Letter From A Shelter Worker

The following letter was written by a shelter worker. I really wanted to share this note, because it presents the cold, hard reality for shelter pets in America. Everyone needs to read this... Breeders need to read this. People who support breeders by buying pets need to read this. Anyone who has ever given up their pet needs to read this. The world needs to know the truth...

Wisdom of a Shelter Worker, MUST READ

Benny was killed in a shelter earlier this year

I think our society needs a huge wake-up call. As a shelter manager, I'm going to share a little insight with all of you...a view from the inside, if you will.

First off, all of you breeders/sellers should be made to work in the “back” of an animal shelter for just one day. Maybe if you saw the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused eyes, you would change your mind about breeding and selling to people you don’t even know.

That puppy you just sold will most likely end up in my shelter when he or she’s not a cute little puppy anymore. So how would you feel if you knew that there’s a 90 percent chance that this dog will never walk out of the shelter at which he/she will be dumped? Purebred or not! About 50 percent of all of the dogs that are owner surrenders” or “strays” that come into my shelter are purebred dogs.

The most common excuses I hear are; “We are moving and we can’t take our dog (or cat).” Really? Where are you moving to that doesn’t allow pets?

Or maybe they say, “The dog got bigger than we thought it would.” How big did you think a German Shepherd would get?

“We don’t have time for her.” Really? I work a 10 to 12-hour day and still have time for my six dogs!

“She’s tearing up our yard.” How about making her a part of your family inside the house?

They always tell me, “We just don’t want to have to stress about finding a place for her. We know she’ll get adopted. She’s a good dog.”

Odds are your pet won’t get adopted… and how stressful do you think it is for these dogs being in a shelter? Well, let me tell you, your pet has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop him/her off. Sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn’t full and your dog manages to stay completely healthy. If he sniffles, he dies.

Denny was killed in a CA shelter

Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room with about 25 other barking or crying animals. He will have to relieve himself where he eats and sleeps. He will be depressed and he will cry constantly for the family that abandoned him. If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers in that day to take him/her for a walk. If I don’t, your pet won’t get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of his pen with a high-powered hose. If your dog is big, black or any of the “bully” breeds (pit bull, rottie, mastiff, etc.) he was pretty much dead when you walked him through the front door. Those dogs just don’t get adopted. It doesn’t matter how sweet or well behaved they are.

 If your dog doesn’t get adopted within his 72 hours and the shelter is full, he will be destroyed. If the shelter isn’t full and your dog is good enough, and of a desirable enough breed, he may get a stay of execution-- but not for long. Most dogs get very kennel protective after about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment.

If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles, chances are he will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed, because shelters just don’t have the funds to pay for even a $100 treatment.

Here’s a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being “put-down”:

First, your pet will be taken from his kennel on a leash. They always look like they think they are going for a walk… happy, wagging their tails. Until they get to “The Room.” Every one of them freaks out and puts on the brakes when we get to the door. It must smell like death, or maybe they can feel the sad souls that are left in there. It’s strange, but it happens with every one of them.

Your dog or cat will be restrained, held down by one or two vet techs, depending on the size and how freaked out they are. Then a euthanasia tech or a vet will start the process. They will find a vein in the front leg and inject a lethal dose of the “pink stuff.”

Hopefully, your pet doesn’t panic from being restrained and jerk. I’ve seen the needles tear out of a leg, and I’ve been covered with the resulting blood and deafened by the yelps and screams. They don’t all just “go to sleep.” Sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air, and defecate on themselves.

When it all ends, your pet’s corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer in the back with all of the other animals that were killed… waiting to be picked up like garbage. What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet food? You’ll never know, and it probably won’t even cross your mind. It was just an animal, and you can always buy another one, right?

I hope that those of you that have read this are bawling your eyes out and can’t get the pictures out of your head. I deal with this every single day on the way home from work.

I hate my job. I hate that it exists, and I hate that it will always be there unless you people make some changes and realize that the lives you are affecting go much further than the pets you dump at a shelter.

Between 9 and 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters, and only YOU can stop it. I do my best to save every life I can, but rescues are always full, and there are more animals coming in everyday than there are homes.

My point to all of this: Don’t breed or buy while shelter pets die!

Hate me if you want to. The truth hurts and reality is what it is. I just hope that maybe I changed one person’s mind about breeding their dog, taking their loving pet to a shelter, or buying a dog. I hope that someone will walk into my shelter and say, “I saw this letter, and it made me want to adopt.” That would make it worth it.

*This letter was written by an unknown shelter worker in the United States. Ashley Owen Hill did not write this letter. Lucky Dog Rescue Blog is sharing this piece for educational purposes.