I dont normally post things like this but...

ElKavo

As the title suggests. After reading the following piece I felt motivated to post this here. I know it relates to the states but the exact same things occur here and do in every other country. If you are thinking of getting a dog / cat please read and take the shelter route in to mind.

Thanks

I think our society needs a huge "Wake-up" call. As a shelter manager, I am going to share a little insight with you all... a view from the inside if you will.

First off, all of you people who have ever surrendered a pet to a shelter or humane society 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 stop flagging the ads on Craigslist and help these animals find homes. That puppy you just bought will most likely end up in my shelter when it's not a cute little puppy anymore. Just so you know there's a 90% chance that dog will never walk out of the shelter it's dumped at? Purebred or not! About 25% of all of the dogs that are "owner surrenders" or "strays", that come into a shelter are purebred dogs.

The most common excuses: "We are moving and we can't take our dog (or cat)." Really? 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".

Odds are your pet won't get adopted & how stressful do you think being in a shelter is? Well, let me tell you, your pet 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 & your dog manages to stay completely healthy. If it sniffles, it dies. Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room with other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats & sleeps. It will be depressed & it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it. If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers in that day to take him/her for a walk. If I don't, your pet won't get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door & the waste sprayed out of its pen with a high-powered 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 'sweet' or 'well behaved' they are.

If your dog doesn't get adopted in 72 hours & the shelter is full in most cases, it will be destroyed. If the shelter isn't full & your dog is good enough & of a desirable enough breed it may get a stay of execution, but not for long. Most dogs get very kennel protective after about a week & 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 & will be destroyed because the shelter gets paid a fee to euthanize each animal, & making money is better than spending money to take this animal to the vet.

Here's a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being "put-down".

First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash. They always look like they think they are going for a walk happy, wagging their tails. Until they get to "The Room", every one of them freaks out & puts on the brakes when we get to the door. It must smell like death or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there, it's strange, but it happens with every one of them.

When it all ends, your pet's corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer in the back with all of the other animals that were killed, waiting to be picked up like garbage.

What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet food? Or used for the schools to dissect & experiment on? You'll never know and it probably won't even cross your mind. It was just an animal and you can always buy another one, right?

I hope that those of you who still have a beating heart & have read this are bawling your eyes out & can't get the pictures out of your head, I deal w/ this everyday. I hate my job, I hate that it exists & I hate that it will always be there unless you people make some changes & start educating the public. Do research, do your homework & know exactly what you are getting into before getting a pet.

These shelters & humane societies exist because people just do not care about animals anymore. Animals were not intended to be disposable but somehow that is what they are these days. Animal shelters are an easy way out when you get tired of your animal & breeders are the ones blamed for this. Animal shelters & rescue orgs are making a hefty profit by keeping this misconception going.

Between 9 & 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters (Humane Society of the US estimates 3-4 million) & only you - as a pet owner can stop it. I just hope I maybe changed one persons mind about taking their dog to a shelter, a humane society, or buying a dog without researching. For those of you that care--- please re-post this to at least one other Craigslist in another city/state. Let's see if we can get this all around the US and have an impact.

THINK before your selfishness begins to take over.

fatmammycat

I bought my dog from a reputable breeder after over a year of research, and I'm not at all sorry about the 'route' I took. He's exactly what I wanted, right down to temperament, which is that of his sire.
Currently he's asleep in the kitchen, tired from being out for over 2 hours this morning. He will live with me for all of his natural life, he will eat well and be loved and taken care of for that length of time, I'll stay with him if he ever needs to be euthanized, I won't leave him to die alone. I don't actually care much what happens to his body once he is dead, I will most likely donate it for training purposes.
While I agree with the sentiments expressed in the cut and paste and think adopting from pounds is terrific, responsible owners are NOT the reason the pounds are full, irresponsible owners are and it can get galling when the mantra of 'rescue rescue rescue' is sung constantly. Rescue if you want, and good for you, but it is not the be all and end to pet ownership.

ElKavo

fatmammycat wrote: »

I bought my dog from a reputable breeder after over a year of research, and I'm not at all sorry about the 'route' I took. He's exactly what I wanted, right down to temperament, which is that of his sire.
Currently he's asleep in the kitchen, tired from being out for over 2 hours this morning. He will live with me for all of his natural life, he will eat well and be loved and taken care of for that length of time, I'll stay with him if he ever needs to be euthanized, I won't leave him to die alone. I don't actually care much what happens to his body once he is dead, I will most likely donate it for training purposes.
While I agree with the sentiments expressed in the cut and paste and think adopting from pounds is terrific, responsible owners are NOT the reason the pounds are full, irresponsible owners are and it can get galling when the mantra of 'rescue rescue rescue' is sung constantly. Rescue if you want, and good for you, but it is not the be all and end to pet ownership.

I agree with you completely, I myself have had three pedigree dogs over the years and all stayed with us and lived in house until they passed on. It is really just an eye opener not a dig at any responsible owner. There are hundreds of people who will come to this forum who are looking for a dog / cat and may never have taken the shelter route into the equation.

tk123

fatmammycat wrote: »

I bought my dog from a reputable breeder after over a year of research, and I'm not at all sorry about the 'route' I took. He's exactly what I wanted, right down to temperament, which is that of his sire.
Currently he's asleep in the kitchen, tired from being out for over 2 hours this morning. He will live with me for all of his natural life, he will eat well and be loved and taken care of for that length of time, I'll stay with him if he ever needs to be euthanized, I won't leave him to die alone. I don't actually care much what happens to his body once he is dead, I will most likely donate it for training purposes.
While I agree with the sentiments expressed in the cut and paste and think adopting from pounds is terrific, responsible owners are NOT the reason the pounds are full, irresponsible owners are and it can get galling when the mantra of 'rescue rescue rescue' is sung constantly. Rescue if you want, and good for you, but it is not the be all and end to pet ownership.

+1 and was this not pasted into a thread a while back with pages of buyer-bashing? TBH I dreaded not being able to find a good breeder and having to post on here looking for suggestions because I knew the reaction I'd get. Too many people tar all owners with the same brush

fatmammycat

tk123 wrote: »

+1 and was this not pasted into a thread a while back with pages of buyer-bashing? TBH I dreaded not being able to find a good breeder and having to post on here looking for suggestions because I knew the reaction I'd get. Too many people tar all owners with the same brush

Aye, my cats were all rescued, and I was glad to give them a home for life, but I wanted a very specific dog, from puppyhood, and I had to be sure because of his breed that his parents passed certain health checks, also the temperament of the parents was important as he is an RB dog, and sometimes genetics can be a minefield.
I genuinely know some amazing rescue dogs and think it's great that so many people do choose rescue pets, but there is definitely a touch of 'oh you BOUGHT your dog?' from some quarters ( I'm looking at you PETA) that infiltrates people's psyche.

fatmammycat

ElKavo wrote: »

I agree with you completely, I myself have had three pedigree dogs over the years and all stayed with us and lived in house until they passed on. It is really just an eye opener not a dig at any responsible owner. There are hundreds of people who will come to this forum who are looking for a dog / cat and may never have taken the shelter route into the equation.

I find in this forum rescue is suggested in the majority of the replies to queries regarding what type of dog/cat to get. Not that there is anything wrong with that either. The incredible work that some rescues do deserves respect.

I dont think there are any reputable breeders in Ireland, simply due to the fact there are so many dogs being put down. There needs to be a 10 year blanket ban on breeding, or a ban on the sale of dogs in general.

Knine

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I dont think there are any reputable breeders in Ireland, simply due to the fact there are so many dogs being put down. There needs to be a 10 year blanket ban on breeding, or a ban on the sale of dogs in general.

So I'm not a reputable Breeder? A 10 year ban on breeding dogs would result in several vunerable breeds dying out. A ban on selling dogs would result in a lot of back yard breeders handing their dogs into rescue as they could no longer profit from them.

bluecherry74

Deleted User wrote: »

I dont think there are any reputable breeders in Ireland, simply due to the fact there are so many dogs being put down. There needs to be a 10 year blanket ban on breeding, or a ban on the sale of dogs in general.

If there was a blanket ban on breeding, the reputable breeders would most likely obey the law but the backyard breeders would continue to breed covertly, so the healthy lines would die out leaving the country with mostly unhealthy dogs. We'd be in a worse state than ever.

anniehoo

Knine wrote: »

A ban on selling dogs would result in a lot of back yard breeders handing their dogs into rescue as they could no longer profit from them.

Not an outright ban on selling per se,but there should be rules in place before you can sell them at all....anywhere, even on the likes of DD. For example, you need to have a registered breeder licence number, comply with breed standard rules, proof of health testing etc before you can even get near selling it legally.

This is in the long run would weed out BYB as it would be so much more difficult for them to bypass the normal rules if they havent got the likes of DD/Buyandsell to fall back on. I know it'd mean an influx of dogs to rescues initially, but if its impossible for BYBs to sell these animals without complying to the enforced selling rules, then it'd leave only the decent breeders left. Well that's my logic anyway.

I've always said on here whilst it's fantastic to rescue a dog and is my preferred choice, if you know you have sourced your puppy ethically and responsibly then I have no problem with it and should not be made guilty for doing so either.

borderlinemeath

It's a tough one. I know rescue dogs are always suggested to people who start threads with "I'm looking for advice on getting a dog" but in some cases the poster hasn't even thought of looking in a rescue, or has the opinion that all rescue dogs are in some way 'damaged goods' which is so far from the reality. I've nothing against people who want to get pure breeds, I have one myself but I also have a rescue and know just how great they can be.

fits

There are lots of disreputable rescues as well as breeders. Buyer beware applies to both.

Knine

fits wrote: »

There are lots of disreputable rescues as well as breeders. Buyer beware applies to both.

Absolutely. Unfortunately I know some of them & I want to cry when I see people sharing their hard luck stories. Then they go to Florida on the proceeds.

jimf

I for one believe if you are a responsible breeder you will not make money from breeding

I have bred my springers over the years and do so with one thought in mind and that's to hold and improve the lines

im happy if I break even and if it costs me money so what