I just watched "Shelter Dogs" on HBO - someone pass me a tissue

[LynneSin]

The lady who owns this place in NY really does take good care of the dogs, but yes sometimes the dogs do have to be euthanized.

They showed a couple of dogs and their time at the shelter. There was one dog that the Shelter Owner really didn't think they could adopt. The dog was surrendered because he wasn't good around the family's other pets and newborn baby. But low and behold and older couple showed up and fell in love with the dog.

They had the most loveable 9 month Doberman who had a problem with his spinal cord. The Vet said the dog would have to wear a neckbrace for 3 months in order to help the dog possibly live a somewhat normal and painfree life. The shelter owner was torn with what to do since the brace offered no guarentees of fixing the problem but the Doberman was just an absolutely adorable dog who would make a great pet if he was healthy. Fortunately they gave the dog a chance to live with putting him in the brace. He recovered and was living pain free although he walked like he had "4 Left Paws". He was quickly adopted.

Another dog was the prettiest all black cocker spaniel who didn't have a good 3 years of life. He was passed from family to family and ended up being really agressive. The Shelter Owner won't allow agressive dogs to be adopted but gave the Spaniel a few weeks of TLC to see if he'd improve. He didn't and yes, they showed him being put down. It seems that all the dogs being euthanized get a last meal of McDonald's Chicken McNuggets.

But the saddest was this 12 year old dog Aggie. The whole staff fell in love with her and she got a special status of being a "Behind the desk dog" (they always had one dog who lived in the office area in hopes they'd get the first chance of adoption). They even had Agnes publized in the papers and called all sorts of rescue groups to see if Agnes could find a home (heck I would have adopted her, she was just so sweet). But they found a heart murmur in her and she had to be put to sleep. By then I was bawling my eyes out.

After watching this documentary, I just had to find my cat Abbie and snuggle him all over. It's so sad with what happens to so many wonderful pets out there.

:cry:
:cry:
:cry:

[mars_clover]

1. This is why I never watch...

I never watch animal shows. Too sad for me.

Clover

[Delarage]

2. I like Bob Barker

of the Price is Right. He has always supported initiatives aimed at getting people to spay or neuter their pets b/c many, many more pets have offspring than there are people to adopt them.

[ajacobson]

3. Sue Sternberg

is very inspirational both as a trainer and as someone whose shelter management techniques have promoted positive changes in how dogs are evaluated and cared for while they are in shelters. I know she has had an impact both on the shelter side and the behavioral side at the Michigan Humane Society, where I am very involved as an obedience instructor.

She is a controversial figure in that she has big problems with the real-world impact of "no kill" shelters, which is discussed in the documentary (I agree with her, btw).

[Pithlet]

5. What are the issues?

of no-kill shelters? I'm not disagreeing, I'm genuinely interested. We got our cat from a no-kill shelter, and are considering getting another this weekend. We aren't going to go back to that one, though, because our cat ended up being very sick. I don't want to support another one, however, if they have a negative impact.

[ajacobson]

6. Not against no kills in theory

I think it is a goal. BUT

Unfortunately demand for shelter services (owner surrenders, strays, etc) way outstrips available supply. When a no kill takes in an animal they have to make a decision, is this animal going to get adopted in a reasonable time so we can take another one in, or will this animal stay here for the rest of its life? So what happens is triage--the more adoptable animals are taken in, the less desirable ones are not. So where do those animals end up? Animal control or shelters that aren't no kill. No kills are a form of rationing in the eyes of some in the animal sheltering community.

IMHO its not a good/bad either/or situation (others may feel more strongly on this). ANYBODY running a decent humane shelter (unfortunately a definite subset of all shelters) is doing God's work.

This is just an overview, much more could be said...

On edit:
None of this should dissuade you from adopting from any shelter, no kill or otherwise. Ultimately we need more people adopting, less people surrendering and more resources for the animals that are surrendered.

[Pithlet]

9. Thanks

I never considered those issues. We still haven't decided where we're going to go. The place where we got the cat we have now let a lot of them roam freely about the place. Our kitty had a disease that is common among large groups of cats, so I don't think that place had a very good handle on that sort of thing,.

[LynneSin]

7. They showed the Shelter animal at a "No-Kill" Shelter

And basically it was like a prison for dogs. Unfortunately some of the dogs that are in there for a long time become pretty much "institutionalized" to the point that they become poor prospects for adoptions.

What we really need to do is push the spay/neutering programs. In Delaare there have been several funds setup to help deal with the Feral Cat colonies all over the state. I was talking with the lady that runs the group I volunteer for and we think my cat Abbie was probably a kitten someone found in a feral colony but when he got too big and uncontrolable (Abbie wasn't fixed when I found him and the Vet thinks he is about a year old) they tossed him out in the cold. The cat rescues in our state will fix adult cats and if they find kittens in the colonies they will bring them in and try to find homes for them to adopt (but these kittens, unlike Abbie before I adopted him, will get fixed and all their shots and matched up with good homes)

[Pithlet]

10. I agree.

Spay/neutering programs are a must. Too many people also acquire pets before thinking it out. Animal abandonment is a huge problem in our area. People either just leave their pets behind when they move, or let them loose. They don't even bother to take them to a shelter :(

[TEXASYANKEE]

12. Animal Cops - Detroit

One of my very favorite shows. You don't happen to work with these wonderful officers, do you?

[Vote2004]

4. If I were rich

I'd run a No Kill shelter.

[Red State Rebel]

8. Our 3 dogs are rescue dogs...I would never get any other kind.

[RebelOne]

11. I can't watch films like that.

I am somewhat involved in rescue and am on animal rescue groups lists through Yahoo. I receive all these posts from rescue groups all over the U.S. trying to find homes for dogs in shelters and most of them are kill shelters. I choke up just reading those posts.Occasionally, I am able to help rescue by transporting dogs from a kill shelter to a forever home.