A Cry for Help
Jessica
4567 days ago.
Most people who know me, know that I am a huge pet lover. I am often involved in random stray, lost pet, or injured wildlife animal rescues. And when I see animals wandering on the street I try my best to find out “who” they are, where they came from, and get them to a safe place.
Today I read a heartbreaking story. It’s long but if you have a heart at all, you will read it and you will make a change to help in whatever way you can. Here’s the story (slightly shortened and minus the horrifying photo that was attached):
“I think our society needs a huge wake-up call. 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 to 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”.
Well let me tell you, odds are your pet won’t get adopted. It 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 kennel in a room with about 25 other barking animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it. If I don’t have enough volunteers that day to take him/her for a walk, 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 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. It doesn’t matter how well behaved they are. If your dog doesn’t get adopted within 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed. If the shelter isn’t full AND your dog is good AND a desirable enough breed, it may get a stay of execution, but not for long. Most dogs get 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 don’t have the funds to pay for even a $100 treatment.”–A Letter from an anonymous Shelter Manager in North Carolina
The most common excuses I hear are; “We are moving and we can’t take our dog (or cat).” Really? Where are you moving to 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”.
Well let me tell you, odds are your pet won’t get adopted. It 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 kennel in a room with about 25 other barking animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it. If I don’t have enough volunteers that day to take him/her for a walk, 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 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. It doesn’t matter how well behaved they are. If your dog doesn’t get adopted within 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed. If the shelter isn’t full AND your dog is good AND a desirable enough breed, it may get a stay of execution, but not for long. Most dogs get 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 don’t have the funds to pay for even a $100 treatment.”–A Letter from an anonymous Shelter Manager in North CarolinaThe letter (you can read the entire story here) goes on to discuss the horrifying process of euthanasia and how the animals are disposed of. While I have not worked at a shelter, I studied animal sciences in college and worked at a veterinary hospital, and I have witnessed the sad and sometimes unsanitary conditions in shelters, assisted in euthanasia and have, as the author so boldly stated: “seen the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused eyes.”
Did you know between 9 and 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters? How about that 484 cats and dogs are euthanized in shelters every hour??
Listen, I can’t afford to house tons of animals or donate thousands of dollars either, but I adopt from shelters and donate a small monthly amount to the ASPCA and the Missouri Humane Society. A little help from all of us (donating, volunteering, or adopting) goes a long way friends, and I hope this story has opened your blind eyes to the cruelty these loving, helpless animals endure and motivates you to help in some way.
There are many great organizations dedicated to helping animals that you may find appealing such as: FiXit Foundation or the Wildlife Center of Missouri or Humane Society of Missouri. Just pick one…and save an animal’s life today.
Brought to you by Mills Properties
Photos courtesy of wtfhub.com and askspikeonline.com
Jessica
Doesn’t know how to cook and survives pretty much on macaroni and cheese and pizza, so naturally, loves to eat out at restaurants. However, one day when she is married and has a family to cook for, she would love to take cooking classes and learn awesome skills like the chefs on Iron Chef America...as long as she doesn't have to clean the dishes afterwards.
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