In Memory of Lady
I am writing the following in hopes of bringing attention to an
issue that effects every one of us.
Animal control. I always knew there were many friendly cats and dogs euthanized each
day in this country, but I didn’t realize the magnitude of the situation until my recent
experience.
It was Easter two years ago while I was standing in my sister’s front yard next to a busy
highway. There was a puppy in the middle of this highway.
Vehicles kept honking and swerving, some even stopping in order to wait for oncoming
traffic to pass so that they could get by this little dog. This puppy was obviously half
starved and trying to eat something off of the road and refused to move.
Unable to stand
by and watch a horrible event unfold before my eyes, I called her to me. She came
running with such enthusiasm that I couldn’t just leave her to return to her feverish task
and be killed in the process.
I took her home with intentions of finding her a home since I had 2 dogs of my own
already. No one claimed her nor wanted her.
Everyone knows what ultimately happens to animals in shelters if no one claims them. I did not
have the heart to do that to her. We decided to keep her, therefore, getting her spayed
and properly vaccinated. I had no choice but to keep her outside due to the fact that I had
two other dogs inside. We have a large
fenced yard and a doghouse so I felt this to be no problem.
As time went by, she found every way possible to escape. She never went far and
was usually waiting by our front door or at the gate barking to be let back in. Since we live inside
city limits and there is a leash law, we tried to tie her to a cable. Her head was smaller
than her neck and that did not work. I couldn’t get her a buddy because we simply could
not afford to care for another dog.
While we were gone one day, she had escaped and was guarding our front porch.
She would not let the mail carrier deliver and apparently the carrier was scared and ran off
which, of course, encouraged our dog to chase her and ended up nipping at her pants leg as she often did with us during play, never harming anyone. (Running and playing tag with us was her favorite activity.)
We received a warning from the city labeling her as aggressive and that if she were caught
loose once more, we would receive a fine with a possibility of them forcing us to give her up. Again,
no one wanted her.
We spent $300 on a 6 foot tall kennel plus $40 on galvonized steel to put around
the kennel 1ft. underground to prevent her from digging out. The next day, she had climbed the 6 ft. fence! We tried once
more by putting chicken wire over the entire top of the kennel to keep her from climbing
out. We knew she was miserable in this kennel and tried to walk her and play with her as
much as possible, but still, it was not enough for this dog.
She started to change and became afraid of the kennel and so desperate to get out that she literally chewed the wire of the chain
linked fence to pull it away from the gate and, once again, escaped. She had received a
bloody mouth from her desperate efforts. We knew then that we could not keep her no
matter how hard we tried. We couldn’t afford to be fined and certainly couldn’t afford for
someone to be bitten by her. Buying the kennel was hard enough on our finances as we
struggle from payday to payday. All we could do was to repair the kennel the best we knew
how and attempt to keep her just long enough to try desperately to find a home in the
country for her.
Before I could get to the newspaper offices the next morning, she had escaped
once again tearing a new hole in the fence and was barking at a group of firemen and policemen in the street as there was
a house fire next door. I knew then that there was absolutely nothing else I could do. I
brought her into the house until I could figure out what to do. I have trained dogs for the
house before, but I was having no luck in keeping this one out of trouble inside.
I only had one option left. Call our local animal control officer of whom had spoken with me before about the warning. She told me to call her if I needed our dog taken to the shelter.
Our animal control officer told me that the shelter would keep her
for 14 days of which I felt would buy me time to seek another home since I could not possibly detain her myself. I knew the chances were
slim, but I felt it was my last resort. I had hoped that being spayed, up to date on her
shots and the fact that she was good with kids, that the shelter may have better luck in
finding her a home if I had no success. WRONG!!!
The next morning, I had called my mother discussing the possibility of me volunteering to work at the shelter as well as pay for this dogs’ upkeep until she could be
placed in a home suitable for her. She knew I would not be able to cope with being at the
shelter and offered to keep her at her place in the country only until a home was found and
if we brought the kennel to her place. If she were to escape there, at least she would not be in violation of our city's leash laws. My mother really could not take her permanately and we were all
concerned that she may become aggressive with being locked up. I hated to put her back inside the kennel of which she was afraid, but figured that her chances would be better if we had more time to place
her. We tried to locate a no-kill shelter and none were to be found in our area.
That afternoon, my husband and I went to the shelter to pay for her release and
take her to my mothers’. SHE WAS NOT THERE! They had euthanized her the very
day they received her.
She was not alone. There were 50 dogs put down that day, not
including cats! Of course, we were extremely upset because we were told she would have
14 days and I thought we could get her out if I found a home. We were informed that that is
NOT the policy. The only policy they had about a time limit on animals was 3 days on a
stray. Our animal control officer had greatly misinformed us.
The shelters’ director revealed some startling numbers to us. On a daily average,
they euthanize 70 dogs per day. In the summer time it can go as high as 100 or more PER
DAY! Folks, this is a small area. Not close to any big cities. Imagine what it is like in
huge metropolitan areas.
Since, I have done some research on this matter and it is estimated that there will
be 15 million dogs and cats euthanized THIS YEAR simply because they are unwanted.
Our dog, Lady, was a very bright, loving and loyal dog. She was healthy and full of energy. Her only fault was being
born when she should not have been. She loved life and loved to run and play with our
kids and any other kids that came around. We tried all we knew to do. We did the
responsible thing and had her spayed, and we borrowed money to do that.
Please, help end the needless suffering.
I am now trying to locate
organizations that can help you with your spaying and neutering costs. The only way that we can truly make a difference in the number of unwanted
cats and dogs is to have them neutered and spayed.
If you need help in the cost of these procedures, please call:
1-800-248-SPAY.
SPAY/USA
They can help you locate a participating vet in your area.
My Page on Animal Rights
Check it out!
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Thank you.
I want to thank all of you who have sent emails with your condolences and inspirations. I am happy to report that some positive has come from this and it has even inspired a woman to embark upon opening a no-kill shelter in my region. This is a tremendous task of which calls for mountains of hard work, research, and funds. I wish her luck in her endeavors and hope she is able to accomplish this great task.
Best wishes to you all.
How stupid and inconsiderate and uncaring people can be!!!!! She is reluctant to take these animals to the shelter because of there being so many put to death every day. She will now be forced to spend money on newspaper ads, dog food, and possibly neutering and spaying and shots if homes cannot be found. I cannot take any of them because I have a zoo myself and simply cannot afford another animal.
These puppies are adorable and the poor mother is very friendly. These poor souls, dumped! Thrown away! Why?
There is simply not enough campaigning going on to educate these ignorant people, IF they CAN be educated. Do I sound angry? You bet I am! I am damned angry. I'm sick and tired of seeing these wonderful animals being treated like trash. It doesn't have to be this way. ALL it would take is for everyone to get their pets neutered or spayed. It really doesn't cost that much. If you cannot afford to have this procedure done, you do not need to acquire a cat or dog. PERIOD!!!
I'm not one who likes the government sticking their hands into our business and telling us what to do and not to do, but at this point, I strongly believe that it should be a law that you must have a license to have a cat or dog. It doesn't have to be an expensive license. It should be a simple agreement that you sign that you will be a responsible owner and have your pet spayed or neutered. If one wants to breed cats or dogs, you should have permission to do so first.
Maybe this sounds extreme to most, but, think of these sweet little souls that are so mistreated and put to sleep every day! Millions are put to sleep every year! Who knows how many are dumped, left to fend for themselves and die of starvation or get mutilated on the highway! Doesn't THAT sound a bit extreme?
My little dog
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