I have volunteered several hundred hours at a private shelter for over
two years. In that time, I have seen perfectly healthy cats and dogs
euthanised. Everyone, absolutely everyone, there hates when that
happens, but there are no viable alternatives sometimes. When you are
out of space to the point of housing animals in people's offices, out
of foster families, and all the other shelters are out of space, what
is the alternative?


The alternative for some "no-kills" I know about:

Refusal of all but the cream of the crop
Acceptance of only "adoptables" from the immediate area
Euthanasia of the "unadoptables"
Transfer of the surplus animals to a public shelter for euthanasia
Tethering of suplus animals in alleyway behind shelter

Sad but true.

I respect the work that the "no-kill" shelters do, but I have zero
respect for those who look down their nose on the shelters who do
euthanise when there are no alternatives.

Ditto all over the place. And of course "no-kill" must logically be
accompanied by "kill." I recently communicated with a public shelter
employee who actually referred to her shelter as a "kill shelter."


The local city shelter will
euthanise any animal that has not been adopted in x number of days.
That should be unacceptable, but there are too few of us to change the
city's policy.


Not necessarily that there are too few of you, but that there are too many
unwanted pets pouring into the shelters. And, sadly, more than ever
pouring into (or attempting to, anyway) the so-called "no-kill" shelters.
People are assuming these private shelters are a safe haven for their
throwaway pets.

Sharon Talbert
Friends of Campus Cats

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