*Feel free to add info and pictures etc but please remain respectful and keep it informative all the AARA rules still apply. Thank you Lynne Michele Redlin for putting this together* WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TURN YOUR PETS INTO THE POUND. NOT A HAPPY ENDING! By Arizona law, stray animals must be kept 72 hours for their owners to reclaim them. They may not be destroyed until that period is up. Animals given up by their owners aren’t protected by these laws. They may be killed at any time. Shelters don’t want to kill all these animals but they don’t have a choice. There just isn’t enough room for all of them. If the cages are full, which they typically are, chances are your pet, the one that gave you unconditional love and companionship, will be taken straight back to the euthanasia room. No second chance. No better home. No one to rescue him or her. Just an undeserved ending because you didn’t think ahead. My Animals Need A Loving Home! True story by Patty Adjamine What really happens when a pet is turned into the dog pound. The man walked into the lobby of the animal shelter. Behind him, two dogs followed faithfully, without leashes. Both dogs were calm, obedient and apparently well-trained Chow mixes. Their guardian was distraught. The man waited nervously on a line of other people surrendering animals to the pound. His eyes were desperate as the two dogs stood quietly beside him. He frantically looked around the lobby. He spotted me with two cats in carriers as I was taking papers from a shelter worker and preparing to leave. He quickly sensed a rescue situation and begged me if I could also take his dogs. My dogs are wonderful, he told me. They are well trained, gentle, affectionate, good with kids. They are only two-years-old. I am moving and cannot take them with me. My animals need a loving home! I could see his dogs were nice dogs. One of them licked my hand when I petted him. But, I could not take them. I explained to the desperate man that while I could not immediately take his dogs, I would get their intake numbers and let him know what was happening with the animals. I promised, if possible I would try to find a placement situation for them. He gave me his pager number as he did not yet have a phone. He then reluctantly signed his dogs over to the shelter. When a shelter worker came to take the animals away, both dogs tried desperately pulling back towards their former owner. The former guardian fought back tears and then forced himself to look the other way -- and exit the shelter doors. That evening I called the shelter to check on the status of the dogs. One had already been put to sleep. I was told that both dogs behaved aggressively in the shelter. One had been euthanized because he had attempted to bite a shelter worker. The other was being held for another day or two for a reevaluation. I asked if I could see the surviving dog and was told I could. I raced to the shelter to see the dog who still was alive. From the back of the cage, this formerly friendly and loving dog was now snarling and assumed a defensive/aggressive posture. The same dog who earlier licked my hand, now threatened to lunge at me. I dared not attempt to pet him. He was terrified. Upon arriving home, I immediately called the former owners pager number. Less than five minutes later he called me back. I told him what happened and about his surviving dog. If you want this dog to live, you need to get to the shelter and reclaim him immediately! He is not going into adoptions. The man started screaming hysterically on the phone. THEY KILLED MY DOG??!! I tried to explain that his sweet, loving dogs had become fearful and stressed in the shelter. There was no way the shelter could have placed them, but the man was no longer listening to me. The next day the Director of the Shelter called to admonish me for giving the man the information. The man caused a scene in the shelter! We had to return the dog to him. We cannot have this kind of chaos! I told him he should be happy that his shelter had one less dog to kill. This true event happened several years ago. Since then I have witnessed hundreds of formerly loved and loving pets suddenly undergo drastic personality changes when subjected to the stresses, depression and fears associated with abandonment and being thrust into unfamiliar and frightening surroundings. Sadly, most of these pets die. The lesson to be learned is that the acquisition of animals is a responsibility. When ones bond to a pet is broken for whatever reason, too often, there is no one else to pick up the pieces of that broken commitment. Shelters and rescue groups are not the solution. We are merely a stopgap for SOME animals. But, quite literally millions fall through the cracks. The real solution is in human responsibility: YOU ARE YOUR ANIMALS STATISTICS OF KILLED PETS Phoenix, AZ – January 15, 2014) – Maricopa County Animal Care & Control (MCACC) is celebrating the New Year by announcing a dramatic decrease in their euthanasia rate for 2013. From January through December of last year the agency euthanized 11,396 animals (10,364dogs and 1,032 cats). While that is 11,396 too many, it is a 29% decrease from the same time period the previous year, and a 62% decrease from 2005! - See more at: maricopa.gov/pr_detail.aspx?releaseID=2473#.dpuf NOTE: I thought this was an interesting article...Ive seen dogs in boarding spinning in their cages and thought wow, how is anyone going to adopt this dog, like a wild crazed animal. Its really sad ...then too the dogs kept in crates and wire cages cant even spin, they dont have room to even move. Thats even sadder. Heather Allen, president and CEO of HALO Animal Rescue, a no-kill shelter in Phoenix, said she visited the MASH Unit a few years ago and was concerned by the number of animals that had been there for so long. Many dogs showed signs of extreme aggression, pouncing on doors. Others obsessively paced and spun. I asked the officer why they hadnt euthanized these animals because they were unadoptable, Allen said. Her answer? MASH was strictly a no-kill operation. They put a no-kill mantra in front of quality of life, Allen said. They cant give these animals what they really need, to be mentally enriched. Its one thing to provide food and shelter, but rescues must also make sure pets are given adequate exercise and socialization, according to Scott Pisani, director of Animal Services for the Arizona Humane Society. A group that simply warehouses animals may well be doing more harm than good, he said. Stress abounds in any kennel due to the noise and confined spaces. The key lies in allowing animals enough time outside kennels, even if its just for five minutes every few hours. As head of the Valleys largest no-kill shelter, Judith Gardner is unnerved when dogs remain at Arizona Animal Welfare League and SPCA for more than a few months. Despite daily exercise and play with other dogs, long-term residents can break down under the stress of kennel confinement. AAWL often sends such to foster homes or other rescue agencies capable to spending more time with them. But Gardner cant imagine keeping dogs confined for years. A spinning dog, she said, is forever lost. I do think there are circumstances that in the best interests of the dog, based on quality-of-life issues, that it should be euthanized, Gardner said. If theyre closed up in a box for four, five, six years and never get out, is that quality of life? Ill be criticized by some in the animal community for saying that. There are people who believe no animal should be euthanized. Arizona A.R.S. Section 11-1021: Proper care, maintenance and destruction of impounded animals. azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/11/01021.htm&Title=11&DocTy pe=ARS Arizona allows 3 methods: 1. Sodium pentobarbital or a derivative of sodium pentobarbital. 2. Nitrogen gas. 3. T-61 euthanasia solution or its generic equivalent. ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO SURRENDER YOUR DOG TO THE POUND NOW? Lynne
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 03:10:24 +0000
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