I met a most interesting woman last week. Her name is Rev Meada Jones and she is a Spiritual Counselor. As we talked and shared our interest, she told me about her involvement in a petition drive in the Deland area to stop the practice of euthanizing abandoned pets.
She immediately scored high on my interest chart because I firmly believe we have the most inhuman procedures for dealing with abandoned pets. Mahatma Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way it treats its animals” Annually, in the US we slaughter 5 million healthy pets.
Rev. Jones told me that in Deland, a group of animal rights activist stopped the cruel and barbaric practice of putting helpless lost pets down. They must now, wait until they are adopted or find a rescue person to care for the pet.
I want to learn more about this and I am going to ask for support to bring this humane treatment of our friends and companion to Flagler County. We can change this. I will keep you informed via post.
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I agree that the practice of putting abandoned pets down is a terrible thing. I am involved in animal rescue, fostering pets, mostly cats (when I speak of animals/cats I mean ALL animals, wildlife included), that have no alternatives, until they are adopted. This can be quite a long time in some cases. But, I get so embarrassed when one of my co-volunteers, or the director of my group “brags” that we are a “no-kill” shelter. As I became familiar with the basic no-kill debate I was humbled. The truth is that just b/c we claim to be “no-kill” does not mean we are superior to the organizations that practice euthanasia.
The Flagler County Humane Society for example does not have the option of refusing drop offs. In shelters that have adopted a policy of “no-kill” the over-crowding can result in truly horrific conditions for the animals. TRULY horrific. My group CAN (and does) turn down animals when there is no foster care space left. That, in my mind, absolutely does NOT make us “no-kill”, rather it just puts the responsibility and blame squarely on the shoulders of other groups, which in turn are villianized for trying to accommodate more and more animals. The volunteers at shelters that practice euthanasia are (usually)not the villians that everyone makes them out to be. To me they are the real heroes b/c they work in a system that breaks their hearts every day but they do it anyway.
Like me, they love these abandoned pets and usually have a houseful of “rescues”. Like me, they run out of room, but keep bringing them home. Like me, they beg family, friends, and neighbors to adopt or foster. UNLIKE me, they bravely work in the overwhelmed underfunded and sorry mess that is their local Humane Society or pound. I couldn’t do it. To my shame, I quit. I then rescued and fostered on my own which I quickly found was not feasible for me financially or mentally. Then I joined up with a “no-kill” group. I felt superior, too, for awhile. Then the above realization dawned on me.
So, the problem is not the euthanizing of unwanted animals, it’s the lack of education for children and young adults and general public of what it means to treat an animal humanely and the consequences of “owning” a pet in an irresponsible way. It’s the breeders who are NOT held accountable for contributing to the problem by selling un-altered pets that won’t be shown in the ring, and disposing of “sub-standard” puppies into an already over burdened system.(I would love to see legislation passed that requires large amounts of donations by breeders to fund shelters, animal retirement, and public awareness campaigns–and horse breeders,etc too) It’s the basic idea most people hold that animals are “owned” and that we can do so but then not have to be responsible for them when we tire of them or they become inconvenient. (we can’t afford them, someone in the family suddenly “has” allergies, they develop “behavior problems” either due to neglect and/or ignorance, or we just want to “get rid of the old and bring in the new”)
The mass murder of these animals is a symptom of the disease.
The disease is made up of a combination of ignorance, apathy, self-centeredness, and love of money.
There is a multitude of answers. But implementing them is very difficult and frankly in the face of human greed and apathy is depressing to contemplate. I’m a pessimist. I see no hope in the near future. I just don’t see how it can be changed to my satisfaction. Education is key to slow it down but by no means will it completely solve the problem. Some are offended when I suggest making photos of the slaughter public. REALLY public. Put up posters in the pet food aisles and by the doggie clothes racks, of the piles of dead animals and crematoriums, and the needle going in one animal after another. Not just the cute snapshots of oh-so-sad puppies peeking out of overcrowded cages that pet stores like to put up so they can advertise what good samaritans they are by donating small percentages of your purchases. The pictures of cute puppies and depressed cats only helps in that someone can donate some cash and feel absolved of guilt. Cash is helpful but doesn’t really change the culture of the problem. There is a film called “Dealing Dogs” that is another horrifying aspect of what can happen to animals in shelters that are sold to make room and profit. Also a prime reason (besides dog ring bait) that animals are stolen. An activist risked his life, tortured his soul, and spent considerable time living with filthy scumbags and watching visions of hell to make this secret documentary. At the end of the film it was on to the next one. You can rent it online through Blockbuster and probably Netflix. I don’t reccommend watching it if you aren’t up to watching cold hard facts and being devastated for ever.
I believe making strict spay/neuter laws and levying large fines on those who allow their animals to reproduce at large (trust me some fools will brag about it citing “Mother Nature”, while I have been out doing TNR, and practically chase me out of the neighborhood while the idiot’s asshole neighbors are laying out poison and “sic”ing their dogs on cats that enter their yards.) Then I become the villian b/c the people who asked me for help somehow think it’s MY JOB and I’m not doing it, and the Fool thinks I’m an evil villian out to hurt his animals, and the Assholes who hate the animals want to murder me on site b/c if I DON’T remove the animals I’M the problem. And everyone wants it to be solved but the majority don’t want to get their hands dirty or open their wallets. They just want me to solve the community problem.
I quit doing TNR too. I am a coward. I still have traps. I still use them occasionally for lending out or trapping sick animals that I try to help with neutering, vaccines,medication etc. and behavioral rehab. Sometimes I’m lucky and the person who reports the animal is willing to pay the fee for the neutering at the Humane Society-god bless both of them! Other times, when I have the extra cash I foot the bill. (which is rarely as I have 10 cats and a dog and a daughter and I’m VERY low income) I used to brow beat my group’s director into taking animals into the system but it just became impossible for me to house so many, esp. when so many were feral kittens and sooooo hard to tame down enough for adoption and/or a happy life in a home. Adult ferals and older kittens shouldn’t be subjected to that anyway. That’s like grabbing a wild animal and forcing it to live in your home, a large cage, but still a cage. And many times a literal cage. Not to mention the exposure to disease my own household animals face, the vet bills, the angry landlord (LOL), and my collapse due to exhaustion and despair!
Back to “no-kill” shelters. Provisions for accomodations for multitudes of animals MUST be in place before any one can think that implementing a no-kill policy will help. More folks need to foster as many as they can. I have lots of ideas to do education, seminars, etc. but honestly I am terrible at planning and execution. I’m a follower not a leader, I don’t have that kind of confidence (yet). I’m good at writing not at speaking. I work on these defects but I get paralyzed by despair and resentment towards the unbelievable lack of concern most people have. I am acutely aware that the intention of action is worthless. But I can’t turn away from the horror and I put my two cents in whenever I can.
Eileen