North Shore Animal League America
Scrap (and hundreds like him) left to die at the pound
I saw you with Scrap today. You were smiling and for a while Scrap was sitting next to you with his
tail wagging. You were standing in front of the intake counter at Jacksonville Animal Control.
You were explaining that you couldn't keep him because he chewed through a $5.00 dollar telephone cord.
I heard the lady tell you that they take in at least 100 dogs a day and that Scrap would most likely
be euthanized, because he is a bigger dog. You were still smiling and Scrap was still looking up at
you with his tail wagging wondering if the new adventure with you was going to involve some new dog
friends that he could hear frantically barking all over the building. The lady asked if you wanted
his collar and his leash and you took them off (presumably for the new dog you will buy after the holiday)
as the lady put on his new plastic Animal Control, ID
collar and an Animal Control leash. Scrap was still a good boy, still wagging his tail. As you
walked out the door you were still smiling.
When you walked out the door Scrap stopped smiling. As he was tied up Scrap's tail stopped wagging
and went between his legs and he started crying. Scrap kept trying to get to you long after you were gone.
The lady at Animal Control felt bad for him and tried to give him a treat but all Scrap wanted was to
be with you so he kept crying. The Animal Control Officer came to get him and Scrap left with him his
tail between his legs and his head down. Scrap knew then that you were leaving him at that place
and you weren't coming back.
Scrap has seven days until he dies, Scrap probably won't live until Christmas. This is a true
story, it just happened yesterday. I don't expect that anyone is going to run down to
Jacksonville Animal Control
and get Scrap but please if you are thinking about taking your pet to Animal Control - don't.
If you are looking for a pet then check at Animal Control as there are so many Scrap's there.
Although Scrap was in Jacksonville, FL, this is also happening hundreds and thousands of times in
all towns and counties AND countries. PLEASE take pet ownership seriously! These precious, loving,
loyal animals do not deserve this. They ARE man's best friend! In good times and bad times,
they'll always be there for you and never judge you. You have a duty to care for your dog, not to dump it
because you cannot be bothered to train it or because it is inconvenient to keep it.
It Does Not Add Up!
The pound takes in one hundred dogs a day. How many dogs do they find a home for? Ten dogs a day would be good!
That means that 90% of the dogs brought into the pound are destroyed. Before you take your dog to the pound ask them
how many dogs are adopted each day then how many dogs come in. You do not have to be a genius to figure out what the
chances are that your dog will find a home.
If the pound has space for 300 dogs and there are 100 coming in every day, then after three days there is no more room and the
100 dogs that are arriving have to go somewhere. Ten of the lucky dogs are adopted or rescued so 90 dogs that have been
at the pound three days are killed to make room for the new dogs.
This happens every day, in your city, in your county, in your state. OK so maybe your local pound only takes in
ten dogs a day and it has space for 70 dogs but they may only save ten dogs a week so everyday 8 or 9 dogs are
killed to make room for more discarded dogs.
The majority of these dogs are young, healthy and friendly but time is not on their side. A lucky dog will be taken
in by a rescue and they will try to find it a home. Rescues have a limited amount of space so they can only rescue
a dog when they have found a dog a home.
For Dogs Sake - Adopt a Dog from a Rescue
Stop Animal Abuse & Save Shelter Animals
Video on YouTube.com featuring photo's of dogs and other animals at Shelters. There are some photographs of
abused and neglected dogs that you may find distressing.
Saving Shelter Pets, Inc.
At this time, Saving Shelter Pets' primary focus is on high-kill shelters in Georgia. Georgia, and other areas
in the Southeast, face a monumental pet overpopulation problem. Every day, thousands of perfectly adoptable
animals are euthanized because there are simply not enough homes for them all. While many shelters in Georgia
have made great strides toward ending the unnecessary killing of healthy pets, many shelters simply cannot
handle the numbers of animals coming through their doors. Even worse, however, is that many shelters still
use the gas chamber as a method of "euthanasia." This method of killing pets has been almost universally
condemned as inhumane.
Saving Lives One At A Time
Saving Lives, One At A Time features the profiles of death row dogs and cats as well as unique information
regarding rescue and adoption of shelter pets.
Save These Shelter Dogs Lives, Please
Seeking to Save Shelter Dogs From Death
By VERENA DOBNIK
"People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life - like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?
Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long."
A six year old boys explanation for why dogs do not live as long as people, prompted by the death of his dog.
|
Save a Sanctuary Dog
Sanctuary dogs usually fit into one of two categories. The first type is the adoptable dog that is constantly
overlooked by people searching for a dog. This may be because they are older,
or young and lively, or maybe they just look like an ordinary 'mutt' amongst the many other dogs needing a home.
These are dogs that still have so much love to give
and have sat waiting very patiently for a home to call their own. They may have spent many months, possibly years
living in a kennel so will need some time and attention to fit into a home routine.
It is possible that such a dog may be better off being moved to another rescue that receives more visitors.
Many national rescues will move long stay dogs to another area in the hope of finding them a home.
The second type of sanctuary dogs are the ones that will live out their days at the rescue. These dogs tend to
either suffer from health problems, behavioural problems or are just too old. The rescue will care for these
dogs until it is their time to cross the Rainbow Bridge. Some of the lucky ones live out their
days in a foster home, others have to live in a kennel and thus have less human contact.
Most small rescues will be very grateful if you can sponsor a long stay dog, even if you just contribute to
buying them food or medication.
Click here to see the 'Sanctuary' dogs at Hickory Hill Canine Rescue, Ashland, VA
|
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated" - Mahatma Gandhi
|
The English are a Nation of Dog Lovers?
Almost 5,000 dogs have been thrown out on to the streets of Wearside and East Durham in the five years from 2002-2007,
with up to one in five being put to sleep because homes could not be found for them.
Click here to read the article in the Sunderland Echo
A dog was tied up in a bin bag and left to die in a concrete culvert in Oswestry, Shropshire.
The black and white female Shih Tzu was found badly injured, dehydrated and starving on Christmas Day by a
woman who heard her whimpering as she walked her own dog.
Click here to read the article at the Telegraph.co.uk
Page updated: 1st July 2008
|
