decor, child on the way, too little time, dog is too playful, not playful enough, barks too much, doesn't bark enough....the list goes on and on and on.
On the flip side are those producing the unwanted dogs and cats. Everyone has known someone that has made one of the following statements: "I want my kids to see the beauty of birth" (watch a video!), "I want my dog to have just one litter", "I won't let my dog (or cat) near another un-altered dog (or cat), so she won't need to be fixed"......then the horrifying "well, the dog slipped out of the fence and OOPS - puppies are on the way", or "Oops, I wasn't watching the (unaltered) dogs when they were together closely enough".....every oops equates to more un-wanted dogs (and cats).
Some how, some way, some THING needs to change. The children in our nation need to know what every "oops" means. The shelter isn't a fun vacation spot for the cats and dogs that live there. The shelter is a day at the casino - some will win, some will lose - paying with their life.
The best chance that our society has for change is to teach the children the consequences of their actions. Educating our children about responsibility and about the value of life. Many of the adults are too set in their ways to be changed, but the children provide an opportunity to change the way things will be in the future.
People that care about dogs and cats are involved in all aspects of society. Opportunities to educate abound.
Dog lovers involved in churches can create a youth outreach program to teach kids about the importance of altering cats and dogs. They can inform the children that owning a pet is a lifetime responsibility and that dropping a pet off at a shelter may mean putting that pet to death.
Youth leaders - take the opportunity to educate Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Arts/Crafts groups, YMCA youth, and more about responsibility, adoption and pet alteration. The more children that are reached, the better the future for our society's pet companions.
Knowledge is power - people need to know what is happening behind the closed doors of the animal shelters throughout our nation. Many of these shelters are forced to euthanize an astonishing number of cats and dogs each day due to a lack of space. Some shelters are worse than others.
The best animal shelters have the support of the community and include community outreach programs to help with spay/neutering, food for low income families, as well as adoption and education programs. Get involved. Be the change that you want to see. Everyone can do something - decide what part you will play in making the changes that need to be made.
The easiest first step that you can do right now, is to forward this article to friends and family. Share it with as many people as you can. Post it to your rescue groups and Facebook groups. Get the word out and help spread the word.
It is time that the people of this county take responsibility for their actions. The burden has fallen on the shoulders of the passionate rescuers for too long.
Educate. Volunteer. Reach out and create change. Spay and neuter. Donate. Adopt.
If you would like to continue receiving dog-related articles, including news, tips and advice, please click the Subscribe Icon. It's free and anonymous. Thank you for reading and thank you for sharing this article with others.
If you have a story idea that you would like to share, please email me directly at Eims1@live.com.
Comments
This video is heartbreaking.
My husband and I have rescued 5 older dogs [3 are still on Earth with us, the other 2 are in Heaven] and sponsored 6 dogs at shelters (paying vet and boarding expenses until they were all adopted). I have to give credit to my parents. They set an excellent example for me by adopting older dogs from shelters.
Watching this video & knowing that this happens EVERY day all over the US [& who knows what they do to unwanted animals overseas] makes me cry.
I feel so badly for the animals who have done nothing wrong except "exist".......
I wish we could save more animals. I wish shelters would go "No-Kill".......
That was probably the hardest video I've EVER watched! This needs to be broadcast on national t.v. People will never learn if they are not forced to see this. My heart just feels so heavy right now for all the cats and dogs of this country that people just keep dumping for all sorts of stupid reasons.
Gosh, I just can't get these tears out of my eyes:o( When will the humans learn? When?
Penny - Thank you for this article. As an active dog rescuer, advocate, volunteer, fundraiser, event coordinatorm, volunteer coordinator, etc. etc. etc. this article and video are so...perfect. I just wish everyone in the world saw things as clearly as I (we) do. Thank you for this article...
OMG please delete x4cxcc's comment. How dumb.
Way to go Penny, I hope EVERYONE views this video. It is the painful truth, unfortunately I have also had to witness this personally. Thanks for writing this and getting the word out!
All shelters "could" go to No Kill if they had directors who really wanted this. It is being proven over and over and over. When high kill shelters get a director dedicating to saving lives, they do.
www.examiner.com/x-43393-Houston-Animal-Shelters-Examiner~y2010m4d14-Shelters-can-adopt-their-way-out-of-killing
As a Baltimore-based organization, you need to take on the real problem. Lack of support within the Baltimore Govt. for rescue orgs. Baltimore rescues live in fear of Animal Control and the City Council/Govt. BARCS will place animals with a rescue person, knowing full well that they are overloaded already. Then, Animal Control shows up, confiscates the animals, and BARCS euthanizes them. And, God forbid a family member does something stupid like turns in your pet to the shelter. Turnins and signovers can be euthanized immediately. Just look at the current case about the dogs being dead by the time the owners came back with the fine monies. When Baltimore Govt. supports rescue, then Baltimore can work on this problem. As long we allow Govt. to interfere with Rescue, then this is the standard, not the exception, and no kill will never happen.
Oh, and as far as rescues in Baltimore. If you read the fine print of the City Code, no rescues/shelters are allowed to exist in Baltimore without a contract with the City, hence BARCS is all there is legally. All you rescue folks are running illegal operations according to the City Code. They will tell you that when they come for you.
I wish every pet owner..especially the ones who have not spayed or neutered their pet... could watch this video! Powerful & says it all of WHY we should spay & neuter our pets!!
I wrote something on the same topic recently. You can find it at nokillleecounty on wordpress.
Read No Kill Nation. It is a MYTH that there just aren't enough homes and it is also wrong to simply blame the public. Read the stories of high kill shelters becoming no kill. They had to WORK to do it and institute programs. Not for the lazy but it CAN BE DONE. there is NO reason for a healthy animal to be put down!!!!
@ Petlover - do you really think that people should not take responsibility for their pets? Letting them breed is insane - people MUST spay and neuter their pets and help solve the problem! No kill is a great ideal but in the meantime, thousands of unwanted cats and dogs are dying - you can not turn a blind eye to the problem - that is just plain stupid. We may want things to be a certain way, but it takes work and everyone has to help out - animal shelters should not be responsible for picking up the pieces to everyone else's mess!!
I am a dog with two books under my collar, they are about Eco-Solutions for a Pet's Daily Life. Mom and I are examiners too.
I write alot about conscientious pet parenthood and I would agree, speaking from a dog's point of view that many people just don't do a very good job of keeping us safe and healthy. A part of my eco-agenda too is communities taking ownership of the issues in this video and stepping in to support and work with shelters in a much bigger way. My Mom and I are reading Redemption and we would urge you to do the same. The system is broken and we all need to become informed,involved and take responsibility to speak out and become players. It is a much bigger issue than "there aren't enough homes."
As the Orlando Pet Rescue Examiner, this was just so hard for me to watch. This is why i spend hours every day sending out rescue pleas for local animals. Any one who thinks there are enough homes for the animals is living in a dream world. Or they've never been inside a doggie prison. At least these people were using a needle, rather than shooting the dogs in the head, hanging them, throwing them en masse into a gas chamber, sticking them in the heart with a worn needle, leaving them to starve to death, burning them with oil, setting them on fire, hitting them in the head with a baseball bat, suffocating them in plastic bags, leaving them to rot with broken limbs or maggots covering them. I could go on and on.
There is so little humane about the way the majority of the public actually treats their animals. Until the cruelty laws are made stronger, until breeding is banned, there will always be too many animals who suffer at the hands of their "caretakers".
There is NO reason for all this killing. I agree with comments above. Read Nathan Winograds book No Kill Nation. While I agree people need to be educated on spay/neuter, shelters are taking the easy way out by killing all these animals instead of developing more aggressive adoption efforts. No excuses for these animals to lose their lazy because shelter management is lazy!
I have to admit I didn't read every single post, but there were a few that jumped out at me. I can't believe that people call shelters "lazy" and that it is a "myth" that there aren't enough homes for all animals. That completely goes against common sense. Let's put the blame squarely where it belongs: uneducated and uncaring people that continue to breed and make more animals. Efforts should be aimed at stopping these people, NOT shelters that legitimately CANNOT house and shelter every animal that passes through the doors. It is a complete waste of time to live in a fantasy world and imagine that there are enough homes. THERE ARE NOT.
@Beth - thank you for stating the obvious and pointing out what everyone should know. Shelters should not be responsible for cleaning up other people's messes. Personal responsibility is HUGE!!! Look around fantasy world people - there are unwanted cats and dogs everywhere. No-there are not open homes everywhere. Could shelters do better? Yes, some, but not all - but they are not the cure, they are a bandaid to the real disease-human irresponsibility!!
Penny, thanks for this article. As the pet news examiner in Minneapolis I am inspired to contact our local shelter and work with them to get out the behind-the-scenes ugly side of "rescue" work at the shelter.
Maybe if we open up the secret side people might then understand the destruction their actions cause. Unfortuantely, we're so used to being protected by the media from the ugly side of life that this may be an impossible task. But thanks for the motivation!
Thomas - visit your local shelter and take photos of the pets there. Help the shelter and the pets by giving them exposure to people that are too afraid to go into the shelter. You have the ability to help them become a better shelter....ask rescues to read your article and circulate the photos - ask the rescues to contact the shelter and pull pets if they are able to. That's the best way to make a difference.
Penny, thanks for the encouragement. The problem in my area (Minnesota) is that we have an old-fashioned shelter system with a director who is not a leader in any sense of the word:
She cites problems but offers no solutions. She blames citizens, but offers little help. Her shelters raised over $1 MILLION at a recent event last month, but complains of budget shortfalls.
Outwardly their buildings are modern and clean. But they kill 4 out of every ten animals behind closed doors.
This director has usurped control over a fledgling "coalition" and professes a desire to unite the rescue community. But then she demands qualification and total allegiance with no dissent allowed.
Worst of all, this shelter will not allow rescue groups to pull animals scheduled to be killed. But they will allow the groups to pay the full adoption fee to adopt these animals.
This is the challenge I face. Yet your article impels me to try to work with them to show them a better way...
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!