A letter from a shelter manager.

Shop with us on Ebay
Fins us on Amazon
Advertise with us
The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Very sad...

It will be depressed and it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it.

I so wish this could happen! First off, all of you breeders/sellers should be made to work in the "back" of an animal shelter for just one day. Maybe if you saw the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused eyes, you would change your mind about breeding and selling to people you don't even know.
 
I am so lucky that the shelter I work at is small......we never euthanize an animal unless it is aggressive (and we work with them first) or very sick (not treatable) No one is ever killed because of lack of space......we work long and hard to get our animals adopted......featuring and promoting them, training them socializing them....whatever it takes........
Having said that working at any shelter is very difficult......we sometimes do have to make hard decisions. Each one takes a piece out of our heart....and yes all the stupid reason that was listed we hear.
But for ever idiot you meet there is someone wonderful who goes above and beyond.......you have to focus on all the good people and even though some days you feel there aren't many there really are lots of them.
You only have to look at all the people who make up the Rat Shack to know there are lots of great people out there :heart:
 
:(

Will this ever end? Those responsible are never held accountable. I feel so frustrated and angry.
 
Just asking but this is directed toward BYBs and puppymills right?

I worked for a reputable breeder and the amount of crap and heartache they go through most people will never know. It's not fun nor easy to be a breeder, most will tell you that straight up. Your puppies die, so do your champions. There are times when you must sterilize or cull a whole line due to agression or what have you.

But as for animal shelters, I have never worked in one with the animals (but have with children) but have worked in a vet clinic where the same thing happens, not every animal just falls asleep. It's actually terrible. I could never be a vet or a shelter worker, God bless those who are. Those jobs are too stressful, too much. But at the same time what else is there to do.

I don't like that rescue seems to fight breeders all the time clumping them into one big pot. There are reputable breeders who will not sell you a pet if they think you're unworthy, same as it is in shelters. It has to be stated that the problem is with the ignorant pet owner. The idiot who goes to the pet store and buys the first cute thing they see and then dumps it when it's no longer cute or matches their purse. There has to be more educaton of the public so they will learn; not a never ending fight between rescue and breeders (although it seems one-sided to me). If people don't seem compotent enough to own a pet tell them straight up in their faces tell them all the reasons they would be a bad pet owner.

I walk the line between the show-world and rescue. It's a very dangerous place to walk because sometime you get hit with schrapnel...
 
That letter had me crying. Made me think of Pyper, a dog I adopted from the shelter back in Az. One of the best dogs any girl with a lonely heart could ask for. Then the owner of the house I rented sold it and the only place I could find was an apartment that only allowed small dogs...I had to give Pyper up. :sad3: I think it killed me a little bit on the inside-but I did not take her back to the shelter-I refused. It took some doing but I rehomed her with a family with a child to play with. Everything seemed great-then I find out 2 years later that they moved out of state and dropped her off at the humane society after promising me that they would never do that and that if anything-hell or high water came up-that they would call me and I would find her another home. The son's a' bitches....I just to hope to all heaven that someone with a heart took her in. Because when I think of her cold and alone in a shelter...I cannot bare it and the tears fall. I am so sorry Pyper, please forgive me.
lifeinbullhead008.jpg
 
Oh mercury, rest easier knowing that you did the right thing, you avoided the shelter and put conditions to the people to do so as well. I feel so sorry that they could not think as smart as you.
 
The part that hurts the most....is not knowing if she was adopted or, the option I don't even want to imagine. I will just say it-I hate people that just throw animals away like garbage because they have to move or the dog has behavorial issues or some other lame exscuse, they use shelters as a cop out because they are too lazy to do the right thing.
 
I crossposted this to kijijis in the maritimes.
Lots of positive responses, one or two wrote that they had decided to adopt shelter animals instead of buying ....
One offensive response ...
Several responses from shelter managers saying that is not the way their shelters are run ...
 
SQ said:
I crossposted this to kijijis in the maritimes.
Lots of positive responses, one or two wrote that they had decided to adopt shelter animals instead of buying ....
One offensive response ...
Several responses from shelter managers saying that is not the way their shelters are run ...
Click to expand...

Yes.... try and remember that people get into shelter work because they love animals....I know some of the larger ones have a lot of hard decisions to make and I am sure the animals do not get any where near the time or the attention they need or deserved.......and I know not all shelters are created equal but I think there a lot worse things then being at an animal shelter. I would much rather see people bring an animal to our shelter then to give it away of kijjij. You might think it is a good home but once they leave you have to way of knowing what will happen to your pet. We interview, check references, do follow up calls.....and take our animals back for any reason for the rest of their life. I also truly believe our dogs have a better life then a lot of pet dogs....friends to play with, people who walk them everyday, toys, chewys, all get out for drives (for timbits shhh don't tell anyone) taken to the beach......
I am sure not all shelters do these things...but some do and I think most if not all do the best they can.

mercurydust how long ago was this? Shelters keep records....maybe they could look up this dog and find out what happened to him. Hopefully he found a wonderful home.
 
sausage4ever said:
Just asking but this is directed toward BYBs and puppymills right?

I worked for a reputable breeder and the amount of crap and heartache they go through most people will never know. It's not fun nor easy to be a breeder, most will tell you that straight up. Your puppies die, so do your champions. There are times when you must sterilize or cull a whole line due to agression or what have you.

But as for animal shelters, I have never worked in one with the animals (but have with children) but have worked in a vet clinic where the same thing happens, not every animal just falls asleep. It's actually terrible. I could never be a vet or a shelter worker, God bless those who are. Those jobs are too stressful, too much. But at the same time what else is there to do.

I don't like that rescue seems to fight breeders all the time clumping them into one big pot. There are reputable breeders who will not sell you a pet if they think you're unworthy, same as it is in shelters. It has to be stated that the problem is with the ignorant pet owner. The idiot who goes to the pet store and buys the first cute thing they see and then dumps it when it's no longer cute or matches their purse. There has to be more educaton of the public so they will learn; not a never ending fight between rescue and breeders (although it seems one-sided to me). If people don't seem compotent enough to own a pet tell them straight up in their faces tell them all the reasons they would be a bad pet owner.

I walk the line between the show-world and rescue. It's a very dangerous place to walk because sometime you get hit with schrapnel...
Click to expand...

While you try and make a good argument for the breeders side, its still a losing battle for you. Most breeders will not keep all the puppies or whatever they are breeding when they cannot find them homes. Even some of the best breeders in the country will still sell dogs to simply be rid of them after a certain age.

Take a look at classified ads and breeder sites on the web,how many of them have older animals for sale? Why not just keep them if they care so much? We have a truly urgent and scary situations in shelters. When animals are dying because there is no space, thats an issue that needs to be addressed before the preservation of a certain "breed" or look.

You can blame the ignorant pet owner, but only to certian degree..the true blame rests on the shoulders of those responsible for bringing more animals into an already overburdened system so to speak.

In the end its nothing more than sick and sad. No animal should have to sit in a lonely kennel, always hoping thier family will be back, that it was a mistake. :sad3:
 
anita1216 there will always be strays. Say someone's dream came true and every breeder on the planet just stop breeding (even in the mills). There would still be animals abandonned. There would still be street dogs and even if we altered all those there would still be a pet overpopulation problem. If we take a look at purebred cats (only 2% of the world's total cat population) we can see the issue is in the stray and the people who dump their moggies without a damn. Those cats even if altered, will be a nuiscance and the only real way to have homes for all those remain is to make more humans (now there's an overpopulatio problem).
 
I may be wrong but I think the breeders that register their dogs and puppies are different than your typical backyard breeder. They must pay to get those papers on their pups right? I would think they would do a much better job in finding really good homes for their pups.
There are people that would only buy a purebred and never a mutt so it's not like there's a choice being made.
Every breed has their qualities which appeal to certain people... they like to match up their lifestyle I suppose.
I myself would love to have a pug some day but I know it's unrealistic unless I buy from a breeder, which personally, I could never ever do... so that pretty much means I'm not going to have another dog.
 
Jo - You may be able to find a pug through a breed rescue. It's likely to be an older dog, and it may have special needs, but it's a viable alternative to buying from a breeder.
 
I've personally gone both ways. Gotten a pet from a shelter, and bought from a breeder. I'd have to say both had sterling attitudes, and I love them both to death.

BrightEyes, my first pet, was a kitten I got when I turned 5 years old. She came from a shelter, and I loved her to death. She died after 13 long years of life with me, even as an 'outdoor' pet (bathroom outside, and loved playtime in our backyard, but always returned inside for food, sleep, and cuddles).

My 2nd pet is my chinchilla, Isabelle, whome I got from a breeder. Perhaps my reasons were faulty, in that I just wanted a pet that was young enough to grow up learning me, my lifestyle, and this would help influence her attitude. I considered a rescue, and it was tempting, but - and I am ashamed to say this - the only chinchillas in the rescue here were both old, and previously used for studies of nutrition in the veternary school here in Guelph. I'm sure they were well taken care of, but even I must admit that this 'turned me off' from adopting one.

However, the longer I have Isabelle, the more I'm sure that if (when) I have my own home soon, my pets will be shelter animals. I know that for every animal we take from a shelter, 10 more are taken TO the shelter, but I also know that at least it's one more in a safe and happy home. This message really touched me, and I, too, hope the message got across. Animal lives are not forfeit. Each is a precious and delicate thing. When you take an animal into your home, you are making a commitment to care for them, because they can not care for themself. Even if this message didn't convince people into adopting from a shelter, I hope that it at least made that family with a pet looking to move into a home that 'doesn't allow pets' think about a different house.
 
minnow said:
Jo - You may be able to find a pug through a breed rescue. It's likely to be an older dog, and it may have special needs, but it's a viable alternative to buying from a breeder.
Click to expand...

Oh! I never thought of that.
 
http://www.pugalug.com/

Pugalug Pug Rescue. :) They've even had a litter of puppies in the rescue before. They're very difficult to adopt from; they get a LOT of applications and they make every effort to find the perfect home for each of their pugs, but they're a great resource.

We have two St. Bernard puppies in the shelter I work at right now. They were surrendered by a breeder who couldn't sell them. They're 4 months old and already 80 lbs!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top