I've raced the "needle" for months, the same as the rest of the animal activists around the country. "Hurry! This dog is in a high-kill facility and only has until Friday if not adopted! Please help him!" And that poor animal definitely needs to be helped and is certainly deserving of such, considering he has been literally betrayed by the human that he trusted to love him, care for him, feed him, keep him safe. There's no doubt that poor unfortunate canine or feline is in need and is deserving of rescue, a family, and a happy life. And I have, personally, worked very hard to see that adult animals escape the needle and end up with a happy home with many more years of tail-wagging ahead of him. It's very difficult to get the adults adopted, yet extremely rewarding when you have a hand in that happy ending.
But, what about the puppies and kittens? Oh, let's not worry about them. They're easy to "get rid of". No sweat. Keep 'em cheap or even free...they'll go. And if things don't work out with that puppy...he eats...he gets sick...he uses the floor to go potty...he chews up everything he can get his teeth on. Oops! Not quite what you expected, right? Well, there's a solution to that pesky puppy problem. As he gets older he's not quite as cute as he was and he's been driving you crazy for months. The kids have lost interest. Probably shouldn't have gotten that darn puppy in the first place. Now you have an adult dog that you don't want around anymore. What to do? Chain him up outside, put him in a pen, turn him loose on the street, dump him on a country road, or drop him off at the pound. You might even give him to the first person who will take him. Out of sight...out of mind. This, folks, is the beginning of a vicious cycle that will not ever stop unless we intervene at every opportunity on the "free to good home" or "twenty-dollar" puppies and kittens. We must be pro-active in our approach to animal rescue. Yes, race the needle and save the big dogs. Of course! But don't forget this: while your main focus is on saving Sparky from the needle, hundreds of puppies and kittens right in your own community are going into homes with little or no screening of the adopter and are very likely, for this reason, going to end up dead, abused, producing more puppies, or up at the pound...another adult racing the needle.
Spay and neuter, spay and neuter, SPAY AND NEUTER!!!! Bob Barker said that on TV for over 30 years and it still has not sunk in. Animals are reproducing at unbelievable rates in spite of the message that we preached and should continue to convey. Of course, spaying and neutering is THE solution. No doubt. But, since most folks, obviously, are not adhering to the message, what do we do with all those puppies and kittens? Hey, I know! No problem! Lets just give them away or take them to the pound. Easy solution, right? This is the beginning of Sparky's journey. Without heavily screening the adopter, without follow-up after the adoption, Sparky stands a greater chance than not of a very uncertain, likely horrible fate.
This brings me to the story of Ruby and Max. A couple of months ago, a lady contacted me about two stray pups that wandered up to her house in the city limits. Animal control was called when they wandered into her neighbor's yard and the puppies were trapped and taken to the pound. When this lady found out that the pound had come and gotten the pups, she took it upon herself to go up and get them out, even though these puppies were not her responsibility, she made it so. She asked that I come and get them and find them a loving home. I agreed to do so. A few days later, I was gonna schedule a time to go and pick them up and she said to never mind. Another lady had agreed to take the puppies. After all, they were free, right? Turns out the lady who adopted Max and Ruby couldn't keep them and she desperately needed to "get rid" of them, so she gave them to the fellow that does her yard work. Whew! Gone. No more puppies. All is back to normal.
Now, a couple of months later, the lady who had originally found Max and Ruby and thought she had found a good home for them saw them in photos on the dog pound's website and was shocked. They had been picked up again by animal control roaming the streets, hungry, thin, looking for food. She went to the pound and retrieved the pair and I now have them in foster care where they are being fed, vetted, loved, socialized and will NOT be adopted out to anyone without heavy screening. Max and Ruby became a statistic...and example of not spaying and neutering, but also "free to good home".
Out of sight, out of mind is not a solution. "Getting rid of" is not the solution. No puppy or kitten, dog or cat, should EVER be given away to the first person who offers to take him off your hands. No puppy or kitten should leave the pound without the potential adopter being heavily screened. No puppy or kitten should ever leave the pound or the person adopting the animal out without follow-up on his care. If there is no screening, no follow-up, the efforts of the person or the shelter adopting the animal out are fruitless and it's the animal who pays the price. We must be pro-active on our approach to animal rescue. Yes, we race the needle and try to do everything we can to save the hard-to-adopt adult dogs and cats. Absolutely! But we cannot forget that the reason that dog is there is because someone chose to get rid of him. The cute "free" or "cheap" pet grew up and is no longer worthy of the affection of the person who betrayed him.
Voices for Hope must educate the public, starting with school children, on proper pet care and the importance of spaying and neutering. The adults aren't listening because, as the saying goes, "it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks." So we must start with the children. Start with the children. Start with puppies and kittens. Be pro-active. Help the lonely, abused adult animals in the pounds escape euthanasia. But, don't forget this very important fact: at one time that dog or cat was a puppy or kitten, and someone, in one way or another, sent him into a very irresponsible home. Let's work together, use common sense, and be proactive in helping to end this vicious cycle.
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| Sweet little Ruby (one of thousands who fell victim to "free to good home") |
Last Saturday, a couple from Choctaw County were set up in the "Dirt Cheap" parking lot with a big sign...FREE PUPPIES. One of my fellow volunteers stopped in and commented on the fact that the dog should be spayed...this, turns out, was her second unwanted litter. This very irresponsible pet owner, who had 2 pups left, then offered Suzy 20 bucks to take "this ol' mama dog" off their hands. Suzy tried to call me to see if we could take them and I was unreachable at the time. She got their phone number, and when she and I spoke, I asked her to please call them and tell them we would take the dog, as I suspected she would either end up in the hands of the first person needin' 20 dollars or she would be dumped. It was too late. When the guy answered the phone and Suzy said she would take her, he said he'd managed to "get rid" of her. A chill went up my spine, as I knew that poor little mother was likely in trouble. The next morning, a friend of mine who lives between Louisville and Ackerman, sent me an email saying a husky-mix mama dog with engorged, painful-looking breasts had wandered up to her house, where she had fed her and put warm compresses on her aching, milk-filled breasts. My fears had been validated. This was definitely the dog. They had dumped her on their way home. "Free to Good Home"...let's stop this madness.
ReplyDeleteI recently met the United States Humane Society representative for the state of Mississippi, who is in total agreement with what I wrote about in this blog.
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