Scanning the web page for a no-kill shelter I used to volunteer at I noticed most of their “old timers” were still there. These are four dogs that have been at the shelter since 2012!
One is a 4.8 year old female that is scared of her shadow and the world in general. She was born there and has only left ONCE with a volunteer who promptly returned her.
The second is a Chow mix that has bitten multiple people and no one is allowed to walk him.
The third is a medium sized brown dog that is withdrawn and can be dog aggressive.
The fourth is a dog aggressive lab mix that only seems to like one of the staff members.
So what length of time do you think it becomes inhuman to keep a dog in a small cage for the majority of the time? This place only seems to foster puppies, “cute” dogs and dogs with health issues.
I seriously think all but the female should be euthanized. She has never bitten nor growled at anyone, she just needs someone to work with her. The other three are scary, especially the Chow mix.
That’s a tough question. If it’s a no kill shelter, obviously ‘should’ doesn’t enter into it. Myself, I’m more in favor of no kill shelters, though I understand that funding is always tight for shelters and tough choices need to be made. Personally, I wish people were more humane about their pets, and also more responsible.
We get all our dogs from shelters, and often I wish I could take them all, even the ones who have special needs and are obviously psychologically traumatized and need personal, individual work.
With the right handlers and a lot of care they could probably all be saved, or at least work through their issues enough to be handled. But you are probably right, and given limited funds and personnel and the attempt to make them adoptable only the first dog seems savable. I’m not a big fan of keeping dogs in a small cage for most of their lives, and less a fan of euthanizing them, especially when it’s the humans who are to blame for their predicament. We have a lot of issues on this score in my own state, and a lot of dog abandonment here that fills up the shelters and forces the folks working at them to have to make hard choices.
Dogs (and cats) have no understanding of the future. They only understand that right now, they’re frightened and miserable and that life is a horror.
It’s time for that merciful release.
You are probably right, but I couldn’t do it. I think of my own little dog who we rescued from a shelter and just the thought of that happening to him makes me tear up. But like I said, you are probably right and it would be a mercy.
It sounds like the people running this shelter are incapable of working with aggressive dogs and need to work on contacting a sanctuary type place that can take the ones they can’t handle. Someplace with real trainers and/or enclosures where the dogs can be happy but safe for everyone. They made a huge mistake with the female that was born there - I mean, if they’re the only people who she’s been around and she’s completely unsocialized, well that’s their doing and I have a big problem with that.
Speaking as someone who has worked at a no-kill shelter that has made leaps and bounds of progress in the 13 years I’ve been there, there’s a line between shelter and warehouse. Other industry people (veterinary clinics) have a nickname for the warehouse type shelters - “slow-kill.” They’re not doing those animals any favors.
They’ve brought in a few “trainers”, but I never saw any results.
They do periodically send dogs to a local dog resort with an in house trainer. Don’t know how good he or she is.
I’m opposed to no-kill shelters. If the dog is a fixable mess, you find a foster to take it OUT of the shelter and fix it, then find a home. If the dog is an unfixable mess, is very unlikely to be adopted for some reason, or is dangerous, you do the humane thing and put it down ASAP.
Keeping a dog in a shelter is non-stop torture for the dog. Two or three weeks, max? while you try to find an adopter or find a foster to take it and keep it under humane conditions for a longer-term search for a home.
A quick death is not the worst thing that can happen to a dog. Or a human, for that matter.
I volunteered at the local municipal shelter for about six months a few years ago, and I would say the average stay of the dogs there was probably about 6 weeks or so until they were either fostered or adopted. If they had a 2 or 3 week rule, very few would have made it. My dog was there probably 4-5 weeks, IIRC, and that was a short stay. Once it got to around 8 weeks, it started to feel long, but fosters would usually sweep in. I think the longest I remember a dog staying on the adoption floor before getting rescued was around 3-4 months. Having one there since 2012? Wow. That just seems crazy to me.
The problem is most likely a lack of funds. I’m sure the people running the shelter would like to be able to provide a better social environment for their dogs but lack the resources. So they keep their dogs alive and healthy and hope that they’ll be adopted before they get too “institutionalized”.
No-kill shelters are unethical. Keeping an un-adoptable dog around to be miserable just makes the dog miserable, and takes resources away from other dogs who are adoptable.
No-kill shelters are the triumph of sentimentality over morality.
I agree with the pragmatic folks saying not every dog can or should be be homed. Consider the resources (time, money, goodwill, space, vet care) which these unadoptable dogs take up. Euthanasia ought to be an option, and no-kill shelters only pander to those who disagree.
In theory a no kill shelter would quicky fil up with un adoptable dogs and no longer be of any help to adoptable dogs. I believe they should modeify their policy to a time limit of 1 year or until a dog proves he should not be adopted which may ony take a week or so.
There was a big problem with a no-kill shelter near here. Not only were they keeping animals forever, they had created ridiculous standard for adoptions that no one could meet. They were an independent enterprise and the town hadn’t ever established anything else. Finally they got shut down on the basis of animal cruelty because the place was so packed with animals. Frankly, I’d like to see requirements for licensing pet owners and having them insured against a failure to care for their animals. But in the event of a problem you can’t keep cats and dogs locked in cages long term. It’s a tragic situation, but the tragedy usually starts well before the animal is sent to the shelter.
I got my dog from a “high kill” shelter- the county animal control. When browsing dogs on their web page, I noticed that the dog that I would end up adopting had been in the shelter for almost a year. This was very unusual, and I’d been browsing for months and months (I was promised I could get a dog once we moved into a house and had been looking at the web page for months in anticipation). I noticed that the smaller, younger, cuter dogs would be on the page for as little as one week before an “ADOPTED!” banner would appear on that dog’s picture. And some dogs would remain there for some time and then disappear, presumably euthanized.
I learned a lot about the process for a kill shelter- it’s not a first come, first killed basis. They’re evaluated based on their adoptability. Aggressive pit bulls and dogs with expensive medical problems are the first to go, and some don’t even stay there for more than three days.
So my dog wasn’t swooped up for adoption in a week like the smaller dogs. Why did they keep this dog around for such a long time when I learned that their euthanasia rate was 70% of all intakes? The animal control officer told me that it was because the staff all just loved my dog so much and that he had the best temperament of almost any of the other dogs, and they were just so sure that this dog would be such a fantastic dog for someone. They couldn’t bear to euthanize him when he was just such a good adoption candidate. They speculated that no one had adopted him up until I came along because he was very big, and people usually prefer dogs under 50-60 pounds. Either that or there was always some cuter dog that got chosen ahead of him.
No matter- I was the one who benefitted by getting to adopt World’s Best Dog. All the staff on duty when I was there gathered to say good-bye to him. They were so sad to see him go and yet so happy that finally someone took him home.
I don’t think the no-kill shelter is doing these dogs any favors in the OP’s case. If these dogs were euthanized, a more adoptable dog from a kill shelter may get a chance at a good life (many “no kill shelters” get their dogs from county animal control or other kill shelters, but they’re supposed to get the dogs that are easier to adopt).
There are a bunch of no-kill shelters around here. None of them are warehouses any more. Did they used to be? Yes. But they all got together to help each other plus help the municipal traditional shelter, to reduce those euthanasias, and to get standards and practices raised so no shelters are keeping animals around for years and years without utilizing foster homes. The foster network has grown by leaps and bounds and that’s the way it needs to go for no-kill shelters to stay ethical.
I hate when animal rescues have unreasonable rules and standards for adoption! I was trying to adopt a dog for awhile through rescue societies and they had these crazy forms and house inspections and questions like “Are you or is anyone in your house a smoker?”
I’m not, but I was annoyed by the question. Isn’t a dog living in a house with a smoker better off than euthanized at a young age, or forced to live in a tiny kennel at a smelly overcrowded shelter? Isn’t living with someone without a fenced-in yard (who walks the dog twice a day) better than living in a kennel?
