I too volonteer at a shelter, as does my esteemed wife. It is a ‘no-kill’ shelter, which seemed like a pretty cool idea… at first… But this is one for great debates. I have a HUGE problem with no-kill.
In anycase. My hands are shaking with rage as I mull over how I would start my rant. I won’t though even start, as the sun would come before I even got started.
My dog was adopted from that shelter last year. He’d been there almost a decade. Shortly before we took him in, he’d been mauled by a Dalmation. (ugly fucker too, bit me on the ass 2 weeks ago) Of the inumerable dogs languishing in this hell-hole, he was our choice because upon seeing his wounds and finding out his age, I knew the filth of the place would be the end of him very shortly.
We could not have made a better choice. He’s half blind and arthritic. He does not bark or run away or cause any sort of trouble whatsoever. He tolerates the kids and if he even knows there’s cats here, he doesn’t really give a damm. After spending ten years on a cold, filthy concrete floor, he rarely moves from the couch. If I hadn’t seen it for myself, I’d never have believed it, but there’s almost a tangible gratitude in his eyes.
Maybe I’ll come back and rant. Fuck knows I need to. Not now though.
Gee, I wish all we had around here was simple abandonment. We have a no kill shelter in town as well. We’re friends with the owner, so we sometimes visit or help out. It always pisses me off to hear the stories the owner tells about animal abuse.
I think the worst one was about a cute little mixed breed dog. Someone decided it would be a good idea to cut it’s throat and pour chemicals (lye?) in it’s eyes. What the fuck were these people thinking? What kind of low do you have to stoop to as a human to be able to do that sort of thing?
BTW, the dog lived. Blind, but alive. Last I heard it was living happily at the shelter.
dewt,
Sorry to hear that you have a crappy no-kill shelter near you. Sounds like that place should probably be shut down and the animals moved to shelters that actually care about the welfare of the animals. Believe me when I say that they are not all like that.
About 3 or 4 years ago in my city, a ldy tied a kitten up in a plastic grocery bag, and dropped it out of a 4 story window. The cat survived, but the woman got in some serious trouble. The lady was mugged and severely beaten, and many people believe that the group of “thugs” were animal rightas activists…interesting story ehhh?
Such a person needs a) locked up, away from society for awhile, and b) psychiatric treatment. Some people would say that is too harsh, because it’s “only an animal”. While I think that there is no such thing, at least now we have an effective response to that attitude: it has been shown that people who behave that way towards animals are working their way up to behaving that way towards humans. So, no matter how little regard society may or may not have for cruelties inflicted upon “mere” animals, we now know that it is in society’s best interest to take such behavior very seriously, and do what we can to stop it.
Never worked in a shelter, but I will add these stories:
Our dog (she lives with my parents) came from a shelter when I was twelve. I was the one who picked her and took her out of the cage. She was listed as having been a stray, which my dad did not want (not knowing what behavior problems there might be). But she was perfect, and we wanted her. Fourteen years later, she is a great dog. She is a little nervous, and freaks out at big noises, but she’s a joy. We have long suspected that someone (probably a man, from the way she first reacted to my dad) abused her.
My husband’s parents have a dog who came to them in the same way. She’s a few years old now, but even now if you raise your hand in any way (even reaching for something), she runs away. They were told at the time of adoption that there was a history of abuse.
My husband’s brother found a stray years ago. He took him in, and nothing seemed odd. He’s a great dog. Then my brother-in-law grabbed his super soaker (water gun) one summer day, and the dog freaked out. So, we drew the obvious conclusion from that.
I can’t even express how much I hate that anything bad happened to these dogs. I hope their abusers rot in hell.
I’m sorry to bump this off page 2 but I just read a thread in GQ that got me thinking about this poor animal again …
A couple of years ago I went to the pound with a friend and we saw a GORGEOUS golden retriever. AKC registered, professionally trained, well-mannered, great with kids …
… and gun-shy. :mad: :mad: :mad:
whew
Ok. Happy I got that off my chest; it’s been pissing me off for years.
when i was sixteen, my mother divorced her third husband. he was so pissed that one day i came home from school and he told me my dog was dead. now she was just a mixed breed, but i had her since she was weened. i cried so hard. that heartless f*ck had actually dropped her off at the pound. my sister found out and picked her up. when my sister told me, my dog was dying from old age. i fucking hate people like that. i wish he had shot his brains all over the wall. i can’t believe he gave my dog to the pound. he told them she needed to be euthinasized because she had some disease. all this because my mother wanted a divorce. i love all my pets and other peoples, even if they are whiny and untrained.
I’d like to say that this is exactly how we found our little dog, Kelsey. We were on vacation, about 3 hours from home, and we went to the mall and we went into a pet store for the hell of it, not planning on actually making a purchase. We “awww”'ed at all the cute puppies but there was one little terrier who caught our eye. We decided right then and there to buy him. He was very good on the way home (he didn’t even get carsick) and he’s been one of the best things to happen to me in a long time. He’s not the best trained dog ever (partly due to his stubbornness), but we all try hard. Not everyone who buys pets on a whim are braindead, cruel freaks.
P.S. I know you weren’t referring to everyone who buys animals at mall pet stores (or at least I hope you weren’t), but I felt I needed to say something. It is, after all, the Pit and what’s the Pit without disagreement all around?