"Kalyahna" wrote in message
...
"Joe Pitt" wrote in message
. ..
I attended a presentation about stopping the killing of cats (and dogs)
in
animal control facilities. He emphasised that you euthanize an animal
that
is SICK.


A lot of shelters apparently have a reputation for euthanizing strays as
soon as their legal holding period is over. NOT every shelter does this.


Yes, this is true. I saw Duffy's picture and description on Petfinders, and
it was clear that the picture had been there for some time. The description
also said that animals were kept at that shelter for 14 days before being
euthanized. I was fairly sure that it was too late, but I called anyway.
Duffy was still alive! He had been at the shelter for 3 months, and shelter
staff were doing everything possible to keep him (literally, to "shelter"
him) until a home could be found. That turned out to be one of the best
days of my life because I was able to adopt Duffy (and, I hope, one of the
best days of *his* life). That animal shelter is going to receive a
donation from me at Christmas in Duffy's honor.



By the way, not every shelter still uses the time-limit criteria for
euthanasia.

On a more personal note (which explains why this subject is so intensely
irritating), as a certified euthanasia tech, I helped with my first euth
today.

But he HAD those issues, and we cannot put a dog up for
adoption that will bite if someone reaches toward his food dish, or
distrusts men completely and barely trusts women. And he was euthanized.
Not
killed. You know why there's that difference in wording for the people who
actually work in this field, Joe? Because frankly, if we look at it as
killing, slaughtering, whatever you'd like to call it, it would be
impossible for us to do. But if we call it euthanasia, we remember that we
put them to sleep, end their suffering, and prevent injury to other
animals
and other people. We take on that emotional burden and the extra
heartbreak
that already fills a very emotionally difficult line of work.


This is an excellent point. I once did inspections of our local animal
shelter for the Humane Society, and I witnessed the process you just
described. I was very impressed with the love and care I saw there. It was
clearly painful to the staff when animals were euthanized, but the
alternative would have been even worse.


~Kal.