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"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. |
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