"About 80% of animals entering the shelter are euthanized. Many are old, sick, injured, or vicious. Many times the shelters are overcrowded and must make a 'choice' due to lack of funding".
I volunteer with a friend of mine at the local Animal Shelter. I love to help out there. My friend and I bring treats for the dogs, we walk them, groom them, and we are trying to do write ups for each dog that is available for adoption.
The dog above we have named Bella. She is a beautiful Chocolate Lab that loves the water. She flops down in it when we take her out for her walks and rolls around all happy...then it's off to the grass to roll around for a good back itch! I hope she finds a home soon!
Each dog is begging for attention when we get there. They stay in cages most of the time and do get let out from time to time in the big yard, but they need training, daily exercise, and grooming so that they can be their best and have a better chance at adoption. There are only so many workers and they have so much to do. People come and volunteer, but not enough of them. It takes us well over 3 hours to get less than 10 dogs walked. We can't really take out more than one at a time since they just go wild with excitement being outside and would get all tangled up. I did find out though that four at a time go to the local prison to receive training! That is just wonderful!
I see the people coming to look for a dog...I keep hearing, "I'm looking for a small dog", "I want a puppy" (a note to them...not many puppies are kept in adoption. It's too expensive to wait for them to get old enough to spay/neuter and then hold them for adoption), "I want something a little more quiet", "I don't want one with that coat/color/shape". Good grief...What they need to get is a stuffed dog. Those don't smell, don't require shots, food, washing, cleaning up after, or worrying about if you have to leave town. People seem to come to the shelter wanting this pretty little powder puff mini-pup. Not going to happen...Most dogs in the shelter are medium to large sized mixes. And thanks to the many unknowledgeable 'breeders' attempting to make a quick buck and people who won't spay or neuter their pets, there are way too many of them there for me to walk and love on!
It's really a shame though and we are trying to get these babies into good homes.
I did see a very cute little Beagle. J. has been wanting one for some time now and Steve likes little dogs...me...give me a big Great Dane any day! We do actually have one. I'll post about her another day. This little Beagle was so sweet and I talked to honey about her last night. I'm going to take B. down today and see how she does with kids. More on her I'm sure.
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