# This is so sad...



## flyinghayden (Oct 7, 2005)

*This is so sad...*

It seems that for every GSD adopted, about 6 or 7 replace him/her. That is JUST GSDs. I just made a little roadtrip this weekend, and visited some shelters around the state. Every shelter is bursting at the seams, many are euthanizing dogs as they come in because they have no more room. How do rescues deal with the desperation?? I feel good in that I do my part, but it is nothing, nothing at all in the big picture.


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## Jazy's mom (Jan 5, 2004)

*Re: This is so sad...*

If you do nothing, then yes it is nothing. If you save one animal, that is one less that will die. And to that animal it is not nothing.

I understand your frustration. There was a very scared GSD in my local shelter less than 5 minutes from my house. I had until 5:00 yesterday to find a rescue for her, but everyone is full and no one had room for her. It breaks my heart knowing that she will be PTS today (if she has not been already), but what good will it do to give up now. I look into the eyes of my two fosters and realize that I have to keep trying.


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## HeidiW (Apr 9, 2009)

*Re: This is so sad...*

It breaks my heart! I am seeing these dogs in my sleep or nonsleep. It is very depressing. I wish I could do more. I wish there was any easy way to send them to me instead of PTS. I would try to find them a home up here. 

I live to far to physically help. Instead I send a financial donation to the southern rescues and hope it helps them pay the vet bills and boarding. It is not enough. 

Thank goodness for the rescue people and their help, it is must be so difficult everytime you turn around there are more and more. Never ending.


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## Ilovealldogs (Nov 17, 2006)

*Re: This is so sad...*

I agree with you to some extent. Everyone always asks me how I can go into the shelter and save only one and not them all. My response is always the same, "Besides spaying and neutering animals, my only hope is that every single person saves 'just one' and there won't be so many to save!" If you can only save one, it makes a difference to that particular animal. I have had two dogs my entire adult life- one passed away in March- and one I saved off the street (literally) and the other I rescued from a very high-kill shelter. Trust me, it mattered to both of them!









One of the local kill shelters in my area has had a huge problem with diseases from parvo to distemper and has had to shut down (no adoption of dogs) three different times just this year alone. The public complains that the shelter is adopting out sick animals but they are the ones bringing in the sick animals! If the dogs were vaccinated, we wouldn't have this large problem. Many dogs (and cats) are euthanized because of people's ignorance. And look who pays the price.









I have a client who had been taking care of a stray cat (outside) for more than a month. She told me that she wanted to find the cat a home or have a rescue get her. I told her that most rescues are full but provided her with numbers anyway. I found out that she took the cat to a kill shelter! When I told her that they will likely euthanize the cat (they are normally full and the cat is black), she became defensive and stressed, "Well, it's not my cat." The sad thing is this lady works with children. Is that what we teach kids- that pets are disposable? If she had been taking care of the cat for at least a month, why couldn't she have done a better job in finding the cat a home instead of making it someone else's problem?! Hmmmm... and people wonder why I like animals better than them!


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## weber1b (Nov 30, 2008)

*Re: This is so sad...*

All we can do is keep up the effort. The effort of saving those we do have room for. The effort to continue to educate people to spay and neuter. The effort to close down BYB's and puppy mills. The effort to stop the pipeline for these multitudes of dogs who are just adding to the problem. The effort to help people who want a dog to adopt.

The only way to lose the fight is to not fight the fight. I appluad everyone involved who helps out even just a little and I too wish I could do more.


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## balakai (Feb 9, 2005)

*Re: This is so sad...*

I volunteer at my county's dog pound--if we volunteers didn't go i on Saturdays, the kennels wouldn't get cleaned and the dogs wouldn't get fed (dog warden only works M-F due to budget cuts). Many of the other volunteers foster dogs that come into the pound. Due to the work of certain volunteers and some generous donors, dogs that have to be PTS will no longer be gassed at the pound, but will be humanely euthanized by local vets. It's not enough, but it's a start. Yes, I wish that I could do more.

~Kristin


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## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

*Re: This is so sad...*

I don't go to the shelter too often because it's quite a ways out of town but I check the site regularly. I'm not sure why, but there are never too many dogs. There's almost always about 5 and that's it. However there are dozens and dozens of cats. I don't understand how someone can purchase an animal only to drop it off at a kill-shelter. I feel like if something in my life changed where there was absolutely no way I could take care of my animals I would go out of my way to find them a home by myself, not give them up to chance at a high-kill shelter.

While I can't adopt anything furry because my dad is allergic and it's bad enough with Chrono, I'm almost unlimited in the number of birds I can take in. It's sad, they don't even name the birds. They just number them like "Parakeet #50614"


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

*Re: This is so sad...*



> Quote: If you do nothing, then yes it is nothing. If you save one animal, that is one less that will die. And to that animal it is not nothing.


AWESOME post Amy! (the whole post but I especially like the above quote)







I totally agree.


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## CindyM (Mar 20, 2007)

*Re: This is so sad...*

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, because I just looked on google and could not find the answer I was looking for, but even though the Euthanization rates are HORRIBLE, they have been significantly dropping over the past two decades. 

I think with the economy the way it is now, there is a setback. Hopefully it is more temporary then anything.

Every person that rescues, adopts, transports, donates,etc... is doing something to lower that euthanization rate. I just deal with the desperation by thinking we have to keep trying even harder, and if i can get one or two or three people around me to see the benefit of adopting that is huge!


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

*Re: This is so sad...*

Unfortunately really good euthanization and intake statistics don't exist because so many shelters don't keep those kinds of records and there's no good clearinghouse for info, but even so - I think that your sense that things are getting better is probably accurate. The Internet - specifically Petfinder and transport groups/lists/info has done more to reduce the number of animals dying than just about anything and it has made a HUGE impact. 

When rescue first went virtual there was a huge surge of animals getting saved as suddenly rescuers were better able to coordinate supply and demand geographically (sending highly adoptable animals in the south where there's little demand to the north where there's high demand and less supply for example). But at some point there has to be a leveling off point because as more and more rural shelters come online our supply and our ability to move dogs exceeds the rate of dogs dying of natural causes in good homes so as the people who want dogs, get them, the demand slacks off (it's sort of like diffusion in chemistry). 

And of course demand has dropped and supply has gone up with the economy tanking because more people are giving up pets and fewer people are chosing to add an expensive new family member right now. However, as more people learn about rescue and adoption, that helps bring the demand back up slightly and, as you say, hopefully the economic situation is temporary. 

All and all, I'd say that things really are getting better







It just takes a while and a LOT of effort to turn something this huge around and get it going in a different direction. But I've seen enormous positive changes so as long as so many people keep pushing for change and encouraging others to do the same I am optimistic about the future.


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## DukeJazz (Jul 4, 2009)

*Re: This is so sad...*

It is depressing some days to go into the shelter here & see all the great dogs (GSD's & others) who are simply out of time.
I see a great many come in heartworm positive, which is tanamount to a death sentence in this county. The shelter does not have the funding to treat them & the public "passes" on just about any dog that is not in perfect health.

Being a large dog (GSD, Husky, Rottie, Dobie etc.) or Pitbull seems to also pretty much seal their fate as this area has a high % of retired/older folks who all come in looking for smalldogs or puppies. People also pass on just about anybody > 3 years old ..........

It can be depressing, but I go 4 or 5 days a week to walk & play with these guys, & try to make their day a little better. I wish I could save them all, but there are soooooo many coming in, it's just not possible.


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## Avamom (Sep 28, 2004)

*Re: This is so sad...*

I can't imagine with the type of throw away society we live in where people have attentions spans of a gnat that euth rates have decreased.

I have seen more dogs in shelters in the 4-5 years I've been in rescue than less. Maybe nicer shelters with good programs and rescue coordinators and adoption centers are reporting better euth rates but they are probably also the only one's organized enough to be reporting their rates.

There are shelters here in SC that don't even keep paperwork on the dogs that come in...we pull dogs who have no paperwork, no intake sheet, no receipt, nothing...they don't exist so how could that shelter EVER report euth rates when they don't know what dogs go out, provide no vetting, no altering?

But I agree with Amy.....saving one makes a difference!! Doing a transport makes a difference, doing a home visit makes a difference, fostering makes a difference....you don't have to take in and adopt out a 100 dogs to make a difference....it all counts.


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## katieliz (Mar 29, 2007)

*Re: This is so sad...*

we HAVE TO just keep going richard. one by one. when it gets to be too much we have to take a small time out for ourselves and then...just keep going.

hugs to your girls!
k


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

*Re: This is so sad...*

Oh don't get me wrong! I think the problem is still insanely huge. We've got lots of shelters that are like you describe - these dogs and cats never "exist" and their lives and then deaths go unrecorded. But I guess I'm seeing some improvement on a national scale. You've got more and more shelters (mainly in places like the northeast) where they're are virtually no kill for healthy temperamentally sound animals. I look at the shelter I used to work at in NC. In the late 80s and early 90s when I was there, our euth rate was around 70% and that was considered really "good." For a lot of places that's still good, but I think the euth rate at that particular shelter (which is in an urban affluent area) has improved a lot. I look at the shelters my group works with - we usually start with a shelter that is not online at all and has close to a 100% euth rate. By getting their animals on Petfinder and hooking them up with reputable rescues elsewhere and dumping a lot of time and energy into tranport we can get those number down closer to 50%. That's still a heck of a lot of dogs dying but it's better than 100%. Really that's only dogs though. I'd say we're still losing close to 100% of cats.







I can't see any real evidence that things have improved for them at all. 

So I don't mean to sound like I think we're winning the war or that things are great - they definitely are not, I guess I'm just saying that on a national level, I believe the tide is turning and that gradually - far far too gradually and on the backs of incredibly overstretched volunteers - that maybe things are starting to move in a better direction.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

*Re: This is so sad...*

I know many are really down on craigslist ads, but it is a way for owners to give up their unwanted pets without having to resort to dump them in a shelter. There will always be people who have that throwaway mentality, unfortunately. And those who do not spay/neuter their animals. We all just do our part in our lay of the land. It is frustrating and sad.


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

*Re: This is so sad...*

My issue with private individuals posting on Craigslist is that a lot of them are ill-equipped to screen prospective homes and end naively sending their dog off to a living







without realizing it. Also a lot of those dogs go out unaltered and go on to reproduce, something that wouldn't happen if they were going through a reputable shelter or rescue. 

I always try to volunteer to do courtesy posts or to screen homes for people even when we can't actually take their dog for these reasons.

The other problem with CL is unrelated to that - it's when shelter dogs are posted on CL. A lot of people do that for shelters without their knowledge, I'm sure with great intentions of being helpful for whatever reason that seems to draw in a really sketchy crowd of inquiries that usually generate a lot of work for the shelter staff or volunteer answering the shelter's emails and no good homes. Those posts also seem to attract a lot of bored people who think it's helpful to abuse the shelter. When I'm doing shelter emails I get a couple "why do you like killing puppies? You are a monster!" emails via CL posts every week.


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## Daisy1986 (Jul 9, 2008)

*Re: This is so sad...*

I try to think things are better and have hope. When I go to the park and talk to local dogs owners, it is amazing how many say their dogs are rescues (if they are telling the truth, it is becoming a little trendy). 
I feel when you pull one out of a shelter you are saving two. You gave the next one a space. Unfortunatey right now, there will be a next one. 
I look at my 4, and feel I saved 8. That really keeps me kicking.









That is the biggest problem I see. I have been guilty myself. The people with the compassion and big hearts, taking on TO MANY. 

Then the animals suffer (not that mine are, I have it under control now). 

When I was deperate and needed help. There was NO rescue available, all were full because of owners that gave up ONE dog, because you know it "barked" or something insanely stupid. AND here I am trying to save another dog, and looking for a place, and I could not get any help. 

That is what makes me crazy. 

MOST ALL MO rescues and shelters are full. Boarding, all breed, breed rescues. It is nuts. 

Then I go over to a bad part of town to pull a JRT to foster. I saw this angel trying to help. He had 6 dogs, the JRT was 7. In a trailer, the yard big enough for a car maybe. He is doing his best. Called the JRT rescue for help. 

WHAT DO YOU TELL SOMEONE LIKE THAT? These dogs need better conditions??? To him. They are ALIVE.









OK, now I am upset, should have skipped this thread. That man is on the front lines of one of the worst places for strays. 

I am out in suburbia. Where if someone sees a stray they bend over backwards to help it. My local all volunteer rescue, is asking for TV's for their cats to watch. This is the good stuff. 
BUT it is a small part of MO and KS. Most is really BAD.


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## Avamom (Sep 28, 2004)

*Re: This is so sad...*

Sorry pupresq, my post wasn't in response to yours...just hit reply after you....was more my personal views on the hope that 
"even though the Euthanization rates are HORRIBLE, they have been significantly dropping over the past two decades."

I think some places have made great strides to improve euth rates and I wish more shelters had the tax base and will to implement those programs that are proven to work!!


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## skyizzy (Apr 15, 2008)

*Re: This is so sad...*

I wish more people would adopt from shelters, education is the key word. People need to know that thousands of dogs and cats in shelters are there becasue their owners had all the excuses in the world why they could not keep them. Its not the fault of these poor creatures,but the fault of the stupid owners. And the AKC needs to stop supporting byb and puppy mills.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

*Re: This is so sad...*

Puppy mills need to be outlawed. I still don't understand how the states can justify this business. Though I am sure they are getting tax revenue from these poor suffering animals.


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## APBTLove (Feb 23, 2009)

*Re: This is so sad...*

I know exactly how you feel, but I deal mostly in pit bull dogs... Who make up 80% of the shelter population... You can imagine how desperate the pit bull rescues feel. And the fact that they have a worse rep that GSDs makes sure that most die in the shelter. 

It may seem hopeless, and saving 100 dogs won't make a dent in the shelter population, but it is still saving a being... a living, feeling, breathing, loving being. That is the only way I can keep going... To the general population, it means nothing, but to the individual that has a new pain free life, it means EVERYTHING... I tend to use that logic when people criticize me for helping 'common' animals like rats, doves, starlings ect.


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## girlll_face (Jun 9, 2009)

*Re: This is so sad...*



> Originally Posted By: pupresq I'd say we're still losing close to 100% of cats.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ugh, even though I already know that...reading it just breaks my heart into a million pieces. Really, it's just devastating. Society in general treats cats HORRIBLY. They get tortured/killed more than most other animals by punks, ********, sickos, whoever, they're euthanized more, abandoned more, bred more...it just makes me sick. Also, a large percentage of the cat population that does have homes, doesn't recieve vet treatment, and people won't 'waste' their money getting them altered. People don't realize how truly amazing cats are, and it's a shame. So many die, without ever getting a chance to show someone who they are. All alone, and scared...Ughhh.








I know it's all animals, but cats especially get the bull crap from people. I look at my furballs, and I just can not understand it at all.


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