600 Euthanized in a month? (miranadobe)

nymaureen

A lot of people doing a little adds up.

TOTALLY AGREE!  One friend who knows grooming, one friend who knows photography, one day a month and that's one or more animals who could have a better chance at a forever home.  I recall seeing gawd-awful pics of Dobes in county/town shelter on petfinder.com, and the only reason we even knew about their condition in a shelter was because that woman got, literally, 2 minutes with a dog in order to take it's picture.  That gave it a chance to be seen by our rescue, or potential adopters looking for a particular type of dog.  That one pic and the time to post it on petfinder.com...

And, remember, for every person who offers advice or information on training, behavior, nutrition, whelping, transports, etc, etc here on this board - you are helping to keep a dog in its home, or get it to a new one.  Sometimes it can seem overwhelming, and the committment to some ideas can be more than you can do.... but offering the idea to others who can form a network could be the ticket.  You never know.  Keep the ideas flowing...!

DougB

They hit up every corporation, every philanthropic group, and apply for every grant they can think of.  Their current facility is totally inadequate, but the new one is going to be beautiful.

 I think it's one of the many things the NHSPCA did right, too... their facility is beautiful... and they MARKET their animals.  It's an inviting space that makes it feel less depressing, more bright and cheerful.  This may sound wrong, but if you're competing with the people who want to buy puppies from a shop, those people are easily overwhelmed by sad, scary conditions in an average pound.  I don't know how many people I've heard say "oh, I just can't look at that!" and turn away from abuse or neglect stories, which means turning away from the average abandoned pet, too.  Being at this shelter is much more open, and you're given plenty of time to just spend with the animals, without invading the space of those who need it, etc.  This shelter sets up ways for people to sponsor individual kennels for dogs, cats, bunnies, etc for a month, even.. so your funds can be visible and that makes people feel good, no matter how much or how little they have to give. 

I live in Kent County, Michigan.  We have a county shelter which gets all the animals the ACOs/police pick up and people can dump for free.  Then we have the Humane Society of Kent County which is *not* HSUS affiliated, totally funded by donations and its own operations.  There are several local rescues - some great and some pretty shady.  We also have C-SNIP, a "low-pay-spay" program.

The county shelter, the humane society shelter, C-SNIP, and Vicky's Pet Connection (great local rescue where I got Coke and one of my cats) formed their own "network" which has worked out really well.  Basically they try to relieve numbers from each other.  If the HS has space they will pull from the county shelter, that sort of thing.

KAN is committed to the reduction and eventual elimination of pet euthanasia in our community while providing continued excellence in each organization's area of expertise. Our cooperative efforts are already making a difference.

Since KAN was founded in 1999, the Kent County Animal Shelter has seen a 15% reduction in the number of animals being euthanized as a result of overpopulation, The Humane Society of Kent County has seen a 10% reduction during the same time period. C-SNIP sterilizes about 1,000 animals per month while Vicky's Pet Connection adopts over 100 animals a month.

Animals are now being transferred among all of the KAN organizations in order to minimize the numbers of animals euthanized in Kent County as well. Every effort is being made to save lives.

http://www.hskc.org/about-us-kan.htm

As long as I live here, these two shelters and VPC will always be the *first* places I look for animals to adopt.

Also, I work on a college campus that houses a large lab.  The lab does the PALS program with cats, and a yearly K911 Conference with dogs.  These are *not* animal research, despite what PETA spews.  The lab removes dogs and cats at risk from the county shelter.  The PALS program involves med students learning how to intubate a child but using a cat while it is under anesthesia for spay/neuter.  Before anyone screams about animal cruelty, ask yourself if you're OK with no one knowing how to intubate your child when s/he has a blockage and can't breathe.  The cats are already under for the speuter surgery.  They have never experienced a single complication.  The dogs are just used a demo dogs for seminars on K9 first aid (how to wrap a bandage, how to carry the dog, etc).  All the animals receive great care and are adopted.  I've been to the facility many times (I have two cats from them and have looked at multiple dogs) and it's actually nicer than the other shelters here.

 

JackieG

We have to teach them, at a young age, the value of having a dog or cat who is part of the family.  It's much easier to teach a child to care, than an adult who never learned it as a child. 

I totally agree that teaching kids, both young, & a little older, about the value of pets, & the need for proper care & training is so important.  Our therapy group has started a program to try to help educate school age kids about responsible pet ownership.  We are also working with our local university's Panhelleninc Council to try to start providing responsible pet ownership seminars to college age students.

Immediately, I believe that the best thing that a person can do is to volunteer their time.  I dont' think that people realize any amount of time that they spend with a dog in a shelter situation, is much needed interaction.  Taking one dog for a 30 minute walk may seem inconsequential to you, but I promise that it makes a huge difference to that dog.

 Sadly I can't think of anything particular unless we can somehow attach some value to the animals.  Sadly many people don't value dogs and cats that highly so it doesn't matter if they are slain by the millions.  It is similar to how in Africa many people wouldn't think twice about killing wildlife that got in the way of their crops, animals ect.  Then they started having programs based on tourism that attached monitary value to the same wildlife and suddenly the animals directly improved their lively hood.  Because they were directly profiting, the same effort they put into getting rid of the annoyances is now being used to protect them.  It sounds cold but the fact is money talks.  Unless there is something in it for people to spay, neuter, and otherwise keep their shelter numbers down, I can't see things changing anytime soon.  Right now it is far to easy to be lazy and seemingly get away with zero punishment. 

 Now I'm sure I'm going to get flamed, but it also seems that with as many animals as we are killing each day their ought to be something constructive that can be done with carcasses, other than tossing them in a ditch.  When there are people on this planet starving to death each day there should be something more we can do with fresh meat.

Krissim Klaw

 Now I'm sure I'm going to get flamed, but it also seems that with as many animals as we are killing each day their ought to be something constructive that can be done with carcasses, other than tossing them in a ditch.  When there are people on this planet starving to death each day there should be something more we can do with fresh meat.

 

It just wouldn't be practical.  You would have to stop using any form of drugs to euth or the gas chamber.  Storage and transport would add more costs.  For cattle and other livestock some of the costs are deducted from the total paid to the seller of the animal, obvioulsy not going to happen with dogs and cats that end up at a facility that is not designed to make a profit.

Plus, technically, the USDA has labeled them inedible, so, though other countries eat dog and cat, its technically illegal to butcher and eat dog, cat, and horse here.

BlackLabbie

DH, from rural upstate NY, was *NOT* brought up that way....which really surprises me because everyone has dogs, cats, farm animals... He was brought up that dogs are pets until....well, you get sick of them, they get old, you just don't want them anymore, etc (BS excuses). I had to educate that boy! I drilled it into his head we're not breeders or showers so we're spaying/neutering and probably always rescuing, too. Now he's a total pet person, lol. And I even has witnessed him getting on his friends case who wanted to breed their BYB Lab to a Golden down the street (that visibly looked like it has loose/bad hips) to breed the hyperness out of his Lab. WTF!?!?! DH gave his friend a lot of education (in a guy's way, lmao), and the friend ended up spaying his dog! Yay!

 

Oh god, that's so true about upstate NY. I grew up in a nice suburb of DC where everyone S/Ns, but I currently live in rural upstate NY. Those two places could not be more different. Most of the applications I get for Aussie Rescue don't even have a regular vet. My approval rate is like 1 out of 30 applications. DH calls me the Aussie rejection line. But the sad truth is there are very few good homes to place dogs in. They either plan to tie the dog up, let it run loose, or don't have a vet for their current pets.

I basically treat everything as an education opportunity and try to be nice because folks don't always have bad intentions, they just have never seen pets in a different light as BlackLabbie pointed out. Which brings me back to educating kids.

When I do training consults, I also try to get kids and adults excited about training tricks and stuff, because that kind of thing will make people bond more closely with their pets even if they didn't intend to and usually better care follows naturally.  

Pit_Pointer_Aussie

Oh god, that's so true about upstate NY. I grew up in a nice suburb of DC where everyone S/Ns,

 

Its too expensive not to.....I got Maggie's dog license before we had her spayed, and it was $64!!  Now that she's had the snipper, its, like $10 or something...guess that only applies if you license your dog...

maggiesmommy

Pit_Pointer_Aussie

Oh god, that's so true about upstate NY. I grew up in a nice suburb of DC where everyone S/Ns,

 

Its too expensive not to.....I got Maggie's dog license before we had her spayed, and it was $64!!  Now that she's had the snipper, its, like $10 or something...guess that only applies if you license your dog...

 

LOL, I forgot about that. Our vet down there was also like $75 just for an appointment when DH and I lived in DC. Here it's like $30 and one vet doesn't even charge me if I am just running in being neurotic and over-reacting about something.  

We also did a lot of fund raising in DC -- happy hours, auctions, etc. Stuff that just doesn't work here. Most folks can barely afford to go out to dinner themselves let alone buy a ticket for a raffle or a special happy hour. 

nymaureen

 A lot of people doing a little adds up.

Agreed 100%.  I think a lot of people feel that if they can't make a big financial donation or take two or three dogs home with them, there isn't anything they can do.  Just little things like tossing an extra gallon of bleach or a bag of store brand food into your shopping cart or hitting up some thrift stores for toys or towels can make a really huge difference.

Joyce

I echo what several previous posters said, education, education, education, especially the kids.  The problems may not be solved until the next generation realizes the importance of caring for an animal family member which must include speutering.

Speak at schools, after school care, scouts, day cares, etc.  Teach the kids.  The cycle must be broken with education.

Krissim Klaw

 Sadly I can't think of anything particular unless we can somehow attach some value to the animals.  Sadly many people don't value dogs and cats that highly so it doesn't matter if they are slain by the millions.

  And even sadder is that shelter workers are can be some of the worst offenders as far as not valuing the life of animals in their care.

I made this comment on Pet Finder and got ripped up pretty good, but it is a consideration.

Some of the rules that rescues use actually hinder placing pets.  It seems like it is better to euth an animal than place it with a family that doesn't meet standards set by the rescue.  A potential adopter comes to a rescue, goes thru all the hoops, and is rejected because  they kennel a dog , or use a pet door.  They fix the" problems"and go to another rescue , go thru a different set of hoops, and are rejected because now they don't have a pet door.  Or they live on a farm and are rejected because they want the cat to hunt mice in the barn. Or they want to hunt the dog.

 I am considering getting another dog, preferably a Springer. I agree with spay/neuter, vet care, quality food, training, but I also leave my dog in a kennel when I am not home or when she starts helping with the housework.  So, many rescues wont consider me .  And they have a clause in the contract where they can take the animal back if they don't like the way I treat it.  This means that I pay an adoption fee to rent an animal, getting the right to pay for feeding, vetting , training and loving an animal that I can lose because someone doesn't agree with the way I care for an animal.

I understand the need for standard and agree that a rescue has the right to set their own.  They own the dog.  But if the option is killing an animal because the inn is full, maybe some flexibility in the standards is needed.  (Before I get any comments about the kennel, Piper is on the sofa right now and will move to a bed after she gets some rest .  The doghouse is heated, the water bowl is heated, there is a tarp and sun screen over the kennel)

DougB

 

Some of the rules that rescues use actually hinder placing pets.  It seems like it is better to euth an animal than place it with a family that doesn't meet standards set by the rescue.  A potential adopter comes to a rescue, goes thru all the hoops, and is rejected because  they kennel a dog , or use a pet door. 

 

I'm so glad someone else feels this way...when I was in college, I went through all the hoops, home inspections, interviews, etc.  TWICE to get a dog in need of a home...and both times, they waited until the day before I was to pick them up to tell me that because I'm a college student, they don't trust me to give them a forever home...one dog with aggression towards red hats went to a home with small children...I would have given those dogs GREAT homes...I have always been taught that a dog is a forever commitment...that's why, despite the millions of dogs in shelters that need homes, I got Maggie from a breeder...I've been soured on shelters.