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Euthanasia 101 A view from the inside

7:43 PM |

I think our society needs a huge "Wake-up" call. As a shelter manager, I am going to share a little insight with you all...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 it's not a cute little puppy anymore. So how would you feel if you knew that there's about a 90% chance that dog will never walk out of the shelter it is going to be dumped at? Purebred or not! About 50% 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 too that doesn't allow pets? Or they say "The dog got bigger than we thought it would". How big did you think a Great Dane would get? "We don't have time for her". Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my 6 dogs! "She's tearing up our yard". How about making her a part of your family? 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 & how stressful do you think being in a shelter is? Well, let me tell you, your pet has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off. Sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn't full and your dog manages to stay completely healthy. If it sniffles, it dies. Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room with about 25 other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will be depressed and it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it. 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 its pen with a high-powered hose. If your dog is big, black or any of the "Bully" breeds (pit bull, rottie, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it 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 its 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed. If the shelter isn't full and your dog is good enough, and of a desirable enough breed it 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 it 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 its 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 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 1 or 2 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 been covered with the resulting blood and been deafened by the yelps and screams. They all don't just "go to sleep", sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate on themselves.
When it all ends, your pets 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 everyday on the way home from work.
I hate my job, I hate that it exists & I hate that it will always be there unless you people make some changes and realize that the lives you are affecting go much farther 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 I maybe 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 and it made me want to adopt". THAT WOULD MAKE IT WORTH IT.
~ Author unknown


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Posted by Unknown

A common question:)

12:33 PM |

Q: 
So the bigger kitten.

Keeps clawing at its siblings to get milk from mama.

An pushes them clawing at their heads the siblings are tiny compaired to this one.

Im wondering should I separate this sibling an care for it myself for the saftey of the others? 

Or let it continue to beat up its siblings...

Im at a los here


A: 
DON'T SEPARATE THEM!!!

Depending on the age of the kittens, the best thing to do is leave them with the Queen. There is never any situation when separation from mother is the better option, barring death. If you're worried about the smaller kittens not getting enough nourishment, you can *supplement* mother's milk, by bottle-feeding them, 3-4 times per day. 

If you don't have experience bottle feeding, contact your local humane society, and they can walk you through the proper feeding technique. (Kittens younger than 3 weeks old must be syringe-fed, as they do not have a strong enough suckle to take to a bottle.) Do NOT, under any circumstances, remove the kittens from their mother, for good. They need her for body heat, and comfort. Kittens who are removed from their mother to be bottle-fed, have an 93% mortality rate. 

Since these babies are only a couple days old, you NEED TO LEAVE THEM THERE! I cannot express that any more clearly. You WILL kill them if you separate the kittens from the mother. The tiny infants need their mother's milk. Her milk has the antibodies these babies will need to build their own immune system. Without those antibodies, they will die. I'm not trying to be mean, but you need to understand, these are animals. They need their mother. They will not survive on formula as a human baby would. 

In this case, a two-day-old kitten cannot get "too much" milk. The bigger may be getting more, but he's not going to suck mom dry so the other babies don't have milk. They will all suckle until they are full, then they will detach and sleep. Kittens clawing and puching at their littermates is normal behavior. They're very competitive little things! It looks scary, but I assure you, it's normal.

It's very important not to project human emotions onto these babies. Yes, it may look scary, but cats are very resilient creatures, when left to their own devices. Again, if you're worried that the big kitten is getting "too much" milk, supplement the smaller ones with kitten formula. Use KMR powder, not cow's milk, and be sure to put all babies back with their mother after each feeding. Contact a VETERINARIAN about how to syringe feed them. It is not an easy task, and there is the potential of choking the kitten by giving them too much milk. Syringe-feeding is risky, and that's your only option with these tiny babies.

The kittens will have the best chance at survival if you just simply leave them alone. I've raised nearly 50 litters in my lifetime, and only lost 9 kittens, ever. On that note, I've only lost an entire litter, when I was bottle feeding orphans. All three babies in that litter died, because they didn't have their mother. Do not, I pray to you, listen to people who are saying things like "they'll starve to death" and validating your panic. The best thing to do is leave them, and let Momma Cat take care of them. 

Christina, Certified Veterinary Assistant/Feline Rescuer, Animal Lover 

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Posted by Unknown

♥Heavy heart♥

3:16 AM |

I update this with a heavy heart this early morning as we lost two of the kittens last night. Can't stop crying long enough to type much so this update is just some pictures. We still have the gray/black tabby. Just wish I could of done more.

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Posted by Unknown

♥Kittens in a well, of trouble♥

7:53 PM |


♥Meet the three musketeers ♥

Only a few days old, they were found abandoned, through the help of several animal loves these three are now with my sister and I. It started with 6, now we have 3 my sister and I will be taking shifts over the next few weeks for feedings and over all care. Ever two hours for bottle feedings, a good article can be found here. 

http://www.2ndchance.info/orphankitten.htm

A snip-it: 

"That amount should be spread out into about ten feedings, spaced about every 2 and-a-half hours round the clock. If the kitten is weak or stressed, it is even more important to give it more frequent feeding throughout the day and night.
During their second week, an average kitten consumes about 55 cc per day of formula. You can already cut back on the number of feedings if the kitten is steadily gaining weight.
By week three, the kitten should be consuming about 80 cc of formula per day; by four weeks 100 cc/day, and by 5 weeks about 125cc/day. By four weeks , the amount of formula the kitten consumes per feeding should have risen so that you get by with 5-7 feedings per day.
Kittens that are hungry and need feeding will cry continuously, move their heads from side to side and suckle on each other or on objects in the nest box."

Needless to say we will be busy, anyone who wants to send coffee our way? lol 
The next few weeks are going to be amazing and stressful as we wait and see how the kittens will do, it's difficult and there is a good chance they might not make it. But were are ready for any problems with the help of a local rescue "Pet Project" we hope everything goes smoothly.


A list of go to items that will be needed or helpful.


For the nest: 
– Large carrier or cardboard box(es) for nest 
– Heating pad or Snuggle Safe microwavable pads 

Have extras of these items, as they will need to be changed or discarded often: 
– Towels to put on top of heat source (2 at a time) 
– Baby blanket for kittens to burrow in 
– Soft towels (no loops) 
– Wash cloths (no loops) 
– Paper towels or gauze pads (for elimination) 

Other supplies needed: 
– Commercial kitten milk re-placer (recommended brand and type: KMR Powder) 
– Nursing bottles and nipples (
– Bottle brush 
– Small whisk 
– Small funnel 
– Ear or digital thermometer for kittens 
– Thermometer for formula 
– Vaseline jelly, K-Y jelly 
– Kitchen (food) scale, available at hardware store, Bed, Bath & Beyond, or Weight Watchers 
– Non-clumping cat litter or shredded newspaper 



Now for cute kitten pictures! if you could like to help out please leave me an email SimplyFurry@live.com or click the donate button on the left side. ♥





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Posted by Unknown

Mattie

7:18 AM |

Been up most the night, seems like I am a night walker once again. The sun is over rated anyway. Besides stray animals are most active at night...

My sister and I were making our normal drive around town, we love to drive and we do it for no reason, other than to relax, we are driving through flo town. Two dogs ran in front of the car and I skid to a stop and we both squeak...yes squeak... we look at one another and sigh, at this point we think dogs are drawn to us...just don't ask by the end of my blog it will make more sense. I go around the block and she jumps out and calls to the dogs, the lab mix jumps in the car and licks my face. "Hi human!" I get the lab in the back seat while my sister walks to try and get the husky mix, let's skip ahead 2 hours and some change we still don't have the husky. 

We give up for now, and finish our drive with the lab in tow, we find out the lab is a she and loves to lick, random licks on the back of my head and I nearly wreck the car...lol "something touched me!" We drive past our favorite gas station, and my sister says "stay there kitty" I auto tap the breaks, god lord please please stay there kitty. An hour later we pass the same gas station and the cat is still under the red truck, so we pull up and grab something to drink, we are talking to the girl at the counter and she tells us the cat seems friendly but was in bad shape maybe mange or other problems. I give the look to my sister and she asks where I want to stick the cat since we already have the lab in the back seat, I shrug and pout. Thinking not much of it, she was right and that just wouldn't have ended well for anyone. I come out of the bathroom and my sister is gone, I check the car, and she is holding the cat on her lap!!!!!! ....Wait what? The clerk comes outside when I told her we were able to get the kitty and she dies laughing, squeaking leaning against the building as the lab head is sticking out the back seat window whining while the cat is curled up on my sisters lap. Welcome to our lives.

A once over on cat we can see it's matted badly, I have never seen a cat this bad it couldn't even jump, or stretch out the mats started under the chin and were all the way down to the tip of the tail and between the pads of it's feet. My sister points out it's also DeClawed, the thought just made me sick to my stomach and still does. Now everything you expect from a feral cat, scared, bitty, you know not want to be around humans much less in a car with a dog and human. But nothing, it was purring and made itself comfortable, we decided i would take the cat home and she would take the lab since she had a fenced in yard. We laughed the next day how the cat person got the dog and the dog person ended up with the cat...Still not sure how that happened. 

 As you can see from the pictures the cat was outside for months, declawed, and just surviving. Yet it didn't turn feral, she still loves people. Since we picked her up we have started to shave her little by little since we don't have any sedatives to keep her calm it's a long and can be painful the hair is so badly matted all over her body it's pulling at her skin. Ever had a really bad knot in your hair or other areas, think about if you pulled on it for weeks or months straight. And on top of the mats she has been outside with no claws to defend herself or to hunt I make no attempt to hide how I feel about declawing a cat, most people think it's like trimming your nails, but it's not...not even close. 

I am sorry but if your think this is better than scratches on your couch, than maybe you shouldn't own an animal. 
 
And honestly most people are just unaware of what declawing really is. But I will leave all that for another post.


It's been almost a week since we have picked up the lab and the cat, and no one has claimed either. So we are in luck we have such a wonderful rescue here in our town Pet Project is helping us foster both and even allowing us to use their vets so we can make sure both are in good health and ready to find forever homes. I have named the cat Mattie for all the mattes on her body, she is a sweet and loving girl very forgiving and lovable she always has to be close to someone and when I seen she likes to be close to my chest maybe the heartbeat is relaxing. I will let you know what the vet says once we get all the test back for both animals. 

If you would like to sponsor or donate it would mean a lot to us, all funds go right back into an animal, be it food and water or testing, vaccines. 











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Posted by Unknown

♥Where is all started♥

7:52 PM |

I have always had pets, since before I could remember. I hear stories about them from my family, and even tho I don't remember each and every one of them, they still took a place in my heart. 

The first pet I remember adopting was when I was about 9 or 10 years old. My aunt brought home a chow mix puppy, all fluffy and cute.



A few days past and we all put names into a hat, none of us could agree on a name for the little ball of fur. The names were drawn and 'Reiley' won! He was one of the first I remember and he was also the first time I seen someone abuse an animal of any kind. Months went by and he was an amazing dog, I remember coming home from school to find Reiley crying in the back yard when my cousin and I got to him, he was laying on his side with a hole near his hip, and you could see right into him. I cried and felt sick, screaming for my mom my cousin and I took him inside. After our parents looked him over, we took him to the vet he was still bleeding and no one had known how long he was outside. The vet said it was a perfect cut, with something like a razor blade or even scissors. After that all I remember is my cousin and I had to leave the room, and Reiley didn't come home with us. He wasn't even a year old, and when I think about it now, I know what happened and I have a pretty good idea who did it to him. That was well over 10 years ago and I still feel sick to my stomach, and confused on how someone could hurt an animal, a puppy, a part of our family. Now I am all teary eyed, and going to walk away from a bit. This little guy was the first of our adventures but not our last. I will post more later. Thank you for listening.

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Posted by Unknown

♥Forever Fostering♥

7:03 AM |




♥Click the Link Above to see some of the few we have given a second chance♥

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Posted by Unknown

Just The Beginning

2:23 AM |

This is a post taken from my sisters blog, (see link below) we have been through so much together over the last 10+ years, and 90% of that time has been spent with animals be it saving, adopting, fostering or catching strays to find forever homes. Please take a few moments to comment and share.



These pet posts will be available at: The Daily Life of an Average Girl as well as here on my personal blog.



Topic #1: PETS ARE FOREVER!

If you commit yourself to doing hours of research, driving to the pet store, breeder, or local shelter, paying the adoption/purchase fee, buying food, beds, toys, tanks, filters, heat lamps, I.D. tags, and whatever else your animal requires, you're committing yourself to caring for an animal for the rest of its natural life.

Pets are not status symbols. They're not a method to "keep up with the Joneses." They're not toys. They're not anniversary gifts. They're not temporary distractions from heartache. They're not lawn ornaments.

They are a life-time commitment. Period.

With this commitment comes a lot of responsibility. You know what responsibility is, if you're over the age of ten. Your parents (if they were worth their salt), your teachers, your pastor, they all tried to teach you how to be responsible for your decisions, how to own up and follow-through with your commitments. They wanted you to be a person whose word is solid and reliable. Don't forget that when you bring an animal into your home.

Dogs typically live between 7 and 15 years, cats can be as old as 20, birds and turtles/tortoises live for decades! That's YEARS of costly vet visits, thousands of pounds of food, gallons upon gallons of water, millions of little pet turds to clean up, hundreds of training hours, and every drop of blood, sweat, and tears that you're capable of shedding.

I think you get the point I'm trying to make, especially if you're an animal lover like myself.

I decided that this post would be the first one, because this is the one that hits closest to home...

My roommates/landlords have an affinity for trying to one-up, people. Their friends get a new car, they get one a year newer. New TV at the neighbor's? Well, theirs is 3-inches bigger! Et cetera! A little competition among friends is good, and to be completely honest, it's just FUN! However, when you bring that competition and desire to be better than your friends, into your choice to get a pet, you...well, you just plain piss me off!

Case in point: My Leonidis, the pain-in-the-ass German Shepherd.

My landlords got Leo (then short for Leonardo) because their coworkers got a GSD puppy, and "Aw, look how cute it is!"

*sigh*

German Shepherds are not a lazy man's dog. Believe me, this dog is no exception!

This adorable pup (now nearly two years old) came into a house with a spoiled Pomeranian (don't even get me started with that thing...), and two cats, not including my clutch of cats that live in my trailer with me. My roommates' hearts were in the right place, but they just plain didn't have the patience or drive to give this dog what he needed, at an early age, to make him a well-balanced adult. I told them that they needed to train him, because they kept getting upset that he was pooping in the house, or chewing on cords/shoes/the couch. I told them that GSDs need a lot of maintenance, and training, or they go a little...bonkers...yeah, that's a good word!

Their response?

"We'll deal with it later."

REALLY RIGHT NOW?!

Well, as you have probably figured out, "later" never came. Leo's behavior got worse, because he was never taught what not to do, or how to act. He was never socialized with other dogs, or people. Eventually, they decided that they couldn't "deal with him" because he was "dangerous". (He wasn't dangerous. Just bored out of his skull.) He ran over their grandkid, he nipped, he jumped on people, he destroyed everything he could get his teeth on; he was just...bonkers. So, they decided to get rid of him.

I just...

Grrr...

My sister and I said, "No, you're not!"

She decided to take him in, and help him. He needed a lot of it. The only problem with her having him was that she was working 12-hour days, and the roommates she had weren't exactly...responsible enough for her to trust to take care of him when she wasn't there, so he continued with the destructive behavior, even though he did make a vast improvement. When she was home, he was an angel, but he reverted as soon as she left. It was an unhealthy cycle that eventually stressed them both out. Then, he jumped into her neighbor's yard, one day, and her neighbor threatened to shoot Leo. That went over like a ton of bricks, and Leo came back here, under my care.

I have been his official owner, now, for about 3 months and he is a completely different dog. He gets regular exercise. He has rules and boundaries, and he is disciplined when he's being a dick. He's bitten me, a couple times, because he was never properly socialized, he's destroyed (and I mean d-e-s-t-r-o-y-e-d) some of my things. He's chased my cats. He's done all kinds of things that people usually send their pets to the pound for.

I didn't.

I stuck with him, and I pushed through the frustration and the tears, and even the blood, and one day it just clicked. We had a bond, and I was the pack leader. It wasn't easy, and I still consider him a "work in progress", but I've seen enough of a change in him to be able to see that light at the end of the tunnel. I was exhausted and sore, and frustrated beyond belief for the first couple weeks, but I stuck to my guns, and I didn't give him an inch, and now the jumping has all but stopped, the chewing only happens when he doesn't get his daily run, the charging after kids/other dogs/cats has slowed (with the exception of my orange tabby, with whom Leo likes to play tag...there is nothing funnier than an 8-pound-cat chasing a 100-pound-dog around the yard).

That's what I'm trying to tell you people who like to pick up and dump animals left-and-right. To those of you who get rid of animals because they destroyed your favorite shoes, or because they grew out of being "cute, or because you're simply bored with them, or because they got diarrhea on your new carpet, or because you had a baby. The animals only act out because you let them. Period.

If you cannot take control of a lesser-species, how the hell do you expect to be successful as a manager, or a parent?

...?

Seriously, though, if you can't control your dog, how the hell are you going to control a group of humans who are probably smarter than you?

Yes that was harsh. Yes, I probably insulted you. No, I don't care.

When it comes down to the choice between a human's feelings and an animal's well-being, I will side with the animal. Every. Time.

Honor your commitment to your four-, two-, no-legged pets.

Yes, there are times when it is in the best interest of the animal that you give up ownership to somebody who is more capable of caring for them. But none of those reasons are ever because you WANT to. Those reasons only come out of need, and those reasons will break your heart, every time.

I've had to rehome pets in my lifetime, because I was homeless, or because my Big Boy (my oldest tabby) was getting attacked. I rehomed a pitbull, because I was living with people who wanted to start a dog-fighting ring, and I had nowhere else to live. I have never rehomed an animal because they were an inconvenience. And, I have cried, as each one of those animals walked out my front door for the last time.

If it doesn't break your heart to "get rid" of them, then don't get rid of them. Find another way to fix whatever problem you're having with them. Change your own routine. Do whatever you possibly can to care for them, and then some, because that's what you signed up for.

Don't back out of the contract because of a little bit of adversity. Cleaning diarrhea out of the carpeting, replacing chewed up shoes, repairing window screens and, yes, even whole doors, are all small potatoes when you consider that no matter how shitty your day was, no matter how many people screamed at you, or how worthless the outside world made you feel, to that animal, you are the one. You are it. You are literally their whole world and they rely on you for their food, their shelter, their drink of water. They don't play unless they play with you. They greet you at the door with open hearts and wagging tails, and lots of kitty purrs, in my case. You're their best-friend, and they will never, ever turn their back on you for anything, ever...

Even when you turn your back on them.

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