We’ve mentioned before that 3-4 million animals are euthanized every year across the country because shelters can’t keep up with the influx of abandoned, stray, unsuitable or otherwise unwanted pets.
We’ve talked about the issue of shelter overcrowding and how responsible pet ownership actions like spaying/neutering, microchipping and adopting can reduce the number of strays and unwanted pets adding to the problem.
What we haven’t told you is the sordid reality animal shelters have to live with – the story of what happens to those 3-4 million animals who die every year because of human indifference, and the story of the shelter workers who bear the burden of those deaths.
It’s hard to know – because once you do, you can’t un-know and then you have to do something. So we’re going to tell you – because if just one person reads this blog and decides they’re going to do even just one thing to address the problem, a life has been saved.
Steve Blows of The Dallas Morning News ran this piece on Thursday telling the story of what happens to animals that aren’t adopted – they’re “dealt with – needle stick after needle stick, 80 to 100 times a day” by shelter workers afraid to give their names because people would turn on them for “taking up the slack.. because someone has been irresponsible.”
What we haven’t told you is the sordid reality animal shelters have to live with – the story of what happens to those 3-4 million animals who die every year because of human indifference, and the story of the shelter workers who bear the burden of those deaths.
It’s hard to know – because once you do, you can’t un-know and then you have to do something. So we’re going to tell you – because if just one person reads this blog and decides they’re going to do even just one thing to address the problem, a life has been saved.
Steve Blows of The Dallas Morning News ran this piece on Thursday telling the story of what happens to animals that aren’t adopted – they’re “dealt with – needle stick after needle stick, 80 to 100 times a day” by shelter workers afraid to give their names because people would turn on them for “taking up the slack.. because someone has been irresponsible.”
It’s heart rending to read about a trusting and happy dog – “a black-and-tan mutt with eager eyes and a wagging tail” - brought into the sterile back room of an animal shelter, only to be efficiently dispatched in the ultimate betrayal he will suffer at the hands of humans. It’s appalling to think of the psychological cost to shelter workers, many of them who do the job because they love animals, having to steel themselves to take one innocent life after another.And it’s shameful to know that because there are so many of them, these thousands of unwanted pets will not even achieve dignity in death. They will be bagged and carried in twice-daily ignominy “to the landfill to be buried with the rest of the city's trash”.
How many of you would be OK with this happening to a family member? Because that’s what our pets are – they’re family – dependent on us for their very lives.
If you’re not OK with it, then we challenge you to do your bit! Adopt a pet from a shelter or humane association. Have your pets spayed or neutered. Microchip and tag them. Keep them safe so they can’t get lost. Educate your friends, family and colleagues.
Pets are family – they’re not landfill.
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