Animal shelters cause HUMAN suffering
In which Jill considers the human cost of buying a dog.
The dire situation in our L.A. shelters is spiraling out of control. In the past decade, euthanasia decisions have primarily focused on animals suffering from medical conditions or those deemed by shelter staff to be dangerous.
But as the number of dogs and cats in our shelters swells, makeshift kennels lined up in hallways don’t contribute enough extra space to house them all. As a result, even young, healthy dogs are being euthanized for tenure.
On a recent weekend, we lost Brutis at West Valley shelter and Deli and Barack at East Valley shelter. Their time was up, rescues and potential adopters were notified, and no one came.
What you might not know is that each dog spent his last half hour being comforted by a volunteer.
A volunteer who got him out of his kennel. A volunteer who’d tossed a ball for him in the shelter’s play yard. A volunteer who worked with him on training. A volunteer who advocated for him in playgroup. A volunteer who took the time to enter honest notes about him. A volunteer who loved him.
One of these volunteers requested permission to leash-walk the dog to the euth room so that his last experience would be with her and not with a uniformed animal control officer. The permission was granted.
When we weigh the pros and cons of adopting a shelter dog, we consider the usual things: demeanor, energy, manners, dog-friendliness, etc.
These days, we should add another consideration to the list: the investment of heroic volunteers.
Volunteers at shelters and rescues sacrifice their time—and more and more often these days, their emotional health—on behalf of the animals. Can your sister-in-law say the same about the people she bought her pug from on Craigslist?
The post July 4th deluge continues unabated. More dogs in southern California shelters will be alerted and more will be euthanized. LA Animal Services tends to designate 4:00pm as the deadline for euthanasia. One of the above dogs was seen being led to the euth room at 3:59pm. The shelters mean business.
Please spay and neuter your pets.
Please don’t buy a dog from a breeder or from a grocery store parking lot.
Please continue to tag backyard breeders on Craigslist.
And please, please consider the humans who work so hard with shelter and rescue animals.
And please thank Luci, Sherry, Kristin, and all the volunteers who, despite the heartache, come back and do it all again.
