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#11
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It boils down to money. If you commit to taking everything in, you can't
house them forever. My group is a no-kill group, however we turn animals away every week. We keep them in our homes. We don't get public funds, just the adoption fee and some donations. -- Joe http://www.jwpitt.com/cats.htm Cat Rescue http://www.animalrescuefoundation.com God created the cat so man could have the pleasure of petting the tiger "Mary" wrote in message ... Those situations do happen, but do any of you really think that the people doing the euthanasia enjoy it or that the shelter doesn't do everything it can to see that the ONLY animals euthanized are terribly sick or terribly aggressive? The shelter employees do not enjoy it. Euthanasia duty pays a lot more than regular duty and you're only allowed to do it so many months at a time because of the psychological stress. The shelter employees generally do everything they can to place an animal. I walk in there and they are talking up all the dogs, especially sweet dogs near the end of the alloted time. They offer to foster kittens at home. Most of the employees at Los Angeles city shelters are great and truly love animals. The problem is just really big and multi-faceted. Everyone is trying to work on it to make LA no-kill. We'll see how it goes. |
#12
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On Tue, 9 Sep 2003 09:39:10 -0500, "MaryL" ,
wrote: Our shelter never rejects a cat -- but that often means that the cat will be euthanized in just a few days because there are far more cats (and dogs) than homes. Therefore, the question of placing a cat in a shelter where it has a chance for a loving home is often pure fantasy; it sounds good, but the chances are pretty remote. Frankly, I'm glad to see that so many people are pushing for people to adopt shelter cats. However, it's aggravating to see just as many (and some of the same) people repeatedly saying that it's nigh-impossible for an animal to find a good home through those same shelters. They'll be euthanized, or some other animal will be euthanized to make room for them. Those situations do happen, but do any of you really think that the people doing the euthanasia enjoy it or that the shelter doesn't do everything it can to see that the ONLY animals euthanized are terribly sick or terribly aggressive? I adopted Duffy through a shelter, and I do strongly recommend that other people adopt their pets through shelters. I did not say that the people doing the euthanasia "enjoy" it or that shelter workers do not do their best for the animals under their care. I am a strong advocate for shelters and at one time did volunteer inspection of our shelter for the local Humane Society. I was impressed by the degree of affection and even love that I saw there; I could see real pain when I was shown the room for euthanasia and discussed the process with the shelter director. So, nothing in my message should be construed as derogatory comments against shelter staff. In fact, my blind cat Duffy was kept in a shelter for several months -- the personnel there obviously were doing everything in their abilities to avoid euthanizing him, but that was probably going to come to an end with kitten season approaching. I was actually responding to this quotation: "Would you rather an animal remain in a home where it is unwanted, possibly neglected because of that, or in a shelter where it has a chance to find a new, loving home?" The point of my message (which I did not make clear) is that many people think they can dump a cat in a shelter and that it will find "a new, loving home" when the facts are that shelters receive so many more cats than they can possibly place in homes that they fact the tragic (and unavoidable) decision to euthanize the majority of these beautiful animals. MaryL YOur post was a little wordy, Mary. But I agree with the basic point. People who want to dump their cats in a shelter are terrible criminals. There should be a department of animal services established like the department of Human Services and social work, so that stupid people who don't love their cats can have them taken away just like their children can be. If they waste that kind of money protecting children they should definitely do it for kitties. Jade |
#13
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I was actually responding to this quotation: "Would
you rather an animal remain in a home where it is unwanted, possibly neglected because of that, or in a shelter where it has a chance to find a new, loving home?" The point of my message (which I did not make clear) is that many people think they can dump a cat in a shelter and that it will find "a new, loving home" when the facts are that shelters receive so many more cats than they can possibly place in homes that they fact the tragic (and unavoidable) decision to euthanize the majority of these beautiful animals. MaryL That quote is from my post, actually. I didn't mean to jump down your throat, Mary. My argument is with "the majority" having to be euthanized, and that you imply that that is the case for every shelter. It isn't, and not just in no-kills. No, I absolutely don't agree with people "dumping" their animals, but I would rather see an animal come in to our shelter than remain with people who've decided not to keep the animal and emotionally neglect it. The quote you referred to was in Animal Watch, and meant to remind office staff what a shelter's ultimate purpose is. It's supposed to combat the hostility that begins to worm its way into staff communication with the public (most of which is well earned, of course). I suppose it's my retail experience catching up to me. I've learned to rarely use words like "never" and "always" and just stick to "most" and "many." It's nitpicky, but shelters get enough bad press as it is just for euthanasia. |
#14
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"Mary" wrote in message
... The shelter employees do not enjoy it. Euthanasia duty pays a lot more than regular duty and you're only allowed to do it so many months at a time because of the psychological stress. The shelter employees generally do everything they can to place an animal. I walk in there and they are talking up all the dogs, especially sweet dogs near the end of the alloted time. They offer to foster kittens at home. Most of the employees at Los Angeles city shelters are great and truly love animals. The problem is just really big and multi-faceted. Everyone is trying to work on it to make LA no-kill. We'll see how it goes. Euth duty -can- pay a lot more. Depends on the shelter. Our shelter requires extra duties taken on for taking a senior carestaff position. My year comes up next month, which makes me eligible for seniority, and I was certified for euth in April. As far as I know, I'll get a raise for the year, and for the seniority, but not necessarily for the euth. We have no time limit for who does the euthanasia. Right now, it's the admitting staff that does it. Granted, it's a much smaller shelter than any in LA, so that might have something to do with it. But even we don't have a time limit (unless it's an aggressive animal simply waiting out its stray period). Most of the staff has fosters. Those that can't foster cats or dogs foster wildlife; one of the office staff has baby squirrels. We have staff that willingly take trouble cats to work on issues. One person has a cat who tends to bite. Another has a litterbox cat who's blind in one eye. Lots of kittens. Lots of ringworm (geez!). Lots of scared cats in need of socialization. My wandering point is the same one I made to the other Mary. Not every shelter is the same. It can put up a positive image or a negative one to class them all the same in every category. |
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