The lie of our pathetic "Humane Society"

[Sir William]

Since going to supposedly a "No Kill" shelter some time back, the general public assumes that it's a good thing. The truth of the matter is that instead of euthanizing animals that nobody wants or that they can't adopt out, they keep them indefinitely. This all sounds all hunky dory until you realize the unpublished results of this. What it means is that they don't take any new animals in. I recently heard from a very reputable source that the waiting list to turn animals in to the Humane Society is over 450 animals long!

So rather than help the unwanted animals (many puppies) in the county by finding them homes, they just don't take them in. But, they can certainly claim "No Kill". It's a joke at best and a travesty at worst. It would be like a surgeon who says, "I have NEVER lost a patient on the operating table"....because he NEVER SEES A PATIENT. It's easy to not have to euthanize any animals when you turn them all away at the door. So you can be sure that some of those nearly 500 animals got dumped in the woods, shot, etc. Of course we don't know how many, but statistics tell us there are plenty.

We need people to be outraged. The Humane Society won't talk about their waiting list. They don't want to admit that they turn away the incredible majority of animals that people want to take them. All this in the name of remaining "No Kill". It's pathetic and should be addressed. I'd love to see the Bulletin or KTLO do some research into this. Make people aware. The HS has plenty of money in the bank. Their thrift store does great business. But some higher up mucky mucks are so skewed in their impressions that they think never euthanizing is better. The world is just not that way.

[/soapbox]

[RetiredDude]

I understand your frustration at this situation, but what's a shelter to do when they employ a no kill policy? There is just so much room for dogs and cats and whatever. I guess this comes down to which is better; kill sheltered animals after a few weeks to make room for more. Or have a waiting list until a space opens? Sounds like a catch-22 to me.

[Sir William]

Did you know that this shelter will NOT release any animals to competent rescue groups who can readily place the dogs out of the area? They could adopt out puppies and many of the purebred dogs out up north or to really just about anywhere on the east coast VERY easily....but they refuse to do it themselves nor to let anybody else do it. They also won't share their waiting list with rescues so that the animals could be potentially helped. Most of the other shelters we've worked with have the well being of the animals first and will GLADLY transfer their animals to competent rescue groups who have more specialized resources to place them. But this "Humane Society" only seems to care about themselves.

And let me tell you, STRICT no kill is a horrible thing as the "unadoptable" dogs and cats just go crazy eventually. It's indeed nice to never desire to euthanize any animals, but the facts argue to the contrary....to the detriment of the overall unwanted pet population of the community. Strict no kill ONLY works if you have unlimited funds and unlimited space and unlimited staff.....which of course is pretty much an impossibility.