What happens when you take your dog to the pound

ORIGINAL: Bobsk8


You are right as far as I am concerned.  If I had to execute innocent dogs in a shelter in order to make a living, I would rather be homeless and live on the street...

 
Absolutely!!  Amen to that!!! [sm=bravo.gif]

I hope you can sleep at night doing what you do.  I couldn't.....Have you ever thought, as your holding the dog or cat down to be executed, that it could be your own dog could be the one about to die like that?

I don't work there anymore.  I volunteer for resuce.  And I HAVE been the one holding MY pet as it went to sleep.  Being an animal owner, nobody is exempt from doing that.  Not truly.  I know some people who can't bear to send their pets to the bridge, and they leave the room or the building while the animal is being euth'd.

I thought about doing that with my own cat I just put down, but I couldn't say goodbye that way, so I stayed and rubbed behind her ears (her favorite spot) as she went to sleep.

I am not a "hardened" person.  I've always been this way...it's just how I am.  I'm very open with my dogs and my cats, just not with people (not in person).  And I have to tell you, you don't make a living off $7.25 an hour.  You do it because you love animals and the joy it brings people for the ones that get out.

Just because I'm not a person who collapses in hysterics and cries "FOUL! FOUL!" everytime an animal is euthanized, it doesn't mean that I don't care about those animals, and it doesn't mean that I'm a souless person (as it would seem you'd like to believe).  It just means I don't wear my heart on my sleeve for those animals.

Sure I mourn their deaths...but I've mourned the deaths of many, and you just learn to move on ahead and help the next ones that come in, because we all know there will be "next ones".  Falling apart or screaming "NO FAIR!!" everytime an animal is euthanized is a good way to get yourself to crack and end up in the loony bin with a heart (and psyche) that nobody can repair because you've allowed all the trauma of it to get to you.

The way I look at it, I'm a soldier in a battlefield.  I lost some of my troops to death, but there are still other troops out there that need my aid.  I can mourn the dead later.  They're gone.  Nothing I can do.  It's the living that need to be my concern.  Doesn't mean you stop caring.  It just means you know how to move on.
 
People like you (DogAdvocat, Bobsk8, amylu) don't get people like me, because you base everything off of emotion.  I base things off facts, off hard evidence.  Emotion clouds people's judgement and limits their ability to be reasonable.  I don't need that.  I separate emotion from science/evidence as much as possible, because it makes things more clear cut and logical for me (and I'm not all that logical when it comes down to it, so I need a clear train of thought).  Nothing wrong with emotion at the right time, but the right time is not in the middle of the work day after you've just euthanized 12 animals and still have 5 hours left on your shift.
 
If you're going to mourn, do it after hours when you're off the clock and at home, where it won't inhibit your performance at work and helping others.

Here is another way to executed unwanted dogs...

[linkhttp://www.all-creatures.org/adow/art-20060816.html]http://www.all-creatures.org/adow/art-20060816.html[/link]

ORIGINAL: Bobsk8

That is the way I feel about it, and so do most people, and that is why it passed the assembly yesterday and is on it's way to the senate.

 
As much as I am pro-spay/neuter, you need to be VERY VERY careful about stating what other people think.  There is just no way for you to know this.
 
A lof of people were opposed to the war in Iraq, and that passed, too....... sometimes our representatives DO NOT represent us.

ORIGINAL: DogAdvocat
The city this law was based on was Santa Cruz, and the euthanasia did not go up, their intace went down 68%.

Unless you are claiming that 68% of the shelter intake was unsold puppies surrendered by breeders, there are other factors at work here.
 
***Edited to correct the percentage in my sentence above.***

ORIGINAL: DogAdvocat
What current laws are you speaking of?  There certainly aren't any about producing unwanted animals, or breeding animals to be placed in homes that will dump them on the shelter system. 

I hope you are not under the impression that AB1634 is going to do anything to keep puppies from being sold to people that will "dump them on the shelter system".

ORIGINAL: DogAdvocat
I agree with you about the need to stop commercial breeders, but this legislation requires breeders to compete with their dogs, and how many commercial breeders do that?

I want to try this point one more time and please don't point me to a law interpretation page.  I am quite able to read and understand the law.

Below the phrase "any of the following conditions are met" refers to (1)-(6), but only part of the text appears below.   Those with a breeder's license are NOT required to show or compete with their dogs.  That requirement of AB1634 only applies to healthy, non-working dogs belonging to those that do not hold a breeder's license. 

Those with a breeder's license do not need to prove in any way that their dogs are worthy of being bred.  That may be required to get a breeder's license, but AB1634 does not concern itself with the requirements for a breeder's license.  This hole in the law is big enough to drive a pair of side-by-side snowplows through.
 
[linkwww.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_1601-1650/ab_1634_bill_20070531_amended_asm_v94.html[/link]>http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_1601-1650/ab_1634_bill_20070531_amended_asm_v94.html]www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_1601-1650/ab_1634_bill_20070531_amended_asm_v94.html[/link]
"AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 31, 2007 ...
 
122336.2.  (a)  A local jurisdiction shall issue an intact permit, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 122336, if the owner provides sufficient proof, as determined by the local jurisdiction or its authorized local animal control agency, that any of the following conditions are met:
(1)  The owner demonstrates, by providing a copy of his or her business license and federal and state tax number, or by other proof, as required by the local jurisdiction or its authorized local animal control agency, that he or she is doing business and is licensed as a breeder at a location for which the local jurisdiction or its authorized local animal control agency has issued a breeder license.
(2)  The owner's cat or dog is a valid breed that is recognized by an approved registry or association, and complies with at least one of the following:
      (A)  His or her cat or dog is used to show or compete
             and has competed in at least one legitimate show or
             sporting competition     ...

ORIGINAL: xeph
People like you (DogAdvocat, Bobsk8, amylu) don't get people like me, because you base everything off of emotion. I base things off facts, off hard evidence. Emotion clouds people's judgement and limits their ability to be reasonable.

[sm=bravo.gif]     [sm=bravo.gif]     [sm=bravo.gif]
Xeph, you and I are in total agreement.  People who keep throwing emotional "arguments" at me are spitting into the wind. 
 
I don't need to be convinced that we need to reduce the number of animals PTS in shelters.  I need to be convinced that AB1634 is the way to do that.  So far I am not convinced.

ORIGINAL: Bobsk8
I hope you can sleep at night doing what you do. I couldn't.....Have you ever thought, as your holding the dog or cat down to be executed, that it could be your own dog could be the one about to die like that?

I have a lot of respect for the shelter workers who can calmly and gently put down animals.  If they didn't do their jobs, more and more animals would be shoved into the cages until they started killing each other.  Of course, AC could just leave the animals on the streets to starve, to get hit by cars, to get torn apart by coyotes, or ...
 
Until we educate people on how to train their dogs and teach them to value and respect their pets, we will have big shelters.  For one reason or another, some dogs in those shelters will not be adoptable.  The kindest thing for many of those animals will be to gently let them go.
 
Yes, some shelters don't use gentle methods to put animals down and that needs to change.  Yes, we need find ways to stop putting down animals because we don't have enough room for them in the shelters.
 
However, I don't believe that you or anyone else has the right to belittle shelter workers just because they have a skill that you think is used too often.  Like it or not, it is a skill that we will always need.
 
I stroked the neck and rubbed the ears of my elderly terrier when the time came to let her go.  Some dogs reach the end of their lives without an owner to comfort them.  Many shelter workers try to provide that comfort at great cost to themselves.  I commend their efforts!!

ORIGINAL: Bobsk8
All the pro AB1634 people want to do is to reduce this daily horror story that is just like a WWll concentration camp for dogs, complete with mass executions. How sad that people want to fight this effort to stop all these animals from suffering!!

Bob, melodrama like this is not helping your cause. 
 
AB1634 doesn't stop pups coming in from Mexico or from surrounding states.  It doesn't keep the big commercial outfits from spewing out all the pups that they want.  It supplies no funding for enforcement.  It doesn't give rules for qualifying for a breeder's license - not even a "valid breed" requirement (could even be mixed breeds).  There is no definition of a "valid breed" or an "approved registry or association" for those without a breeder's license. 
 
This law just lets the legislators say "Look what a good job we did" and go back to business as usual.  There is so much more work to be done, but they could still say "We passed a law to deal with the issue".  As is AB1634 is so vague that there will be lots of court challenges using up taxpayer money.
 
If AB1634 does go into effect, there will be less pups in shelters and more in bags at the bottom of a lake.  Older pups and dogs will still come into the shelters as strays and owner surrenders because there are no education provisions in AB1634 (and no funds even if there were such provisions).  There isn't even a requirement that pups be microchipped so more strays can be returned to their owners.
 
AB1634 is a smoke screen pretending to be effective action.

Ok  question.... I have been reading the links on the law.  At one point I read the section on mandatory spay neuter.  At another section, the statements indicated animals could not be euthanized (provisions regarding health and temperment not withstanding).
 
So in  CA everything (except the breeding stock in puppy mills) will end up spayed and neutered, and anything that is managed to be produced will be kept alive.  So how is that really going to help....
 
One possible outcome, numbers really wont go down,,, or the number will go down and fewer dogs from responsible breeders will be available in CA.  Again the potential of unintended outcomes.

ORIGINAL: janet_rose

ORIGINAL: Bobsk8
I hope you can sleep at night doing what you do. I couldn't.....Have you ever thought, as your holding the dog or cat down to be executed, that it could be your own dog could be the one about to die like that?

I have a lot of respect for the shelter workers who can calmly and gently put down animals.  If they didn't do their jobs, more and more animals would be shoved into the cages until they started killing each other.  Of course, AC could just leave the animals on the streets to starve, to get hit by cars, to get torn apart by coyotes, or ...

Until we educate people on how to train their dogs and teach them to value and respect their pets, we will have big shelters.  For one reason or another, some dogs in those shelters will not be adoptable.  The kindest thing for many of those animals will be to gently let them go.

Yes, some shelters don't use gentle methods to put animals down and that needs to change.  Yes, we need find ways to stop putting down animals because we don't have enough room for them in the shelters.

However, I don't believe that you or anyone else has the right to belittle shelter workers just because they have a skill that you think is used too often.  Like it or not, it is a skill that we will always need.

I stroked the neck and rubbed the ears of my elderly terrier when the time came to let her go.  Some dogs reach the end of their lives without an owner to comfort them.  Many shelter workers try to provide that comfort at great cost to themselves.  I commend their efforts!!

This is a shelter worker talking about his job....


[linkhttp://www.all-creatures.org/adow/art-20060816.html]http://www.all-creatures.org/adow/art-20060816.html[/link]

ORIGINAL: janet_rose

ORIGINAL: Bobsk8
All the pro AB1634 people want to do is to reduce this daily horror story that is just like a WWll concentration camp for dogs, complete with mass executions. How sad that people want to fight this effort to stop all these animals from suffering!!

Bob, melodrama like this is not helping your cause. 

AB1634 doesn't stop pups coming in from Mexico or from surrounding states.  It doesn't keep the big commercial outfits from spewing out all the pups that they want.  It supplies no funding for enforcement.  It doesn't give rules for qualifying for a breeder's license - not even a "valid breed" requirement (could even be mixed breeds).  There is no definition of a "valid breed" or an "approved registry or association" for those without a breeder's license. 

This law just lets the legislators say "Look what a good job we did" and go back to business as usual.  There is so much more work to be done, but they could still say "We passed a law to deal with the issue".  As is AB1634 is so vague that there will be lots of court challenges using up taxpayer money.

If AB1634 does go into effect, there will be less pups in shelters and more in bags at the bottom of a lake.  Older pups and dogs will still come into the shelters as strays and owner surrenders because there are no education provisions in AB1634 (and no funds even if there were such provisions).  There isn't even a requirement that pups be microchipped so more strays can be returned to their owners.

AB1634 is a smoke screen pretending to be effective action.

Well I guess we will see what happens , when it goes into effect, which I am certain it will.  One thing it will do is force the breeders to document their business and pay taxes, which I think is the main reason they are fighting this tooth and nail. The other effect, will be to reduce the number of animals born everyday, which will lower the numbers streaming into shelters on a daily basis.  

ORIGINAL: janet_rose

ORIGINAL: Bobsk8
All the pro AB1634 people want to do is to reduce this daily horror story that is just like a WWll concentration camp for dogs, complete with mass executions. How sad that people want to fight this effort to stop all these animals from suffering!!

Bob, melodrama like this is not helping your cause. 

Not "melodrama", just  "Reality".  Some people just have problems dealing with the truth of what is actually happening. 

Folks, we live in a throw away society.  Toaster doesn't work?  Chuck it and buy a new one....it's become more cost effective to simply fill the landfill and buy new than to fix most things.  Sadly this carries over to living breathing things too.  Marriage gets hard?  Chuck it and try again....heaven forbid we WORK on a relationship.....when I was a child, divorce was scandelous....a divorcee was a "loose woman" out to find it where ever she could get it.....not a good situation, but heck how many?  2 out of 3 marriages end in divorce?  Commitment?  Sure, until it gets too hard.  If we can throw away a human being that isn't working in our lives, why the heck would we keep an ANIMAL who is chewing the sofa, or peeing on the floor or becomes too much work?
 
Now, before I get accused of being a hypocrite....yes, I divorced a "man".  One who abused me mentally, emotionally and finally physically.  One who cheated and drank and didn't work unless he wanted to.  One who caused damage to my children by being a butthole.  One who beat me so badly that my daughter was born 4 months early with serious physical damage from the beating and only lived a couple hours.  I never held her, never saw her alive because I was in surgery from the beating.  So, yep, I threw away a man that I should have never married, should have never had children with, but I stayed for one heck of a long time because of that feeling that marriage isn't something to be tossed away lightly.
 
My whole point here is that we can pass all the laws we want to pass, but until WE as a society in general began to once again place value on all living things and don't feel free to toss away the inconvenient, the old, (and don't get me started on the elderly I volunteer with who never SEE the families who put them there), the "broken" or sick....well, no laws will stop the shelters from filling up and overflowing, because we can "always get a new one".  Commitment has to happen before the laws mean spit.

http://www.crean.com/jimwillis/hcy.html