After hearing of our rescue and seeing our website, I often talk with people who are simply unaware of the thousands of animals that are killed behind closed doors every single day in every single open-intake facility in this country.  I hear things like “well our local shelter doesn’t kill animals like they do in the south – that’s just horrible!” – I always respond by telling people that unfortunately, if your local shelter provides county animal control, it does kill animals.  No state in our country is 100% no kill yet.   I’ll do another post soon about my thoughts on no-kill versus open-intake shelters but for now….I just wanted to share some of the dogs who were recently “euthanized” in two of the gassing shelters that we rescue from.  

Please look at these precious faces.  

All of these dogs were under two years of age. 

All were healthy.

All passed temperament tests with flying colors. 

All died a horrific death in the gas chamber because there were no rescues or adopters willing and able to care for them…..

Pic 1 is of a female yellow lab mix.  Her family waited until the week before they were moving to try and find her a home and when no one came forward, they donated her to the shelter to die.....she was only about 1 year old when she was killed in the gas chamber with no one to love her.

 
Pic 2 is of of a male pit mix.  This little guy was also donated by his family to die.  They were bored with him.  He only lived for 18 months.   Emails were crossposted with his picture for days by shelter volunteers begging for someone to help him – they said his picture wasn’t an accurate portrayal of how loving and beautiful he was.   No one stepped up so he went to the gas chamber with the others…



Pic 3 is of another young male that was owner surrendered.   He had no offers from any rescues so his time ran out quickly.....
I wonder if the family that dumped him there wonders where he is now?



Pic 4 is of a girl who spent her 2 short years of life at the end of a chain before her 'family' decided to surrender her to animal control.  Without a name, she suffered her whole life….even in death as she suffocated in the chamber with the others.


Pic 5 is of a young playful lab mix.  Even in the scary shelter environment, he was ready for a game of fetch.   I can't imagine how many families would have loved to add this guy to their home if only he'd had a foster to buy him a little more time.   His cute face and playful personality weren't enough to give him another day in the callous world where he ended up as a castaway.

Pic 6 is near and dear to my heart.  Like so many other dogs that we rescue, her kennel card only read “shy” which means that the people who left her there to die, didn’t care enough to give any information that would help her find a home.  Not even a name.  Her number was 440 though.   The day that she was on the euthanasia list, I really wanted to save her because it was likely that other rescues weren’t going to take a second look at her – I mean, you see the picture – it isn’t stunning or glamorous – in fact, she looks sort of ugly in that photo….like just another Heinz 57 dog produced by unaltered mutts.  Rescuers see hundreds of these photos every day – I knew she wouldn’t stand out to anyone.   We get so many dogs just like #440 whose shelter pictures don’t do them any justice but when they arrive, their personalities are full of life and they’re absolutely beautiful.  Sure enough, when the time came, no rescues were there for her and I wasn’t able to secure a foster for her within our rescue either.   I was steadfast on wanting to pull her and place her in boarding anyway……but unfortunately, when the time came I didn’t have her temperament information (the non-elaborate ‘shy’ comment on her kennel card) and no one was picking up at the front desk of the shelter when I called because….they were already in the back loading the gas chamber :(   I was too late for #440.   She was young, they said under a year.  It seems to me that like so many others, she lived just so that she could die…..and I can’t help but feel as though her blood is on my hands for not acting quick enough. 

I hope those 6 pictures are enough to bring about a strong message. 

Sure, you can volunteer for an organization and help in various ways to get dogs to their forever homes but what is really needed to save lives is spay/neuter and foster care so why not help with that too?  There are just too many dogs and cats and not enough places to ‘store’ them while they await good homes.  I beg you – no matter what town, state or country you live in – find your nearest rescue or shelter and foster for them.   If you have never fostered before, don’t be scared – they’ll be so happy to have your help that they’ll walk you through it!   Please don’t use your emotional attachment, your beautiful home, your non-compassionate spouse, or your busy lifestyle and long work hours as an excuse.  The animal whose life you save doesn’t care about any of the above-mentioned things – s/he just wants to live and all that is needed to help him/her is just a little more time until the right family can be found.   Foster care is only temporary – even if you don’t have a lot of time or a lot of space for the dog, anything you can provide is better than spending 24/7 in a kennel awaiting death.