Should We Help Them Even if They Kill?

March 31, 2014

There aren't any shelter hours but something came up today that I wanted to express some thoughts on.

I have an economic geography class (which is actually more interesting than expected, due to having a young, enthusiastic professor but anyway…). Every monday in this class we take a few minutes and have "story time" where we share something that happened over the weekend.

Well I of course shared about my decision to start volunteering at the shelter and while in the midst of sharing about cute little Stuart and the other dogs, a guy in the class pompously interrupts with :

"Don't they euthanize?"

…….I had to try hard to refrain from glaring and telling him "Shut up. It's my story. Stop raining on my parade, jerk!" But I just tartly said "yeah." and continued on about how much fun my experience was. 

[the guy followed my story with one of how a few weeks ago he rescued a puppy and made sure it went to the No-Kill shelter in town. Gold star for you, bro.]

Now don't take my sarcasm toward this rando to mean I'm "pro-kill" shelters or anything like that. I just  get ticked when I'm interrupted, and especially in this situation because his comment took me of guard and embarrassed me. Of course I don't support killing animals, but it also brings up the question:

Do kill shelters even support killing?

Obviously the answer isn't simple. It's not as if shelters who euthanize enjoy euthanizing. They obviously do it for certain reasons, while No-Kill shelters don't euthanize for certain reasons

So I did some google-ing and what I found is a way more complex set of reasons why each type does what they do. 

First off the terms "Kill" and "No-Kill" should really be "Open Admission" and "Limited Admission". [Note the change in the connotation of these terms. "Kill" is negative while "No-Kill" is positive but it's switch when using "Open" and "Limited", hmm] 

[[Big note: below are generalizations about most shelters. Obviously individual places will differ depending on their region's animal situation]]

Most kill shelters have open admission meaning they accept all animals no matter age, temperament, or health, and there is no appointment to surrender an animal. Obviously, as a result, space is more limited and with no health requirements when taking in an animal, most euthanizations are done to protect the other animals from a disease spreading. Euthanizations also occur due to limited space: less adoptable animals are put down to make room for more adoptable ones. 

Now on the other hand there are No Kill shelters, who mostly use limited admission. This means that the type of animals they allow in are the more adoptable ones. Meaning they most likely do not accept older, temperamental and unhealthy animals. And appointments must be made if an animal is to be surrendered. 

So yeah, the guy in class was able to take the puppy he found to a No-Kill shelter where it was accepted because is was a puppy, and has high probability of being adopted quickly. Now if he had found an older dog with, say a broken foot, the No-Kill shelter would have turned him away leaving the guy with 3 options: 

1. keep the old dog and pay its medical bills

2. return it to the streets

or 3. take it to the Kill shelter...

My point is, just because they kill doesn't mean we should ignore them. It could be argued that more help should go to them instead. The animals in no-kill shelters are safe... 

while searching the topic I found this great quote:

"It is not the fault of the shelter that the dogs are euthanized. 

It is a reflection on our society, 

our throw away mentality, and 

the irresponsible owners who refuse to spay or neuter their dogs."

Maybe one day I'll volunteer at the local No-Kill shelter in town and see how they run things, but for now I'm going to stay at Bryan Animal Center because that's where I feel I can help out the most. 

Thanks for reading my rant…I feel much better and more justified in my decision. 

(this blog thing is really therapeutic!)

Info Source:

"Kill vs. No Kill Shelters"http://www.pet360.com/cat/adoption/kill-shelters-vs-low-kill-and-no-kill-shelters/eC_zmPaWME-mF0Gn95SijQ 

Another blog on the topic:

"I Used to Hate Kill Shelters, Now I Think They Get a Bad Rap" http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/cat-kill-shelters-bad-rap

Big blue quote:

http://www.blackdogrescueproject.com/no-kill-shelters.html

Morning Madness

March 30, 2014

It's a Sunday, meaning no shelter hours today but that's ok, yesterday morning wore me out. Robin, the lady who invited me to try out a morning shift, was right when she said it is more fast pace.

 I arrived at 8 and work began immediately. There were 6 of us in total working: myself, 2 other volunteers, Robin, and 2 another staff women. The volunteers and I were instructed to walk the dogs around the enclosure and to the back side of the shelter where they were put in outdoor cages while the staff cleaned out the indoor kennels. Along with being fast it is loud. When the others see a dog get a leash and get to leave its kennel, the chorus of barks begins and it continues until everyone is back in their kennels, equating to 3 1/2 hours of barking.

Needless to say my ears were happy when Robin asked me to help her clean the much quieter cat room. New volunteers aren't allowed to handle the cats because it takes a certain amount of training (something I'm rather aware of having a relatively unfriendly cat myself). But it was still nice to clean out the cages and make them nice and pretty with blankets and toys. I'll have to get some pictures of the cats sometime. There is one beautiful Siamese cat with the bluest of eyes, and a big, fluffy orange cat named Garfield (who I made sure got the Garfield comics when lining his cage with newspaper). Once the felines were cared for it was back to the dogs.

Once all the kennels are cleaned, rinsed and disinfected the dogs are returned to their respected kennels. The floors are then cleaned and squeegeed and by the time all that is done its time to walk the dogs again. When walking the dogs we start at one side of the kennels and work our way down, making sure not to skip any dogs. I didn't take as many pictures yesterday as before but I did get a picture of one special dog.

Meet Schwartz! He is a big teddy bear of a dog. When he gets super excited he likes to jump up on you and with him being 50-60 pounds that's not really something you want him doing. Luckily he is a good listener and after I made clear to him that it's not ok to jump on me, he calmed down and we were able to continue our walk and now he is one of my favorites to walk.  He is such a handsome dog with the sweetest temperament and on top of all that, he's a pit (my fave) <3

Well that's all really. I'll most likely be going back on Wednesday sometime! 

until then, have a good week! And adopt don't shop! :) 

Poop Don't Scoop Itself

March 28, 2014

Well I did it! I volunteered at Bryan Animal Shelter and odds are I will be returning tomorrow. I don't know why I was nervous because the experience was great! (well …until poop was involved)

Here's what I did:

When I first arrived there were 4 palates of dog and cat food, kitty litter, and cleaning supplies to unload and place inside. Of all the days for the sun to shine so hot and bright it was today…but there were 3 other volunteers who helped out and it only took 45 minutes, haha. (water never tasted so good). Heres a pic, this is only half :

After a break, it was time to walk dogs! I was able to walk 4 in total and I'm going to introduce you to these sweethearts.

1) lovely, old Irma

She is a 7+ year old, shih tzu. She has really soft wavy hair that bounces up and down when she walks. Her eye sight isn't that great and she doesn't play well with other dogs, but she is a sweet old girl who I hope will find a home soon.

2) big Berger

This picture doesn't show it but Mr. Berger is a tall and lean lab, who was found on Berger St. (hint his name). He was such a sweet boy who worked nice on a leash. Berger and I ran around the enclosure some. The saddest part however was when I was returning him to his cage. He did not want to go in and I had to hold the leash and coax him in slowly to his kennel. It was sad to leave but I'll see him soon. He is too lovable to stay at this shelter long. 

3) Jane

Oh Jane, now she is a head turner. Her fur is beautiful cooper and cream colored, and she has the brightest brown eyes. She was quite timid at first, which is expected. I'm a stranger to her, but with some talking to and ear rubs, she warmed up to me. We ran some, we sat some. It was great. She's a wonderful dog.

4) last but not least is crazy little Stuart

This dog can run and run fast. His name should be Bolt or Firecracker because he is all energy. He is so fun and funny. He would take off with me running along side, and be darting back and forth in front of me smelling every blade of grass in the yard. He was a joy, such a tiny bundle of wiggly joy. 

These are obviously just a few of the dogs at the BAS. Each unique and special in their own right. 

After some dog walking, it was time for some feeding and cleaning. Feeding the dogs was quite easy, just open the door and scoot the bowl in and don't let the dog escape. Luckily I didn't let any dogs past me all thanks to my cat-like reflexes, haha. 

When the dogs were done eating, the bowls are retrieved, cleaned, dried and put away. I then went around and picked up poop. It really wasn't that bad, the worst part was the texture, you know the warm, squishy poop feel through thin plastic? yeah that texture. But it had to be done. 

Oh here's a pic just cause :) using purple bags made it better (but not really)

After that I folded some clean towels and blankets and had a chat with one of the staff about plans for tomorrow. They don't open until noon but she (I really need to learn names) told me the staff is there at 8 because that's when the real cleaning takes place and she said I'm welcome to come, so I'm going to try it out! 

Well in closing, today was a success! I enjoyed my time and I feel good about myself. Also the best showers are the ones that are the most needed and I needed one. 

Well, I'll certainly keep things updated as time goes on.

Peace and love; Adopt don't shop! 

Reading the #signs

March 28, 2014

So later today I’m going to begin volunteering at the Bryan Animal Shelter. I started thinking about this yesterday for some reason…I think because I’ve been looking for a group or organization to join and since animal rescue is close to my heart, why not get involved? So I am going to volunteer and while doing so keep a blog every now and then, mainly so I can keep track with my experience better. 

I’m actually really nervous about it. I mean I watch several animal rescue shows on Animal Planet, like Animal Cops Houston and Pitbulls and Parolees but obviously watching something while sitting on a comfy couch and actually getting out with these lost animals is different. I’m mainly nervous about the whole experience being more sad and depressing than happy. I don’t like to see dogs and cats in cages all day, but I can’t take them all home either…anyway

This morning I woke up and checked my phone as usual and in the back of my mind I was contemplating whether I still wanted to go to the shelter. My decision was solidified when on instagram I came across an adorable picture of a newborn kitten wrapped in a blanket and called a “Purrrrrito.”

Yeah, try not to “aww” this. This picture is so freaking cute that instead of simply scrolling on like usual, I stopped to read the caption. it read:

          “Do you volunteer at your local shelter or rescue? … 

#Adopt #Rescue #Volunteer … #savealife”

Now if that’s isn’t a slap-in-the-face type of sign, I don’t know what is. I mean I’m not one to take hashtags seriously but these appeared at such a time I knew I had to get rid of my hesitation and just do it! Therefore after class today I will go to Bryan Animal Shelter and volunteer and I will be strong because I know the animals need me to be.

If you are interested in getting a dog or cat, I encourage you to look at your local animal shelter. Remember: