T.S. Debby Drowns Five Dogs

Every natural disaster or severe weather event brings stories of tragedy and heartbreak. As Tropical Storm Debby now clears the coast of Florida the local animal community is left with one such story. On Monday, June 25, 2012 Jacksonville.com reported the deaths of four puppies and oneyoung dog, drowned in a flash flood that engulfed Bradford County Animal Control. 

Familiar with the dangers brought by tropical storms and flash floods, the shelter staff had prepared as best they could and their animals were safe. Animals had been moved to the higher parts of the shelter, drainage ditches had been dug, and sand bags were laid. However, despite their best efforts, shelter staff was devastated to find that a nearby creek had broken it banks and flooded the shelter. Like many people, they were caught out by the phenomenal, some might say biblical, amounts of water dumped by Debby. 

At times like this it is natural to point fingers, lay blame, or otherwise vent our anger and frustrations towards shelter staff. I myself am not averse to such behavior and I'm usually not backward in presenting my opinions. Today I want to take no such action. It seems to me that the staff did what they could. All we can do is hold those lost dogs in our thoughts and prayers, and hope that the shelter staff can recover in the face of their loss when faced with the power of Mother Nature.

PETA Favors Kill Shelters Over No-Kill Shelters?

A recent op-ed posted on the website of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) which can be found here suggested that no-kill animal shelters were, in some ways, as damaging to animals as unnecessarily euthanizing them, stating that "euthanasia is often the most compassionate and dignified way for unwanted animals to leave the world."

 As usual, an organization that is known for extremist views and actions is using extremist scenarios to justify its own opinions. Critical observation of the article easily shows the flaws in their argument. While it is true that many no-kill shelters find themselves full and overwhelmed by the demand for space, when faced with a request to rescue they will network to find the space elsewhere. As with anything else the qualities of animal shelters lie along a spectrum from excellent to really really bad. The examples given by PETA represent those shelters that lie at the extreme end of bad.

Most no-kill shelters, while not perfect, attempt to provide adequate exercise and socialization for the animals in their care. Examples of animals living in a cage for 12 years, as given, represent an obvious rarity – perhaps more frequent than we would like, but still a rarity.

 No-kill shelters cannot save every animal in the world but they are doing their best. As with any group of people you will find some who believe they are acting in the best interest of the animals but may be ultimately harming them. I believe those shelters that are harming animals in the belief that they are actually caring for them are uncommon. These people, in fact, have more in common with hoarders than with true animal rescue shelters!

 PETA is viewed by many as a joke because of extremist views and extremist actions and statements like this will do nothing to change that opinion. Undoubtedly, they have the best interest of animals at heart but until the majority of people can take them seriously they will remain, in the opinion of many, a bunch of rabid loons who are ultimately defeating their own goals!

America's Dirty Little Dog Secret: End This Now!

Watching the HBO documentary, One Nation Under Dog: Stories of Fear, Loss, and Betrayal, last night revealed a glimpse into one of the dirty little secrets in the United States. I have seen several estimates of the number of dogs euthanized each year but even the lowest is in the millions. Many of these lose their lives in gas chambers. The opening scene of section 3 of this documentary was a horrifying, harrowing, and heartbreaking picture of one such event.

Let me describe the scene for you: several dogs were walked or carried to a modified trash skip and lifted inside. The lid of this skip was closed, a hose attached, and a gas – presumably carbon monoxide – introduced through the hose. The dogs could be heard whining, crying, and scrabbling for escape as they breathed the deadly vapor. This method does not cause instant death. The dogs have to breathe the gas until it reaches a sufficient level in their lungs and their bloodstream to kill them. After several minutes the crying was replaced by silence. This was not the end; worse was to come! The lid of the skip was opened to reveal the dead dogs. Then, the handlers began to carry several puppies and stand them on top of the corpses inside the skip. The process was repeated and again the whining, crying, and scrabbling filled the air until replaced by that heart-wrenching silence. Time and again the process was repeated until the skip was full of canine corpses. The video then switched to a picture of a refuse collection truck lifting the skip and unceremoniously dumping these once noble creatures into the onboard trash compactor.

These images will haunt me, possibly for the rest of my life.

Many states have prohibited such gas chambers in favor of euthanizing dogs by the injection of drugs such as pentobarbital. While euthanizing healthy animals remains unacceptable, this latter method is much more humane and, essentially, is the same method used by your personal vet when a medical issue becomes terminal. However, those of us in the animal rescue business know that what the law requires is not always what happens!

Please visit the website, Facebook page, or twitter feed of your favorite animal rescue organization to find out what they are doing to end this barbaric practice. WE MUST ALL ACT NOW!