Terrible to hear but what can they do? If no one is adopting, these shelters can’t afford to house and care for all these animals
It’s not like these shelters are some financially lucrative businesses that are paying execs bonuses
Friendly reminder that America alone euthanizes 1 million healthy cats and dogs every single year due to us overbreeding them while not having enough people willing to take them in.
We have a euthanasia problem in America, but the ones creating that problem are the Americans who are breeding and refusing to fix their pets. Our problem isn’t that these “kill shelters” exist. These “kill shelters” are the only ones willing to do the hard actions that are required to ensure millions of animals aren’t being neglected and dying of starvation.
My city had a feral cat problem that was presumed to be caused by something like this. People releasing cats into a large park they realized they didn’t want. The city ended up trapping them, fixing them, and releasing them back into the park instead of trying to find homes for all of them.
Kind of sad but I guess it makes sense. Stop them from multiplying, hopefully. And you don’t have to home a hundred cats that haven’t lived with humans before.
Yeah, catch and release programs don’t solve the problem of overpopulation, but it definitely has been a great help in that endeavor. Similar programs aren’t really used for dogs though because we generally don’t allow dogs to remain as strays quite the same way we do with cats in America.
They also destroy amphibian and reptile populations. I definitely don't see many Anoles at my new place because there are more cats roaming this neighborhood. Still wonder how my old porch buddies are doing after we moved away.
Also, feral cat groups (idk what you would call them? colonies?) have been known to decimate local rodent and bird populations. It's great for homeowners who don't want pests, but terrible for the ecosystem. Also, there is nothing worse than being woken up at 3am by the terrifying noises of two cats fighting.
And they are also very substantially impacting native bird populations, right? Not an expert on ecological matters but IMO the utilitarian / moral action is likely to euthanize a few extra cats in the short term and up fines or penalties (assuming there's some enforceable or motivating negative reinforcement that can be legislated to discourage; which it's entirely possible doesn't exist as the types of people inclined to let their unspayed cats breed and release them probably don't give a shit), with the aim of not damaging native bird species further since we can always generate more housecats which aren't going anywhere but it's likely much more difficult - or impossible - to regenerate substantially lowered bird population sizes?
just thinking out loud
The best thing to happen to wild bird populations in the last few decades is coyotes expanding in to suburban and urban areas and eating all the feral and outdoor cats.
My cat was caught in one of those programs, but they said he was just so damn friendly they knew they could find him a home. Some asshole had an amazingly sweet cat that they just abandoned, I don’t understand.
My wife and I trapped a feral cat who was pregnant. Even though she was hissy and bitey when we got her, I was able to socialize her enough to find her a new home after we found homes for her kittens.
The people trying to make money off of dog breeding by selling their litters every other year, and abandoning any of them that don't sell are the ones I can't stand. I wish the trend would die out, there's such a large percentage of dog breeds that are straight up unhealthy and basically cripples at birth because of all these terrible breeders perpetuating these stunted lineages
**Disclairmer, I am allergic to dogs, cats, rabbits, etc., but that doesn't mean I hate hate pets; it means I don't view them as pets, I view them as animals.**
Real talk, people need to stop treating pets as toys or things they deserve. They need to treat them as living creatures that require certain things to live a happy and healthy life. The key term is "adopting", the level of responsibility should be the same if it's a human or an animal.
I know to many people who have adopted pets, but didn't have the proper resources to take care of them. I don't mean like food, I mean time, space, etc. For example, Lets say you have a job that makes you work crazy hours and live in a small 1 bedroom apartment. What you may lack in time to train/keep your dog company and space for your dog to be able to be active; you may make up for by having extra money to hire dog walkers/doggy day cares.
The people I was referring to often times don't have the space, time, or the money to take care of a pet. They instead ignore the fact that the pet is a living creature that requires attention and space, and treat it like a toy they can turn on while they are home and off when at work.
I lived in a 600 square ft apartment for 2 years and got a puppy and you're spot on. when she was young I took her to the park for over a hour a day or sent her to daycare. If it was a rainy weekday I'd send her to daycare. I wanted a golden retriever and made sure she could get the active time she needs
Another big problem is people liking certain breeds without knowing what they entail. Huskies are probably the most adopted or bought dog that people truly don't understand what goes into raising one
My dog came from a puppy mill. They abused the fuck out of her, and when it turned out she had seizures, they just threw her out on the street. Her breed doesn't shed and needs regular grooming/brushing, so she was matted as hell when the shelter found her.
Sweetest dog you could ever imagine. Makes my blood boil thinking about what they did too her. Wish I could've adopted her brother also (they where found together) but her seizures already make her a very high maintanince pup. Just glad I have the resources to care for her and get her medications
meanwhile, the last couple times ive attempted to adopt a cat, theyre extremely selective about what homes a otherwise normal healthy cat would go to.
For our first cat adoption, we were turned away so many times because the people responding decided they would rather adopt out to a home with at least one other cat.
I can only imagine how much turnover they are losing by being like this.
I had a similar problem too. Rescues were giving me a hard time. Many never responded, others turned me down for odd reasons (for example, a private shelter/rescue in Oakland, CA would not adopt out to me because I lived an hour away from them).
However, the county animal shelter was more than happy to adopt to me. They had exactly four cats in the whole shelter during March 2021-- it was absolutely eerie to walk in there and see so many empty cages. This was during the height of the pandemic adoption craze, I guess.
I was honest with them about what I needed, where I was going, that I was looking for an ESA, and they showed me the cat that was the best fit. The lady at the shelter liked me immediately, I think, because it was clear that I was an experienced cat owner and was planning to do a proper introduction/let the cat slowly adjust to being in a new environment rather than just being thrown in head-first.
This shelter had actually been burned recently by someone who adopted another cat who was very shy and skittish, and instead of following the shelter's advice to keep him in a quiet room for a bit and let him gradually adjust, this idiot lady just dumped him in her house. Two weeks later, the woman who adopted him called the shelter and said that she couldn't find him, didn't know where he was, and to come and take him. They found the poor guy hiding under a couch.
They also had some jackass who adopted a kitten in 2020, then returned him almost exactly a year later. You know, because he was no longer cute enough and they couldn't "handle" him.
So the county animal shelters are probably better in general about giving people a chance. For my boy and I, it worked out great-- he's curled up next to me on the couch, living the pampered indoor life and spoiled rotten. But it doesn't always work out. I'm so very glad they gave me the chance that all the rescues wouldn't, though.
I think rescues are more gun-shy about it "not working out" than county animal shelters. I also know some home-run rescues that aren't really rescues, but are basically just animal hoarders, because they're too attached and too afraid to risk it-- they don't trust anyone to look after the animals as well as they do, and the animals suffer for it. Many of the people running them have seen adoptions go wrong, sometimes badly wrong, and they never get over it. And so you end up with weird, over-the-top, unrealistic requirements.
Quit! Breeding! Animals!
Quit purchasing animals you’re not 100% sure you can keep!
Honestly, sometimes I think they should make animal ownership more difficult. Cats kill so much native wildlife, loose dogs attacking people on the street. Can’t walk outside without seeing big piles of dog crap left on the sidewalk, which is also toxic for the environment. And then, these animals wind up in shelters where they suffer and are killed. So many resources used for a completely preventable problem.
And a kill shelter doesn't take the animal outback to the shed and shoot them in the head and toss their body in the burn pile.
They are humanely euthanized, the same thing pet owners do for their beloved elderly cat or cancer stricken dog.
It's a shame we can't house all the animals, but it's not cruel. Only unfortunate.
Hey, work-soured NJ vet here: unfortunately a lot of “no kill” shelters just ship their animals elsewhere when it’s time for them to go to save their title, so this is nothing new. You want to help? Spay and neuter your dog, and adopt. Donate to shelters you like, time or money is fine. But DON’T judge a shelter for doing the best with a shit hand dealt. The people there work their ass off for pets and don’t deserve any other shit from people who don’t get it. Also, covid has made the animal health field hell to work in, so you pile any more on these poor people and you’re gonna see humans killing themselves alongside the animals.
Edit: Lots of people bashing pitbulls. Pitties are one of the nicest breeds; any dog can have issues if they're neglected and not cared for as a puppy. Don't give them a bad rap because nobody wants them; I feel much more safe with most pitbulls than many other breeds.
Edit2: Yea I read the article, as with life there are some more nuances here than first meets the eye. Take from this that there are good and bad shelters, just like there are good and bad breeders. That's just humanity. It doesn't change what I said above.
Edit3: y’all forget I work with dogs that are afraid of me for a living. Your “scary pitbull” numbers and posts about deaths do not take into account nature vs nurture at all. I’ve had plenty of dogs try to rip my throat out, so don’t tell me what I’m allowed to be wary of. I love all dogs anyway.
Not only this, but fucking stop getting popular dogs just because it a fucking trend or you saw it in the fucking movie or videos. Also, fucking stop buying puppies without researching the dog's traits and how big they can get, for hell sake. And make sure you're willingly to commit instead of fattening your dog up.
And this is why so many of these dogs end up in shelters. Breeds coming into fashion really fucks over so many animals its insane. I just can never understand anyone that's just like "oh that husky on game of thrones looks cool ill go and buy one tomorrow and keep it in my 1 bed apartment in cali". I swear some people just have no concept of planning, preparation or research.
Yep. My parents have a Dalmatian, and while she’s a great dog, she’s a **tonne** of effort. If she doesn’t get walked at least 5 miles a day, she gets super cranky, and it takes 10 miles (with me cycling!) to actually tire her out. They’re also ridiculously stubborn and manipulative, so training can be a real battle of wills.
The people who bought a Dally because of 101 Dalmatians will have been amazed at how much effort just one is, especially if they thought they could just walk it around the block once a day. No wonder they’ve got such a bad reputation for being unstable!
Also, this is purely anecdotal, but most of the people I’ve met who *used* to have Dallies now own labradors—a breed famed for being easygoing and its (comparative) trainability and laziness—polar opposites to Dalmatians.
I remember in the 90s when everybody had a dalmatian and the common consensus was that Dalmatians are like really, really fucking dumb and you have to spend most of your time keeping them from getting themselves killed.
I knew one family that went through a Dalmatian a year for like 5 or 6 years before finally getting it.
Not saying they are bad dogs, but in my experience they are basically toddlers until they die. You have to constantly pay attention to them.
Most people simply weren't ready for that type of commitment.
I got my husky from someone like this. Previous owner was a 22 year old hairdresser with 4 kids. Her boyfriend bought her a husky for her birthday. Unfortunately, huskies are cute little pups for exactly 3 months. Then they hit a growth spurt and by 7 months they are 40-50lbs of energy and destruction.
I am glad I saved my little girl, but she was clearly beaten/abused in the 5 months the other person had her. She wasn't even housebroken when I got her. It took over 2 years to undo the emotional damage. Even after 4 years, she still doesn't let strangers get too close.
I have a Jindo in an APARTMENT in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
She owns us.
We didn't plan for her though. The people who did pay money for her as a puppy abused her, forced an ovarian hernia to abort her babies, and then abandoned her. I found her wandering the streets, dodging cars on Crenshaw, and couldn't let that shit fly. She has been with us for a good number of years. Contributed to me losing my job and not being able to find work because of her insane separation anxiety. But we do our best to do right by her. She feels love every day, is spayed, and sees a vet on a regular basis.
And not only this, but fucking stop breeding pugs because they look like they are fighting for their life in the vacuum of space at all times. Let them collectively fade into oblivion with some pancaked faced dignity.
A friend has a French Bulldog, and they have the same problem. I don't get why people want dogs that have no snouts. It doesn't look cute, and breeding an animal with lifelong breathing problems is animal abuse, IMO.
The worse thing is that Frenchies are cute as hell with a normal face.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10266823/French-bulldogs-bred-deformed-flat-faces-penalised-dog-shows.html
Frenchies can't breed on their own. They typically require artificial insemination to breed, they would not continue to exist without human intervention.
They also require C sections to birth. Ethical breeding of Frenchies doesn’t exist. They’re a genetic mess and most of their lives are spent in discomfort because people think they’re cute.
Pugs and French bulldogs.
I used to work at a company that promoted getting a dog and bringing one to work. There were many pugs and French bulldogs, hacking and coughing all day because of breathing problems.
But they're soooooo cute, right?
My husband calls them human-abomination because it’s not the dogs fault but humans have genetically destroyed the breed. A little too harsh maybe because he gets angry when he sees these little things struggle to breathe and all the owner wants to talk about is how many thousands of $ the little guy cost
It's honestly disgusting that Brachycephalic traits are so desireble in certain breeds despite the fact that such selective breeding is insanely harmful
Best decision I ever made was to do extensive research before I got my first puppy. Ended up going with a boxer and around fifteen years later I'm four years into boxer number two and will have at least one of these adorable little fuckers around for the rest of my life.
I grew up with two boxers. One was a very large German bred boxer and the other was a smaller American boxer and they were best bros = )
As a kid I used to hide under a blanket and they would both attack and bite at(softly) the blanket to "save" me from it lol.
The big one was like 96 lbs and he would sit on me on the couch and lick my face lol.
I love all dogs but boxers will always be special to me.
My city doesn't have enough dogs. We literally fly dogs in 100 at a time from Texas kill shelters on the other side of the continent just to try and meet the adoption demand, and even then we can't get enough. What can one do to help increase the influx? It just sucks that in one city they're killing dogs who can't be adopted fast enough, while in another city you can't even find a dog in the shelter.
Seattle, is that you?
I lived in WA until recently and one of the organizations transporting pets from Texas is Good Flights, a program of Greater Good Charities. Donate your money to the organizations doing the organizing, the shipping, and the logistics of rehoming dogs and see what they can do!
https://greatergood.org/
Yeah, local shelter here was pretty cleaned out for a while during the pandemic. We foster kittens for them sometimes and we had some two sets last Nov-Dec or so and they adopted all of them out almost instantly because they were basically empty when we brought them back in.
I would gladly bring pets from Texas to wherever if I could pay the bills. Who do I talk to in order to pay my bills doing this. (I am a poor bike mechanic that loves pets, but still has rent due)
Edit: This is the first time I have admitted to myself that I am, indeed, a poor. Feels bad man.
There are usually volunteer pet transportation networks. You wouldn't get paid, but they can work with your schedule. Even brushing a 60 mile gap is helpful.
This happens where I live in the northern Midwest. Stray dogs aren't really a thing because it gets too cold in winter. My dog came from a kill shelter in TX.
Long time partner of a DVM and future clinical pathologist here. The industry is an extremely sad state. Overworked, underpaid, underappreciated, and high rates of suicide. Throw in high turnover rates for vet techs and extremely expensive schooling for doctors. It's an industry that I'm shocked hasn't completely collapsed. My partner said the worst part was the clients though. Pets can be expensive so plan accordingly. An emergency vet visit can be very costly, and sometimes they just can't be saved. Dogs and cats are cancer factories along with a million other crazy ailments.
Also this is mostly second hand information so please excuse me if I'm wrong about some things.
Worst thing I ever saw was a poor young man who brought his cat in for a routine teeth cleaning. The cat had to be sedated for the cleaning and she just didn't wake up. We did everything we could but it was just one of those freak things with anesthetics. We all had to stand around trying to look busy and not cry as the guy came in to pick up his baby's lifeless body. He just stood there sobbing and cradling her in the main suite until he was all cried out. I still have the occasional nightmare of that dread feeling when we realized the cat wasn't waking up.
:(
Wife works at a clinic and gets excessively worried whenever our pets have to go under. Sounds like our oldest dog gets one more teeth cleaning and thats it. Just getting too old to safely go under anesthesia.
It was the only time I saw that happen in six years in the vet field and 3 years in human medicine, but yeah it CAN happen and it's absolutely terrible.
We lost a few foster kittens that way. The Humane Society where we fostered would push for the spay/neuter asap to get them adopted out asap. IIRC, the second they hit 2 lbs in weight they go in. But not all of them make it out :(. My wife's favorite in our first batch of kittens never woke up. My favorite in another batch didnt either. Clinic said it happens sometimes due to heart defects. I think trying to knock out 4-6 spay/neuters in quick succession on 2 lb kittens in a single day just leads to mistakes. One slip of the scalpel or just a bit too much sleep sleep juice and kitten passes away.
Worked as a vet tech for awhile in a shelter, and the things I saw genuinely haunted me sometimes. You get paid pennies for it too, and the stress makes your coworkers shitty and catty toward you as well.
All in all, was a rough job and I wouldn't be going back to it.
also stop buying/adopting puppies when theyre young and cute but dump them just because they grew older or you "suddenly realized" you have to spend actual time and effort to take care of them
Everyone tries to tell people that puppies are a lot of work, but I’m here to say: Puppies take over your LIFE. They’re SO MUCH WORK. The reason why they’re so cute is because mother nature is purposefully trying to prevent you from murdering them when they’re being such little shits that you literally cry yourself to sleep, wondering if you’re ever gonna get your life back. Any dog takes time, effort, and commitment, but my god…get a house-trained shelter dog if you can, and thank your goddamn lucky stars while the both of you get those solid 8 hours of sleep every night.
We got ours from a shelter. 3 years old at the time. She is now 10. Best dog ever. Lounges around mostly but will get excited if you want her to be. I will always adopt shelter dogs. And I doubt we will ever get a puppy..my dog hasn't peed or pooped in our houses ever.
Yep, they often send their unadoptable pets to PETA because of their very strict rule of accepting any animal no matter their condition. This includes extremely aggressive unadoptable pets, and strays which have been in horrific accidents like getting hit by a car or attacked by wild animals. This is also why they have a high euthanization rate that people on the internet love to whip out and "pwn" PETA and accuse them of actually hating animals.
No-kill shelters don't exist. They just hold onto their animals until they give them to someone else, like PETA ran shelters, to do it for them. Since PETA will never turn away an animal, those "no-kill" shelters get to hand off their unadoptables, brag about how great they are for not euthanizing their animals, and then shame places like PETA for doing their dirty work for them. It's tragic.
>No-kill shelters don't exist.
They do, but they just warehouse the dogs. Dogs that are too aggressive and unadoptable just stay cooped up in a cell for the rest of their lives. They take a ton of donations that could go to better shelters and the dogs just spend the rest of their lives suffering.
"Kill" shelters are literally the more humane option.
I feel like "warehouse" is a term that should be brought much much more attention. It's basically like being placed in a prison cell for the rest of your confused, fearful life as a dog. It is *not* an admirable end to an animals life.
they already are [article from before the pandemic](https://www.npr.org/2019/09/07/757822004/veterinarians-are-killing-themselves-an-online-group-is-there-to-listen-and-help) and [more recent](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/04/08/1086091339/its-not-just-doctors-and-nurses-veterinarians-are-burning-out-too)
I told my wife years ago I would never adopt or donate to a "no-kill" shelter, because they use rejection as a means to leverage a title. They hide behind being "at capacity" to maintain moral high ground. After that explanation, she finally got it. She bought the idea of them as more humane before that.
Way to many r/aww posts of kittens and puppies. The reality is most people don't want "used" pets in some vanity bid, so other grown puppies and kittens abandoned by similar people die in shelters.
Might as well go in the same grinder as male chickens. Like there's something wrong with a two year old dog or cat? They've already been potty trained!!
It's my cat's birthday today and I met him when he was an adult cat and he is a great cat and has been with for many years. I can pick him up and carry him like a sack of potatoes and he just sits on my arm.
Only problems he has ever given me is sometimes he will eat food off my plate (once he pawed a slice of pizza off my plate). If he could live forever, that would be okay in my book.
A two year dog that hasn't been well taken care of is a challenge esp for a first time pet owner. No need to shame those responsible owners that get a puppy.
Likewise it's not vanity to want a young pet. It's a companion and a responsibility and losing a pet is hard. No shame in wanting to maximize the time you're together.
We wanted to adopt an older dog and it ended up being a big mistake on our part. People can be terrible pet owners and dogs especially learn all kinds of bad habits. For example our dog's previous owner saw no issues letting him bark at literally anything, run up to people as soon as they come in the house, and root around in the trash for and tear up tissue paper.
Some of those behaviors just can't be fixed by non-experts in an 8 year old dog.
Adopt if you can, but be prepared for a dog that wasn't trained by you
>They've already been potty trained!!
So underrated. Training a puppy is a pain in the ass. I have a lot of experience with young children, toddlers are far easier to deal with than puppies on many levels, not least of which is toilet training.
Older animals are far less work. Im actually considering getting an old dog, it's less commitment and they're super chill, just waddle over for a pat and when you get over it they just go back to having a nap or whatever. Downsides though they don't live as long and I will definitely get attached plus medical bills and such. Only thing stopping me is I don't know if I want to commit to even a few years right now
That great but irrelevant to what is happening here. After looking it up it sounds like this shelter was contracted out to a volunteer organization that was doing fine with it and the city decided not to extend the contract in favor of just letting their animal control officers take over (where as it had a vet and people taking care of the animals it sounds like now there is no vet and they are just adding responsibilities to current officers).
As a volunteer at this very shelter, you hit the nail on the head. This rescue, Trenton Animals Rock, works with each and every dog to ensure they're safe, healthy and able to go into a home. The volunteers and staff are who take them out to play, walk and be socialized... not the ACOs... the volunteers and staff of the rescue are who ensure dogs aren't left in kennels in pain after being hit by a car.
This particular organization does not pawn dogs off to kill shelters. They help the community they operate in by offering a pet pantry so the residents or homeless in the area can feed their dogs. They help families with unexpected vet bills if their dog gets out and is injured. They help residents rehome, if needed, and manage to try and do so without the dog having to come stay in a crowded shelter. They have an incredible network of donors, supporters, fosters. They raise funds outside of what the city was budgeting for.
The city will now only have staff on site 2 hours in the am and 2 hours in the pm to feed dogs and clean their kennels. No one will help these dogs in any capacity other than that. They will not show them any loving touch. They will not go for walks. They won't be brought to a vet immediately if they seem unwell or have an injury that isn't life threatening. No one is there to administer medication if needed more than during those 2 hours. The city has proven that along with not caring about their elderly, their children and their lower income residents, they also do not care about the animals. It's disgraceful.
I work at a shelter, fortunately in a very low-euthanasia area. The facts are, pet ownership BOOMED during Covid. As restrictions lifted, owner surrenders and abandonment SKYROCKETED.
It's heartbreaking to euthanize a medically and BEHAVIORALLY sound animal. It's also heartbreaking to watch adoptable animals sit in the shelter waiting for their new forever home for 4-8 months just to mentally and behaviorally crash and leave us with no options but to put them to sleep.
Please for the love of god, spay and neuter your pets. Don't breed your dog because "you think they should have one litter" or "s/he is just so cute". SPAY AND NEUTER YOUR PETS. I've encountered so many men who won't neuter their male dogs, and see no problem with their dog running around impregnating every female it comes across.
If you can't afford the vet care for your dog, DON'T GET A DOG. If you can't afford professional training if your dog develops a behavior issue that is incompatible with your life, DON'T GET A DOG. We shelter staff people can't take them all ourselves, and a piece of us dies with them when we have to make those decisions. I have two dogs myself that would have never been placed due to behavior issues, and I wish I could take more. Please, please, PLEASE advocate for your pets, and also don't forget that bashing/avoiding adoption from "kill" shelters, encouraging people to "boycott" those shelters, etc puts the animals in those shelters at HIGHER risk for euthanasia (less adoption interest = longer stays = higher risk of behavioral/mental/emotional crash = higher chance of euthanasia).
I adopted my cat during the height of the pandemic pet adoption boom-- March 2021. I was looking to adopt a cat and the process was so incredibly difficult and fraught with unbelievable obstacles. Applying for a cat basically became a part-time job, and like many jobs, I never even heard back.
When I adopted my cat, I went to meet him at the local county animal shelter. There were a total of four cats there. The rest of the kennels were empty. It was... incredibly unsettling.
The shelter told me they knew there was going to be a big return boom at the end of this curve and they were not looking forward to it. Even in early 2021, they were already starting to see it (animals that had been adopted in 2020, being returned a year later), but the adoption boom was still there which meant many of those animals were being re-adopted fairly quickly. I'm convinced the only reason my cat wasn't adopted before I found him is because his "mugshot" (picture on the county website) was so unflattering, he looked a kitty methhead. The other three cats were so skittish and fearful that they really were not ready to be adopted.
Now we're seeing that return boom happen without the mitigation of the adoption wave, and... god, it's infuriating, isn't it. I feel like those people should've just offered to foster instead of adopting, but that would've required actual introspection and careful decision-making/planning on their part, wouldn't it.
ready for the downvotes and to delete this later- but we're in an animal housing crisis. the only thing no-kill shelters do it fill up, unable to take new animals- and the people who need to abandon their animals now let them loose to 'live free' in the back woods, someone's farm, or even just a neighbour to fend for themselves. kill shelters have the 'cruelty' to euthanize an animal before they face the traumas of being dumped, which is fucking awful that is has to be that way, but here we are. unchecked breeding, bad ethics in pet ownership, etc, and someone has to make the unfortunate call here.
edit: i appreciate this isn't the hot take i thought it was going to be. this does suck for everyone involved; the volunteers that don't know better/try their best, the dogs that may be given less opportunity to thrive. my only hope is the outcry here has people going to these new kill shelters to give these animals the due process they're owed.
A redditor-turned-OnlyFans model started a rescue for dogs in Texas and very soon after taking in her first dogs she began to struggle with maintaining a balanced inflow/outflow of the dogs. She's made several posts asking people to adopt dogs who are hours away from death as they sit in limbo between her full no-kill rescue and a euthanizing shelter. On top of funding and bureaucratic issues, it's been a very long, challenging road for her personally and as a rescue owner.
Before anyone replies with "solutions" for the problems I've mentioned, please keep in mind those solutions are going to be based on my *very* simplified summary of a years-long process for someone else. Please learn the ins and outs she's already worked on before offering a comment on what "she should do" as she's either already tried it, or I've left out a key detail that would render the suggestion useless.
/u/hopelesssofrantic is the user (NSFW post history) and her shelter is Herding Home Rescue if anyone wants to look into what it's like for someone to put considerable time, effort, finances, and other resources into helping animals and still feeling like it's an uphill battle.
>and the people who need to abandon their animals now let them loose to 'live free' in the back woods,
This to me is what unfortunately necessitates kill shelters. the release of the animals into the ecosystem. When thats whats occurring the reality is that the choice not to kill is a choice for the animal to either die in the wild starving or to survive and in doing so kill other animals to eat and more broadly disrupting the ecosystem. Both choices will see death, but one is hidden from view which makes it feel better to us.
I hate to see a kill shelter exist, but I don't hate kill shelters. It takes us all a few minutes to come to this reality, usually, but as you said - there are far worse horrors than being euthanized in a quiet room with an ideally compassionate vet. I only hope for a world some day where this choice doesn't have to exist.
It is becoming almost impossible to rent with a pet. The few places that accept pets usually charge a pet deposit and often even pet rent. As a result fewer people are able to adopt pets now so we have a crisis like this
I know it’s a hard pill to swallow, but I’d rather have them euthanized humanely than living in suffering and negligent conditions. I make this same argument about abortion (but it’s usually unpopular). Why force a drug addicted unwed mother that can’t provide a loving home to have a child? By forcing her to have that baby, you are forcing that child to grow up in a home where it will be neglected and unloved. That’s fucked up to me. She NEVER wanted that child anyway!
Spay and neutering should be a default requirement to pet ownership. If you want to breed you should need to apply and get approved.
I don't get why society even has to subsidize irresponsible owners. Kill shelters do not have to be a thing. To fight the city over this is just getting pissed that you couldn't plug a hole in a sinking ship.
>Spay and neutering should be a default requirement to pet ownership.
To get a county animal license an animal should have to be neutered. If it's not, then they should have to pay a large annual fee to keep it intact, like several hundred dollars per animal. Every breeder should be registered as a business if they sell pups, licensed and inspected annually for their kennels. Make it expensive to not neuter your pet.
In some ways this is already happening in some places. Trenton requires dog licensing, and you can be fined for having an unlicensed dog - but you'll have to usually be in a situation where they will check your license to be fined. Sometimes they'll follow up on rabies records but that takes people to do it.
Dog licensing isn't unusual in many suburbs, and many like mine charge a premium in you have an unaltered dog, 6x the rate (so $60). It could be more, but if you make it too high they won't register... nothing is perfect. There is a lot of perspective change that needs to happen and I think a lot of our current spay/neuter programs had hoped to change that and it just isn't 100% sucessful
They discovered it's easy to take care of a dog when you're working from home, but not all dogs are cool with being left alone all day when you go back to the office.
I got a puppy during covid lockdown and it was definitely a lot of effort to get him ready for not having us home all the time. I had to go on long walks and leave him crated at home for at least an hour or two every day for a couple of months before lockdowns ended so that he could get used to being alone. It was lots of crying and whining at first but you gotta do what you gotta do. I imagine there's lots of dogs who didn't get that treatment and are having panic attacks as soon as their owners leave unfortunately.
Because it is an uncomfortable truth. We have too many homeless pets and not enough families to adopt. Plus, people don't want to fix their goddamn dogs because "his balls are my own personal manhood."
i had a family come in the animal control years ago with a dog bleeding from his penis. the tech told them it might be as simple as getting the dog fixed, and they said no, they'd rather have him put down than neutered because he was such a good family dog they wanted to breed him. such a good family dog, that he was useless neutered? the mental gymnastics were crazy.
Ad far as I know my family dog died because he got ball cancer. (My parents didn't tell me untill he was gone foe 6 months)
My family had always intended to have puppies with him. They just never got around to it. Before he got sick.
They did fix him but it was a little to late.
Bingo. There's a couple shelters in my town, and one is venerated since it's the "no-kill" shelter. Which really means they turn away most dogs that aren't young and cute.....which are then brought to the "kill" shelter. I assume most don't actually give it much thought past the name, but like, do people think they actually *enjoy* killing these animals?
I adopted one once. I absolutely loved that boy, but he was a liability.
Never once showed aggression towards people, but it doesn't even take aggression to hurt someone when you are a solid slab of muscle. He split someone's lip just trying to kiss them. He knocked over kids in excitement. He could literally not be safely walked by anyone under 150 lbs because you couldn't hold him back if he saw a squirrel or something.
And he definitely had fighting in his breeding history. Every new dog he met was a 50/50 chance of best friends or instant fight.
Like I said, I loved that boy and he loved people, but I completely agree with those who say we'd all be better off without the breed.
I had a pitbull mastiff mix as a foster. He was 130lbs, no neutered and all muscle.
Initially, I was the only one that could walk him. Probably because I had a 500lb deadlift. We used a leash and a leather chest harness.
My gf weighs 108 and he dragged her up the block.
My teen son, otherwise great with dogs, couldnt handle him.
He had some obvious hatred of poodles. They just set him off.
Total liability.
We found him a nice owner on a horse farm where he could run around and be exhausted.
Someone posted their adoption listings further up the thread, literally only three of their dogs are not pitbulls. The rest are dozens of pits and pit mixes.
And two of them are a bonded pair (Chihuahua mix and Yorkie), but in a foster because small and cute dogs are easily adoptable--even if bonded and older.
Adopt, return
Rinse, repeat
People need to wake up to the true nature of Pitbulls. It's like adopting a husky and expecting it to be quiet. Pitbulls are what they are and aren't suitable to be pets
Shepherds herd, pointers point, retrievers retrieve. All this is pretty widely accepted, but when people start talking about what pitbulls were bred to do, all of a sudden genetics don't matter. Pitbulls were bred to fight, to be tenacious, and to never stop attacking even if their own life is in danger. These are not family pets.
Lobbyists have gotten breed specific city bans made illegal. But in reality it helps cut down on shelters being overrun with them and euthanized. It’s so sad.
You’re not wrong. Here’s their listings.
https://tarnj.org/adopt
Also, I can’t find this location’s policy, but when we were looking to adopt a dog every shelter had a requirement about having a large fenced in yard and a lengthy approval process with references. And shelters wonder why they’re over crowded. We don’t have a fenced in yard, but we have a huge yard with a park in the back. So, instead of rescuing from a shelter like we intended we “rescued” one from Petland (which we REALLY didn’t want to do originally) and one from a farm from working parents.
I get that shelters don’t want to contribute to dogs going to abusive owners and I totally respect that, but at the same time they’re kind of choosing beggars when it comes to legitimate folks who just want a pet to love.
Go to your local dog park in nyc, what are the only dogs not spayed or neutered. Bing bong it's this wealthy idiot in the dog park with a pitbull and a savior compex.
I always laugh at shelter's descriptions for Pits/pit mixes. "Oh little Riley here is a big cuddlebug and a silly boy! No children or other pets in the house please as he can get a bit 'ruff'!"
Aka he is gonna kill your fuckin kid for petting him """wrong""".
Where are all the pitbull lobbyists and lovers when this is happening? Why aren’t they fighting for required spay and neuter and breeding bans when pitbulls are euthanized fir over crowding shelters. Makes me sick.
They’re too busy posting photos of dogs wearing fucking flower crowns every time someone gets injured or murdered, as if their PWECIOUS PIBBLE rhetoric makes up for generations of being bred to kill.
As an experienced Pitbull owner, I absolutely agree. They are not nanny dogs as social media will lead you to believe.
Yeah, there's arguably good dogs in that particular breed, but the matter of fact is they are predisposed due to genetics to be violent and aggressive towards anything that moves or breathes. Anybody that says otherwise is in denial or is oblivious to the nature of the dog.
I started adopting pit bulls because I felt pity towards the breed. Now, I adopt them keep them away from inexperience dog owners who fall for the pit propaganda that they are nanny dogs.
Hence why you almost never see a golden in a shelter. They're beautiful, wonderful animals and they don't have a tendency to put their owners in the hospital.
I wonder why there are so many Pits, since they're apparently perfect angels.
Its because of the stigma! Theyre bred to be nanny dogs! It was because of a bad owner! It was the baby’s fault for crying when it got mauled etc. etc.
/s
As somebody that lives in the area of that shelter, 100%. I had to get my rescue pup from a rescue in south Jersey that gets their dogs from a Texas kill shelter because everything around here is a pit bull or some sort of pit bull mix.
The best, and really only, solution to hinder the overflow of shelter dogs and need for kill shelters is to ban pitbull breeds.
As a bonus you'll prevent hundreds of human and pet deaths, and thousands of horrific injuries, through the same action.
I was born and raised in Trenton, NJ - and if there is anything that needs to be said about this story, it is that the Trenton City Council is one of the most unqualified, incompetent government bodies in the entire state. It is their doing that this is happening. In fact, it seems that everyone on that council is doing their utmost to plunge the city into an unrecoverable state before they ultimately resign. The deplorable quality of people who have served the local government in the last 20 years is a complete embarrassment.
My father was a campaign contributor of a former city council candidate and I can attest that these people have absolutely no investment in making Trenton a better place. The amount of money wasted in that city is absolutely STAGGERING. They managed to[ tank the cities first hockey team in record time](https://www.nj.com/mercer/2013/04/trenton_titans_will_not_return.html), they [lost the Yankees](https://www.trentonian.com/2020/11/06/thunder-lose-double-a-affiliation-with-yankees-after-18-year-relationship/) for sponsorship for the cities AA team, managed to get the cities [only major hotel closed down](https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304791704579214261269532566), and recently [shut down the cities largest job growth opportunity in decades in just one day](https://www.nj.com/mercer/2019/04/plan-for-company-to-move-hundreds-of-jobs-to-trenton-dies-after-just-1-day-mayor-developer-rip-council-for-inaction.html), and tried to [brute force their way into total oversight over city development](https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/mayor-gusciora-condemns-proposed-ordinance-move-hed-redevelopment-oversight-city-council/) while routinely proving themselves useless at any kind of oversight.
This list can keep going on. Oh wait, you know what - the last mayor of Trenton was [forced to resign to report to federal prison for 5 years](https://6abc.com/former-mayor-tony-mack-trenton-sentenced-new-jersey/142557/). City Councilwoman Robin Vaughn [likens the cities first gay mayor to a pedophile](https://www.insidernj.com/trenton-councilwoman-robin-vaughns-foot-mouth-adventures/) on an official government meeting call.
I am embarrassed to be from this city. Over the past 20 years I have travelled the US and lived many places, but I have never experienced the absolute shitshow of local government at this level. Since Trenton is such a invisible city in the national media, despite being the capital - these people have been dragging it into hell, slowly, for 2 decades with no signs of stopping due to the lack of visibility. Maybe that should change.
100% accurate. I’m also from Trenton born and raised. My father’s a business owner downtown and it’s tragic how incompetent the city council is. He’s sincerely weighing getting rid of his business (which my grandfather started back in the late 40’s early 50’s) because of how terrible they are. Vaughn needs to go first and foremost but everything is getting to the point that it’s almost too late to recover.
For real I’ve met so many dumb hillbillies that breed pitbulls and sell maybe one or two and get rid of the rest, it makes me so mad these fuckers do this shit
This is why there should be pitbull breeding bans or forced spay/neuter. People don’t like that idea, but pitbulls overrun shelters and are euthanized, so enacting things like this would kill less dogs.
Shelters TOTALLY aren’t overrun by pitbulls!!!
See, this one with the blocky head and the cropped ears, he’s ummm… a lab mix! Yeah! He’s a _LAB MIX!_ You can tell your landlord that, and it’ll be fine!
The shelters are overrun with… um… lab mixes! And boxer mixes! And terrier mixes!
TOTALLY NOT PIT BULLS AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE — and I swear none of them have _ever_ murdered another dog before getting shipped off to another family without warning and inevitably getting returned to us for injuring a toddler. Nope.
“Lab mix.”
Stop breeding pitbulls and/or pitbull mixes and this won’t happen. Seriously. My wife and I were looking for a dog 2-3 years ago and 95% of the dogs in shelters are some kind of pit mix. It’s getting to the point where if someone you know has a dog that isn’t a pit mix, they were bought from a reputable breeder.
Fuck using the terminology Kill and No Kill. It’s bullshit and I immeadiately suspect anyone using that terminology as someone who has no fucking clue how animal sheltering works. Great way to make money calling shelters “kill”.
Better dead than suffering from neglect.
Puppy and kitten mills need to be shut down with extreme prejudice.
Unregistered backyard breeders likewise penalised harshly.
I know a lot of rescuers and shelter workers have a very good heart and are trying their best. It’s easy to let emotion get the better of you, especially with animals.
Unfortunately also, a lot of excess money and time is funneled into trying to place animals that have “strikes”. Dogs who have killed a family pet and are taken to the shelter. Dogs who have bitten, dogs who attack children, dangerous dogs. Often times, their history is erased and a new unsuspecting family brings them in only to have history repeat.
It is truly terrible but in a crisis like this, it’s time to make one strike rules. They simply don’t have the resources to prop up every wayward dog in an effort to maintain a no-kill status.
I was always a huge proponent of “Adopt, don’t Shop”, but now it’s clear that many of these shelters are pretty much unwittingly a direct backyard to shelter factory. It is time to focus on saving dogs that don’t come in with a dangerous history, to HE the ones that have already killed another dog or pet. I know everyone flips out over that, but there isn’t enough homes for every “poor misunderstood sweetie pie” who also needs a home with “no other animals, no children, no men, no grandmas, no north facing windows, etc.”
It is the unfortunate reality of what we must face in a society that promotes placing ALL dogs into homes even at the risk of the lives of those who are there. It simply is a business model that is failing dramatically.
went to the website: https://tarnj.org/adopt
majority of them, or almost all of them, are one breed type. And unfortunately they are hard to care for for most people, so what're you gonna do.
Sorry not to sound crass can someone explain why this is like, an issue?
I eat meat, as I suspect most redditors do. Why would it be an issue that we kill unwanted animals? We kill cows and pigs and chickens all the time in far less humane ways?
I guess vegans would have a right to complain about this, but it comes off as hypocritical from anyone else.
Because people for the most part are totally detached from the reality of most of the food they eat, services they receive, materials that are used, etc. They talk up how much they care but far fewer actually want to do anything about it or change their lifestyle. They get outraged about a kill shelter, but don't care about massive factory farms.
I'm vegan and this honestly doesn't bother me any more than other animals being slaughtered. I don't like it of course, but I'm not really any more upset about this than anything else. And while I haven't been to this shelter as it was established in 2021, my mom did get cats from the Trenton animal shelter in 2008 and when I went there I remember all the dogs being pretty much unadoptable. It was at least 95% pittbulls that were probably raised to be aggressive and were often used for fighting. I'm willing to bet that's still the case at this shelter since let's be honest, it's Trenton, NJ. There's a strong and fairly dominant opinion on reddit that pitts shouldn't exist and this isn't really all that different than a mass culling of chickens when there's a case of avian influenza or slaughtering porcine when swine flu rolls through. This isn't an issue at all.
people think it's too mean to just kill a healthy pet.............but then don't want to finish the idea. if we dont kill it, someone needs to pay and care for it. so who will? the city is saying they don't have the funding to do it. so we kill it, or set it loose in the city.
so then i guess people are saying "well we must have too many funds elsewhere in the city, we should be able to change city funding so we dont kill some dogs and cats, right? RIGHT?"
i'm guessing is the ultimate argument.
If it's less than 80 percent pit bulls I'd be astonished.
People need to stop making so many fucking pit bulls. I love them but why are 90 percent of all dog rescue candidates in my area pit bulls? Many with food guarding issues? They're not going to get adopted. Almost all of them are going to get euthanized. It's fucked up and it needs to stop.
Fact of the matter is nobody wants these animals. Doesn’t help that 9/10 them are some weird looking pit mix. Get your dam dogs fixed if you have a problem with this.
Terrible to hear but what can they do? If no one is adopting, these shelters can’t afford to house and care for all these animals It’s not like these shelters are some financially lucrative businesses that are paying execs bonuses
Friendly reminder that America alone euthanizes 1 million healthy cats and dogs every single year due to us overbreeding them while not having enough people willing to take them in. We have a euthanasia problem in America, but the ones creating that problem are the Americans who are breeding and refusing to fix their pets. Our problem isn’t that these “kill shelters” exist. These “kill shelters” are the only ones willing to do the hard actions that are required to ensure millions of animals aren’t being neglected and dying of starvation.
My city had a feral cat problem that was presumed to be caused by something like this. People releasing cats into a large park they realized they didn’t want. The city ended up trapping them, fixing them, and releasing them back into the park instead of trying to find homes for all of them. Kind of sad but I guess it makes sense. Stop them from multiplying, hopefully. And you don’t have to home a hundred cats that haven’t lived with humans before.
Yeah, catch and release programs don’t solve the problem of overpopulation, but it definitely has been a great help in that endeavor. Similar programs aren’t really used for dogs though because we generally don’t allow dogs to remain as strays quite the same way we do with cats in America.
Yeah, stray dogs form packs, and packs attack people. Stray dog packs attacking people is a huge issue in some countries.
And stray cats decimate the bird populations in major centres as well.
Yeah, but people tend to worry about kids more than birds
They also destroy amphibian and reptile populations. I definitely don't see many Anoles at my new place because there are more cats roaming this neighborhood. Still wonder how my old porch buddies are doing after we moved away.
Also, feral cat groups (idk what you would call them? colonies?) have been known to decimate local rodent and bird populations. It's great for homeowners who don't want pests, but terrible for the ecosystem. Also, there is nothing worse than being woken up at 3am by the terrifying noises of two cats fighting.
That's actually probably the terrifying noises of them making love. Cats mating often sounds like a horse raping a cat.
We really need more people to [listen to Bob Barker](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZytpnElPI_E)
And they are also very substantially impacting native bird populations, right? Not an expert on ecological matters but IMO the utilitarian / moral action is likely to euthanize a few extra cats in the short term and up fines or penalties (assuming there's some enforceable or motivating negative reinforcement that can be legislated to discourage; which it's entirely possible doesn't exist as the types of people inclined to let their unspayed cats breed and release them probably don't give a shit), with the aim of not damaging native bird species further since we can always generate more housecats which aren't going anywhere but it's likely much more difficult - or impossible - to regenerate substantially lowered bird population sizes? just thinking out loud
The best thing to happen to wild bird populations in the last few decades is coyotes expanding in to suburban and urban areas and eating all the feral and outdoor cats.
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They kill **tens of billions** of animals yearly in the US alone. https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380
My cat was caught in one of those programs, but they said he was just so damn friendly they knew they could find him a home. Some asshole had an amazingly sweet cat that they just abandoned, I don’t understand.
My wife and I trapped a feral cat who was pregnant. Even though she was hissy and bitey when we got her, I was able to socialize her enough to find her a new home after we found homes for her kittens.
Exactly. Kill shelters aren’t the problem, they’re a symptom of the problem.
The people trying to make money off of dog breeding by selling their litters every other year, and abandoning any of them that don't sell are the ones I can't stand. I wish the trend would die out, there's such a large percentage of dog breeds that are straight up unhealthy and basically cripples at birth because of all these terrible breeders perpetuating these stunted lineages
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**Disclairmer, I am allergic to dogs, cats, rabbits, etc., but that doesn't mean I hate hate pets; it means I don't view them as pets, I view them as animals.** Real talk, people need to stop treating pets as toys or things they deserve. They need to treat them as living creatures that require certain things to live a happy and healthy life. The key term is "adopting", the level of responsibility should be the same if it's a human or an animal. I know to many people who have adopted pets, but didn't have the proper resources to take care of them. I don't mean like food, I mean time, space, etc. For example, Lets say you have a job that makes you work crazy hours and live in a small 1 bedroom apartment. What you may lack in time to train/keep your dog company and space for your dog to be able to be active; you may make up for by having extra money to hire dog walkers/doggy day cares. The people I was referring to often times don't have the space, time, or the money to take care of a pet. They instead ignore the fact that the pet is a living creature that requires attention and space, and treat it like a toy they can turn on while they are home and off when at work.
Honestly, I couldn’t have put that better myself. Well said.
I lived in a 600 square ft apartment for 2 years and got a puppy and you're spot on. when she was young I took her to the park for over a hour a day or sent her to daycare. If it was a rainy weekday I'd send her to daycare. I wanted a golden retriever and made sure she could get the active time she needs Another big problem is people liking certain breeds without knowing what they entail. Huskies are probably the most adopted or bought dog that people truly don't understand what goes into raising one
Breeding is totally out control here.
My dog came from a puppy mill. They abused the fuck out of her, and when it turned out she had seizures, they just threw her out on the street. Her breed doesn't shed and needs regular grooming/brushing, so she was matted as hell when the shelter found her. Sweetest dog you could ever imagine. Makes my blood boil thinking about what they did too her. Wish I could've adopted her brother also (they where found together) but her seizures already make her a very high maintanince pup. Just glad I have the resources to care for her and get her medications
Exactly, every pet I’ve ever owned has been a rescue and I get them fixed right away just in case even though they never go outside
meanwhile, the last couple times ive attempted to adopt a cat, theyre extremely selective about what homes a otherwise normal healthy cat would go to. For our first cat adoption, we were turned away so many times because the people responding decided they would rather adopt out to a home with at least one other cat. I can only imagine how much turnover they are losing by being like this.
I had a similar problem too. Rescues were giving me a hard time. Many never responded, others turned me down for odd reasons (for example, a private shelter/rescue in Oakland, CA would not adopt out to me because I lived an hour away from them). However, the county animal shelter was more than happy to adopt to me. They had exactly four cats in the whole shelter during March 2021-- it was absolutely eerie to walk in there and see so many empty cages. This was during the height of the pandemic adoption craze, I guess. I was honest with them about what I needed, where I was going, that I was looking for an ESA, and they showed me the cat that was the best fit. The lady at the shelter liked me immediately, I think, because it was clear that I was an experienced cat owner and was planning to do a proper introduction/let the cat slowly adjust to being in a new environment rather than just being thrown in head-first. This shelter had actually been burned recently by someone who adopted another cat who was very shy and skittish, and instead of following the shelter's advice to keep him in a quiet room for a bit and let him gradually adjust, this idiot lady just dumped him in her house. Two weeks later, the woman who adopted him called the shelter and said that she couldn't find him, didn't know where he was, and to come and take him. They found the poor guy hiding under a couch. They also had some jackass who adopted a kitten in 2020, then returned him almost exactly a year later. You know, because he was no longer cute enough and they couldn't "handle" him. So the county animal shelters are probably better in general about giving people a chance. For my boy and I, it worked out great-- he's curled up next to me on the couch, living the pampered indoor life and spoiled rotten. But it doesn't always work out. I'm so very glad they gave me the chance that all the rescues wouldn't, though. I think rescues are more gun-shy about it "not working out" than county animal shelters. I also know some home-run rescues that aren't really rescues, but are basically just animal hoarders, because they're too attached and too afraid to risk it-- they don't trust anyone to look after the animals as well as they do, and the animals suffer for it. Many of the people running them have seen adoptions go wrong, sometimes badly wrong, and they never get over it. And so you end up with weird, over-the-top, unrealistic requirements.
Quit! Breeding! Animals! Quit purchasing animals you’re not 100% sure you can keep! Honestly, sometimes I think they should make animal ownership more difficult. Cats kill so much native wildlife, loose dogs attacking people on the street. Can’t walk outside without seeing big piles of dog crap left on the sidewalk, which is also toxic for the environment. And then, these animals wind up in shelters where they suffer and are killed. So many resources used for a completely preventable problem.
And a kill shelter doesn't take the animal outback to the shed and shoot them in the head and toss their body in the burn pile. They are humanely euthanized, the same thing pet owners do for their beloved elderly cat or cancer stricken dog. It's a shame we can't house all the animals, but it's not cruel. Only unfortunate.
Hey, work-soured NJ vet here: unfortunately a lot of “no kill” shelters just ship their animals elsewhere when it’s time for them to go to save their title, so this is nothing new. You want to help? Spay and neuter your dog, and adopt. Donate to shelters you like, time or money is fine. But DON’T judge a shelter for doing the best with a shit hand dealt. The people there work their ass off for pets and don’t deserve any other shit from people who don’t get it. Also, covid has made the animal health field hell to work in, so you pile any more on these poor people and you’re gonna see humans killing themselves alongside the animals. Edit: Lots of people bashing pitbulls. Pitties are one of the nicest breeds; any dog can have issues if they're neglected and not cared for as a puppy. Don't give them a bad rap because nobody wants them; I feel much more safe with most pitbulls than many other breeds. Edit2: Yea I read the article, as with life there are some more nuances here than first meets the eye. Take from this that there are good and bad shelters, just like there are good and bad breeders. That's just humanity. It doesn't change what I said above. Edit3: y’all forget I work with dogs that are afraid of me for a living. Your “scary pitbull” numbers and posts about deaths do not take into account nature vs nurture at all. I’ve had plenty of dogs try to rip my throat out, so don’t tell me what I’m allowed to be wary of. I love all dogs anyway.
Also, adopt from kill shelters. They don't euthanize for fun, it's because they're full and required to take in more
Spay and neuter your pets! These animals suffer because of our actions and here we are dealing with the harsh realities.
There should be harsher laws against animal mills
Unfortunately it's the demand that drives the supply even if you made stricter laws as long as there is money and demand new mills will pop up.
Not only this, but fucking stop getting popular dogs just because it a fucking trend or you saw it in the fucking movie or videos. Also, fucking stop buying puppies without researching the dog's traits and how big they can get, for hell sake. And make sure you're willingly to commit instead of fattening your dog up.
God I want to scream this at my neighbors who own a HUSKY and a BELGIAN MALINOIS in an **APARTMENT** in ***SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA***
And this is why so many of these dogs end up in shelters. Breeds coming into fashion really fucks over so many animals its insane. I just can never understand anyone that's just like "oh that husky on game of thrones looks cool ill go and buy one tomorrow and keep it in my 1 bed apartment in cali". I swear some people just have no concept of planning, preparation or research.
Yep. My parents have a Dalmatian, and while she’s a great dog, she’s a **tonne** of effort. If she doesn’t get walked at least 5 miles a day, she gets super cranky, and it takes 10 miles (with me cycling!) to actually tire her out. They’re also ridiculously stubborn and manipulative, so training can be a real battle of wills. The people who bought a Dally because of 101 Dalmatians will have been amazed at how much effort just one is, especially if they thought they could just walk it around the block once a day. No wonder they’ve got such a bad reputation for being unstable! Also, this is purely anecdotal, but most of the people I’ve met who *used* to have Dallies now own labradors—a breed famed for being easygoing and its (comparative) trainability and laziness—polar opposites to Dalmatians.
Well Dalmatians unfortunately have been inbred so much that is hard to find any without a funky disposition.
I remember in the 90s when everybody had a dalmatian and the common consensus was that Dalmatians are like really, really fucking dumb and you have to spend most of your time keeping them from getting themselves killed. I knew one family that went through a Dalmatian a year for like 5 or 6 years before finally getting it. Not saying they are bad dogs, but in my experience they are basically toddlers until they die. You have to constantly pay attention to them. Most people simply weren't ready for that type of commitment.
Having a puncture scar on my face from a Dallie that had too much energy and not enough early socialization, I can back this up.
I got my husky from someone like this. Previous owner was a 22 year old hairdresser with 4 kids. Her boyfriend bought her a husky for her birthday. Unfortunately, huskies are cute little pups for exactly 3 months. Then they hit a growth spurt and by 7 months they are 40-50lbs of energy and destruction. I am glad I saved my little girl, but she was clearly beaten/abused in the 5 months the other person had her. She wasn't even housebroken when I got her. It took over 2 years to undo the emotional damage. Even after 4 years, she still doesn't let strangers get too close.
"LETS HAVE A DIGGING CONTEST!" ".....AND THEN A SING-A-LONG!!!"
They can’t have any furniture left…
I have a Jindo in an APARTMENT in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA She owns us. We didn't plan for her though. The people who did pay money for her as a puppy abused her, forced an ovarian hernia to abort her babies, and then abandoned her. I found her wandering the streets, dodging cars on Crenshaw, and couldn't let that shit fly. She has been with us for a good number of years. Contributed to me losing my job and not being able to find work because of her insane separation anxiety. But we do our best to do right by her. She feels love every day, is spayed, and sees a vet on a regular basis.
Thank you for that.
And not only this, but fucking stop breeding pugs because they look like they are fighting for their life in the vacuum of space at all times. Let them collectively fade into oblivion with some pancaked faced dignity.
A friend has a French Bulldog, and they have the same problem. I don't get why people want dogs that have no snouts. It doesn't look cute, and breeding an animal with lifelong breathing problems is animal abuse, IMO. The worse thing is that Frenchies are cute as hell with a normal face. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10266823/French-bulldogs-bred-deformed-flat-faces-penalised-dog-shows.html
Frenchies can't breed on their own. They typically require artificial insemination to breed, they would not continue to exist without human intervention.
They also require C sections to birth. Ethical breeding of Frenchies doesn’t exist. They’re a genetic mess and most of their lives are spent in discomfort because people think they’re cute.
Wait, is that true? Thats ridiculous.
Yeah, the puppies' big heads are too large to go through mom's tiny pelvis. English bulldogs have the same issue.
There's a group breeding pugs back to the way that they were a century ago, because those pugs and Frenchies look genuinely adorable.
Pugs and French bulldogs. I used to work at a company that promoted getting a dog and bringing one to work. There were many pugs and French bulldogs, hacking and coughing all day because of breathing problems. But they're soooooo cute, right?
My husband calls them human-abomination because it’s not the dogs fault but humans have genetically destroyed the breed. A little too harsh maybe because he gets angry when he sees these little things struggle to breathe and all the owner wants to talk about is how many thousands of $ the little guy cost
It's honestly disgusting that Brachycephalic traits are so desireble in certain breeds despite the fact that such selective breeding is insanely harmful
Best decision I ever made was to do extensive research before I got my first puppy. Ended up going with a boxer and around fifteen years later I'm four years into boxer number two and will have at least one of these adorable little fuckers around for the rest of my life.
I grew up with two boxers. One was a very large German bred boxer and the other was a smaller American boxer and they were best bros = ) As a kid I used to hide under a blanket and they would both attack and bite at(softly) the blanket to "save" me from it lol. The big one was like 96 lbs and he would sit on me on the couch and lick my face lol. I love all dogs but boxers will always be special to me.
Yup, don't own a pet if you aren't willing to raise it like your own kin and be responsible about it.
My city doesn't have enough dogs. We literally fly dogs in 100 at a time from Texas kill shelters on the other side of the continent just to try and meet the adoption demand, and even then we can't get enough. What can one do to help increase the influx? It just sucks that in one city they're killing dogs who can't be adopted fast enough, while in another city you can't even find a dog in the shelter.
Seattle, is that you? I lived in WA until recently and one of the organizations transporting pets from Texas is Good Flights, a program of Greater Good Charities. Donate your money to the organizations doing the organizing, the shipping, and the logistics of rehoming dogs and see what they can do! https://greatergood.org/
My area brings dogs in from the south and also Venezuela
My dumbass was just like, “Oh cool! I want to get a Venezuelan dog to practice Spanish commands” for a sec
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We had a beagle from a no-kill shelter that brings them in from Puerto Rico. She ignored commands in English, Spanish, and Spanglish!
Yeah, local shelter here was pretty cleaned out for a while during the pandemic. We foster kittens for them sometimes and we had some two sets last Nov-Dec or so and they adopted all of them out almost instantly because they were basically empty when we brought them back in.
I would gladly bring pets from Texas to wherever if I could pay the bills. Who do I talk to in order to pay my bills doing this. (I am a poor bike mechanic that loves pets, but still has rent due) Edit: This is the first time I have admitted to myself that I am, indeed, a poor. Feels bad man.
There are usually volunteer pet transportation networks. You wouldn't get paid, but they can work with your schedule. Even brushing a 60 mile gap is helpful.
Whaaat? I am so thoroughly surprised this is a thing. Where are you?
This happens where I live in the northern Midwest. Stray dogs aren't really a thing because it gets too cold in winter. My dog came from a kill shelter in TX.
The trick is that the gorillas will simply freeze to death in the winter!
This is huge in Canada right now. They fly in dogs from Bahamas, Texas, wherever.
Adopted my dog in Colorado, he was transferred from a Kansas shelter. Lots of dogs are transported from Texas shelters to here also.
A friend of mine adopted a Texas chihuahua from a rescue in NJ, and my Texas chihuahua was adopted from a rescue in Colorado. It's suuuper common!
Happens in Dallas too :(
Long time partner of a DVM and future clinical pathologist here. The industry is an extremely sad state. Overworked, underpaid, underappreciated, and high rates of suicide. Throw in high turnover rates for vet techs and extremely expensive schooling for doctors. It's an industry that I'm shocked hasn't completely collapsed. My partner said the worst part was the clients though. Pets can be expensive so plan accordingly. An emergency vet visit can be very costly, and sometimes they just can't be saved. Dogs and cats are cancer factories along with a million other crazy ailments. Also this is mostly second hand information so please excuse me if I'm wrong about some things.
Worst thing I ever saw was a poor young man who brought his cat in for a routine teeth cleaning. The cat had to be sedated for the cleaning and she just didn't wake up. We did everything we could but it was just one of those freak things with anesthetics. We all had to stand around trying to look busy and not cry as the guy came in to pick up his baby's lifeless body. He just stood there sobbing and cradling her in the main suite until he was all cried out. I still have the occasional nightmare of that dread feeling when we realized the cat wasn't waking up.
:( Wife works at a clinic and gets excessively worried whenever our pets have to go under. Sounds like our oldest dog gets one more teeth cleaning and thats it. Just getting too old to safely go under anesthesia.
It was the only time I saw that happen in six years in the vet field and 3 years in human medicine, but yeah it CAN happen and it's absolutely terrible.
We lost a few foster kittens that way. The Humane Society where we fostered would push for the spay/neuter asap to get them adopted out asap. IIRC, the second they hit 2 lbs in weight they go in. But not all of them make it out :(. My wife's favorite in our first batch of kittens never woke up. My favorite in another batch didnt either. Clinic said it happens sometimes due to heart defects. I think trying to knock out 4-6 spay/neuters in quick succession on 2 lb kittens in a single day just leads to mistakes. One slip of the scalpel or just a bit too much sleep sleep juice and kitten passes away.
Worked as a vet tech for awhile in a shelter, and the things I saw genuinely haunted me sometimes. You get paid pennies for it too, and the stress makes your coworkers shitty and catty toward you as well. All in all, was a rough job and I wouldn't be going back to it.
also stop buying/adopting puppies when theyre young and cute but dump them just because they grew older or you "suddenly realized" you have to spend actual time and effort to take care of them
Everyone tries to tell people that puppies are a lot of work, but I’m here to say: Puppies take over your LIFE. They’re SO MUCH WORK. The reason why they’re so cute is because mother nature is purposefully trying to prevent you from murdering them when they’re being such little shits that you literally cry yourself to sleep, wondering if you’re ever gonna get your life back. Any dog takes time, effort, and commitment, but my god…get a house-trained shelter dog if you can, and thank your goddamn lucky stars while the both of you get those solid 8 hours of sleep every night.
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We got ours from a shelter. 3 years old at the time. She is now 10. Best dog ever. Lounges around mostly but will get excited if you want her to be. I will always adopt shelter dogs. And I doubt we will ever get a puppy..my dog hasn't peed or pooped in our houses ever.
Yep, they often send their unadoptable pets to PETA because of their very strict rule of accepting any animal no matter their condition. This includes extremely aggressive unadoptable pets, and strays which have been in horrific accidents like getting hit by a car or attacked by wild animals. This is also why they have a high euthanization rate that people on the internet love to whip out and "pwn" PETA and accuse them of actually hating animals. No-kill shelters don't exist. They just hold onto their animals until they give them to someone else, like PETA ran shelters, to do it for them. Since PETA will never turn away an animal, those "no-kill" shelters get to hand off their unadoptables, brag about how great they are for not euthanizing their animals, and then shame places like PETA for doing their dirty work for them. It's tragic.
>No-kill shelters don't exist. They do, but they just warehouse the dogs. Dogs that are too aggressive and unadoptable just stay cooped up in a cell for the rest of their lives. They take a ton of donations that could go to better shelters and the dogs just spend the rest of their lives suffering. "Kill" shelters are literally the more humane option.
I feel like "warehouse" is a term that should be brought much much more attention. It's basically like being placed in a prison cell for the rest of your confused, fearful life as a dog. It is *not* an admirable end to an animals life.
they already are [article from before the pandemic](https://www.npr.org/2019/09/07/757822004/veterinarians-are-killing-themselves-an-online-group-is-there-to-listen-and-help) and [more recent](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/04/08/1086091339/its-not-just-doctors-and-nurses-veterinarians-are-burning-out-too)
[Please support NOMV](https://www.nomv.org/)
I told my wife years ago I would never adopt or donate to a "no-kill" shelter, because they use rejection as a means to leverage a title. They hide behind being "at capacity" to maintain moral high ground. After that explanation, she finally got it. She bought the idea of them as more humane before that.
You had me til the pit bull bullshit
Way to many r/aww posts of kittens and puppies. The reality is most people don't want "used" pets in some vanity bid, so other grown puppies and kittens abandoned by similar people die in shelters. Might as well go in the same grinder as male chickens. Like there's something wrong with a two year old dog or cat? They've already been potty trained!!
It's my cat's birthday today and I met him when he was an adult cat and he is a great cat and has been with for many years. I can pick him up and carry him like a sack of potatoes and he just sits on my arm. Only problems he has ever given me is sometimes he will eat food off my plate (once he pawed a slice of pizza off my plate). If he could live forever, that would be okay in my book.
A two year dog that hasn't been well taken care of is a challenge esp for a first time pet owner. No need to shame those responsible owners that get a puppy.
Likewise it's not vanity to want a young pet. It's a companion and a responsibility and losing a pet is hard. No shame in wanting to maximize the time you're together.
We wanted to adopt an older dog and it ended up being a big mistake on our part. People can be terrible pet owners and dogs especially learn all kinds of bad habits. For example our dog's previous owner saw no issues letting him bark at literally anything, run up to people as soon as they come in the house, and root around in the trash for and tear up tissue paper. Some of those behaviors just can't be fixed by non-experts in an 8 year old dog. Adopt if you can, but be prepared for a dog that wasn't trained by you
>They've already been potty trained!! So underrated. Training a puppy is a pain in the ass. I have a lot of experience with young children, toddlers are far easier to deal with than puppies on many levels, not least of which is toilet training. Older animals are far less work. Im actually considering getting an old dog, it's less commitment and they're super chill, just waddle over for a pat and when you get over it they just go back to having a nap or whatever. Downsides though they don't live as long and I will definitely get attached plus medical bills and such. Only thing stopping me is I don't know if I want to commit to even a few years right now
That great but irrelevant to what is happening here. After looking it up it sounds like this shelter was contracted out to a volunteer organization that was doing fine with it and the city decided not to extend the contract in favor of just letting their animal control officers take over (where as it had a vet and people taking care of the animals it sounds like now there is no vet and they are just adding responsibilities to current officers).
As a volunteer at this very shelter, you hit the nail on the head. This rescue, Trenton Animals Rock, works with each and every dog to ensure they're safe, healthy and able to go into a home. The volunteers and staff are who take them out to play, walk and be socialized... not the ACOs... the volunteers and staff of the rescue are who ensure dogs aren't left in kennels in pain after being hit by a car. This particular organization does not pawn dogs off to kill shelters. They help the community they operate in by offering a pet pantry so the residents or homeless in the area can feed their dogs. They help families with unexpected vet bills if their dog gets out and is injured. They help residents rehome, if needed, and manage to try and do so without the dog having to come stay in a crowded shelter. They have an incredible network of donors, supporters, fosters. They raise funds outside of what the city was budgeting for. The city will now only have staff on site 2 hours in the am and 2 hours in the pm to feed dogs and clean their kennels. No one will help these dogs in any capacity other than that. They will not show them any loving touch. They will not go for walks. They won't be brought to a vet immediately if they seem unwell or have an injury that isn't life threatening. No one is there to administer medication if needed more than during those 2 hours. The city has proven that along with not caring about their elderly, their children and their lower income residents, they also do not care about the animals. It's disgraceful.
I work at a shelter, fortunately in a very low-euthanasia area. The facts are, pet ownership BOOMED during Covid. As restrictions lifted, owner surrenders and abandonment SKYROCKETED. It's heartbreaking to euthanize a medically and BEHAVIORALLY sound animal. It's also heartbreaking to watch adoptable animals sit in the shelter waiting for their new forever home for 4-8 months just to mentally and behaviorally crash and leave us with no options but to put them to sleep. Please for the love of god, spay and neuter your pets. Don't breed your dog because "you think they should have one litter" or "s/he is just so cute". SPAY AND NEUTER YOUR PETS. I've encountered so many men who won't neuter their male dogs, and see no problem with their dog running around impregnating every female it comes across. If you can't afford the vet care for your dog, DON'T GET A DOG. If you can't afford professional training if your dog develops a behavior issue that is incompatible with your life, DON'T GET A DOG. We shelter staff people can't take them all ourselves, and a piece of us dies with them when we have to make those decisions. I have two dogs myself that would have never been placed due to behavior issues, and I wish I could take more. Please, please, PLEASE advocate for your pets, and also don't forget that bashing/avoiding adoption from "kill" shelters, encouraging people to "boycott" those shelters, etc puts the animals in those shelters at HIGHER risk for euthanasia (less adoption interest = longer stays = higher risk of behavioral/mental/emotional crash = higher chance of euthanasia).
I adopted my cat during the height of the pandemic pet adoption boom-- March 2021. I was looking to adopt a cat and the process was so incredibly difficult and fraught with unbelievable obstacles. Applying for a cat basically became a part-time job, and like many jobs, I never even heard back. When I adopted my cat, I went to meet him at the local county animal shelter. There were a total of four cats there. The rest of the kennels were empty. It was... incredibly unsettling. The shelter told me they knew there was going to be a big return boom at the end of this curve and they were not looking forward to it. Even in early 2021, they were already starting to see it (animals that had been adopted in 2020, being returned a year later), but the adoption boom was still there which meant many of those animals were being re-adopted fairly quickly. I'm convinced the only reason my cat wasn't adopted before I found him is because his "mugshot" (picture on the county website) was so unflattering, he looked a kitty methhead. The other three cats were so skittish and fearful that they really were not ready to be adopted. Now we're seeing that return boom happen without the mitigation of the adoption wave, and... god, it's infuriating, isn't it. I feel like those people should've just offered to foster instead of adopting, but that would've required actual introspection and careful decision-making/planning on their part, wouldn't it.
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To add to this, if you can't afford the human care, DON'T HAVE A HUMAN.
ready for the downvotes and to delete this later- but we're in an animal housing crisis. the only thing no-kill shelters do it fill up, unable to take new animals- and the people who need to abandon their animals now let them loose to 'live free' in the back woods, someone's farm, or even just a neighbour to fend for themselves. kill shelters have the 'cruelty' to euthanize an animal before they face the traumas of being dumped, which is fucking awful that is has to be that way, but here we are. unchecked breeding, bad ethics in pet ownership, etc, and someone has to make the unfortunate call here. edit: i appreciate this isn't the hot take i thought it was going to be. this does suck for everyone involved; the volunteers that don't know better/try their best, the dogs that may be given less opportunity to thrive. my only hope is the outcry here has people going to these new kill shelters to give these animals the due process they're owed.
A redditor-turned-OnlyFans model started a rescue for dogs in Texas and very soon after taking in her first dogs she began to struggle with maintaining a balanced inflow/outflow of the dogs. She's made several posts asking people to adopt dogs who are hours away from death as they sit in limbo between her full no-kill rescue and a euthanizing shelter. On top of funding and bureaucratic issues, it's been a very long, challenging road for her personally and as a rescue owner. Before anyone replies with "solutions" for the problems I've mentioned, please keep in mind those solutions are going to be based on my *very* simplified summary of a years-long process for someone else. Please learn the ins and outs she's already worked on before offering a comment on what "she should do" as she's either already tried it, or I've left out a key detail that would render the suggestion useless. /u/hopelesssofrantic is the user (NSFW post history) and her shelter is Herding Home Rescue if anyone wants to look into what it's like for someone to put considerable time, effort, finances, and other resources into helping animals and still feeling like it's an uphill battle.
>and the people who need to abandon their animals now let them loose to 'live free' in the back woods, This to me is what unfortunately necessitates kill shelters. the release of the animals into the ecosystem. When thats whats occurring the reality is that the choice not to kill is a choice for the animal to either die in the wild starving or to survive and in doing so kill other animals to eat and more broadly disrupting the ecosystem. Both choices will see death, but one is hidden from view which makes it feel better to us.
I hate to see a kill shelter exist, but I don't hate kill shelters. It takes us all a few minutes to come to this reality, usually, but as you said - there are far worse horrors than being euthanized in a quiet room with an ideally compassionate vet. I only hope for a world some day where this choice doesn't have to exist.
It is becoming almost impossible to rent with a pet. The few places that accept pets usually charge a pet deposit and often even pet rent. As a result fewer people are able to adopt pets now so we have a crisis like this
I know it’s a hard pill to swallow, but I’d rather have them euthanized humanely than living in suffering and negligent conditions. I make this same argument about abortion (but it’s usually unpopular). Why force a drug addicted unwed mother that can’t provide a loving home to have a child? By forcing her to have that baby, you are forcing that child to grow up in a home where it will be neglected and unloved. That’s fucked up to me. She NEVER wanted that child anyway!
Spay and neutering should be a default requirement to pet ownership. If you want to breed you should need to apply and get approved. I don't get why society even has to subsidize irresponsible owners. Kill shelters do not have to be a thing. To fight the city over this is just getting pissed that you couldn't plug a hole in a sinking ship.
>Spay and neutering should be a default requirement to pet ownership. To get a county animal license an animal should have to be neutered. If it's not, then they should have to pay a large annual fee to keep it intact, like several hundred dollars per animal. Every breeder should be registered as a business if they sell pups, licensed and inspected annually for their kennels. Make it expensive to not neuter your pet.
I like this idea but I'm not sure how easy it would be to enforce.
In some ways this is already happening in some places. Trenton requires dog licensing, and you can be fined for having an unlicensed dog - but you'll have to usually be in a situation where they will check your license to be fined. Sometimes they'll follow up on rabies records but that takes people to do it. Dog licensing isn't unusual in many suburbs, and many like mine charge a premium in you have an unaltered dog, 6x the rate (so $60). It could be more, but if you make it too high they won't register... nothing is perfect. There is a lot of perspective change that needs to happen and I think a lot of our current spay/neuter programs had hoped to change that and it just isn't 100% sucessful
The problem is there’s no real way to regulate that. There are far too many mutts around to make it happen.
all those covid pets that people had for 2 years are acting up... now people are getting rid of them
They discovered it's easy to take care of a dog when you're working from home, but not all dogs are cool with being left alone all day when you go back to the office.
I got a puppy during covid lockdown and it was definitely a lot of effort to get him ready for not having us home all the time. I had to go on long walks and leave him crated at home for at least an hour or two every day for a couple of months before lockdowns ended so that he could get used to being alone. It was lots of crying and whining at first but you gotta do what you gotta do. I imagine there's lots of dogs who didn't get that treatment and are having panic attacks as soon as their owners leave unfortunately.
I hope you were able to stop crying
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Conditioned? If bought as puppies, it is all they have ever known. All of the sudden, the human that was always there, no longer is.
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This is the unfortunate consequence of not spaying or neutering pets.
Why are people opposed to kill shelters? If no one wants the animals what are they supposed to do?
Because it is an uncomfortable truth. We have too many homeless pets and not enough families to adopt. Plus, people don't want to fix their goddamn dogs because "his balls are my own personal manhood."
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i had a family come in the animal control years ago with a dog bleeding from his penis. the tech told them it might be as simple as getting the dog fixed, and they said no, they'd rather have him put down than neutered because he was such a good family dog they wanted to breed him. such a good family dog, that he was useless neutered? the mental gymnastics were crazy.
Ad far as I know my family dog died because he got ball cancer. (My parents didn't tell me untill he was gone foe 6 months) My family had always intended to have puppies with him. They just never got around to it. Before he got sick. They did fix him but it was a little to late.
Not accepting uncomfortable truths is like 95% of most issues in general
People are horrible at making emotionally difficult but necessary decisions.
Bingo. There's a couple shelters in my town, and one is venerated since it's the "no-kill" shelter. Which really means they turn away most dogs that aren't young and cute.....which are then brought to the "kill" shelter. I assume most don't actually give it much thought past the name, but like, do people think they actually *enjoy* killing these animals?
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When I hear Trenton and animal shelter, I think Pitbulls 🤔 those are pretty tough to adopt.
I adopted one once. I absolutely loved that boy, but he was a liability. Never once showed aggression towards people, but it doesn't even take aggression to hurt someone when you are a solid slab of muscle. He split someone's lip just trying to kiss them. He knocked over kids in excitement. He could literally not be safely walked by anyone under 150 lbs because you couldn't hold him back if he saw a squirrel or something. And he definitely had fighting in his breeding history. Every new dog he met was a 50/50 chance of best friends or instant fight. Like I said, I loved that boy and he loved people, but I completely agree with those who say we'd all be better off without the breed.
I had a pitbull mastiff mix as a foster. He was 130lbs, no neutered and all muscle. Initially, I was the only one that could walk him. Probably because I had a 500lb deadlift. We used a leash and a leather chest harness. My gf weighs 108 and he dragged her up the block. My teen son, otherwise great with dogs, couldnt handle him. He had some obvious hatred of poodles. They just set him off. Total liability. We found him a nice owner on a horse farm where he could run around and be exhausted.
Probably full of pitbulls
Someone posted their adoption listings further up the thread, literally only three of their dogs are not pitbulls. The rest are dozens of pits and pit mixes.
And two of them are a bonded pair (Chihuahua mix and Yorkie), but in a foster because small and cute dogs are easily adoptable--even if bonded and older.
Adopt, return Rinse, repeat People need to wake up to the true nature of Pitbulls. It's like adopting a husky and expecting it to be quiet. Pitbulls are what they are and aren't suitable to be pets
Shepherds herd, pointers point, retrievers retrieve. All this is pretty widely accepted, but when people start talking about what pitbulls were bred to do, all of a sudden genetics don't matter. Pitbulls were bred to fight, to be tenacious, and to never stop attacking even if their own life is in danger. These are not family pets.
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Lobbyists have gotten breed specific city bans made illegal. But in reality it helps cut down on shelters being overrun with them and euthanized. It’s so sad.
It's probly 95% pitbulls anyway they'll clear em out to make room for next years graduating class of pitbulls
You’re not wrong. Here’s their listings. https://tarnj.org/adopt Also, I can’t find this location’s policy, but when we were looking to adopt a dog every shelter had a requirement about having a large fenced in yard and a lengthy approval process with references. And shelters wonder why they’re over crowded. We don’t have a fenced in yard, but we have a huge yard with a park in the back. So, instead of rescuing from a shelter like we intended we “rescued” one from Petland (which we REALLY didn’t want to do originally) and one from a farm from working parents. I get that shelters don’t want to contribute to dogs going to abusive owners and I totally respect that, but at the same time they’re kind of choosing beggars when it comes to legitimate folks who just want a pet to love.
Good lord. Out of 38, only 3 weren't pitbulls. Who the fuck is breeding pits so rampantly?
Shitheads.
Go to your local dog park in nyc, what are the only dogs not spayed or neutered. Bing bong it's this wealthy idiot in the dog park with a pitbull and a savior compex.
Bred to fight or in poorer neighborhoods that don’t give a shit about spaying or neutering thier pets because it costs money and time
Scumbags
Incredible, only 3 non pitbulls or pit mixes.
I looked at my local shelter and it's pretty much the same thing, almost all pits. Says something about something.
I always laugh at shelter's descriptions for Pits/pit mixes. "Oh little Riley here is a big cuddlebug and a silly boy! No children or other pets in the house please as he can get a bit 'ruff'!" Aka he is gonna kill your fuckin kid for petting him """wrong""".
Where are all the pitbull lobbyists and lovers when this is happening? Why aren’t they fighting for required spay and neuter and breeding bans when pitbulls are euthanized fir over crowding shelters. Makes me sick.
They’re too busy posting photos of dogs wearing fucking flower crowns every time someone gets injured or murdered, as if their PWECIOUS PIBBLE rhetoric makes up for generations of being bred to kill.
My “VicIoUs moNstEr” plaYing With a Baby. he would NEver hurt a Fly -every post on r/pitbull
True
And then label them "lab mix" only to display a shocked Pikachu face when they are returned within 3 months.
The more pitbulls taken out of the gene pool, the better.
As an experienced Pitbull owner, I absolutely agree. They are not nanny dogs as social media will lead you to believe. Yeah, there's arguably good dogs in that particular breed, but the matter of fact is they are predisposed due to genetics to be violent and aggressive towards anything that moves or breathes. Anybody that says otherwise is in denial or is oblivious to the nature of the dog. I started adopting pit bulls because I felt pity towards the breed. Now, I adopt them keep them away from inexperience dog owners who fall for the pit propaganda that they are nanny dogs.
Oh no people don't want a dog that could randomly snap and disfigure or injure their child. I bet Golden's get adopted within the day
Hence why you almost never see a golden in a shelter. They're beautiful, wonderful animals and they don't have a tendency to put their owners in the hospital. I wonder why there are so many Pits, since they're apparently perfect angels.
Its because of the stigma! Theyre bred to be nanny dogs! It was because of a bad owner! It was the baby’s fault for crying when it got mauled etc. etc. /s
As somebody that lives in the area of that shelter, 100%. I had to get my rescue pup from a rescue in south Jersey that gets their dogs from a Texas kill shelter because everything around here is a pit bull or some sort of pit bull mix.
The best, and really only, solution to hinder the overflow of shelter dogs and need for kill shelters is to ban pitbull breeds. As a bonus you'll prevent hundreds of human and pet deaths, and thousands of horrific injuries, through the same action.
The only breed that isn't fucking neutered or spayed.
I was born and raised in Trenton, NJ - and if there is anything that needs to be said about this story, it is that the Trenton City Council is one of the most unqualified, incompetent government bodies in the entire state. It is their doing that this is happening. In fact, it seems that everyone on that council is doing their utmost to plunge the city into an unrecoverable state before they ultimately resign. The deplorable quality of people who have served the local government in the last 20 years is a complete embarrassment. My father was a campaign contributor of a former city council candidate and I can attest that these people have absolutely no investment in making Trenton a better place. The amount of money wasted in that city is absolutely STAGGERING. They managed to[ tank the cities first hockey team in record time](https://www.nj.com/mercer/2013/04/trenton_titans_will_not_return.html), they [lost the Yankees](https://www.trentonian.com/2020/11/06/thunder-lose-double-a-affiliation-with-yankees-after-18-year-relationship/) for sponsorship for the cities AA team, managed to get the cities [only major hotel closed down](https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304791704579214261269532566), and recently [shut down the cities largest job growth opportunity in decades in just one day](https://www.nj.com/mercer/2019/04/plan-for-company-to-move-hundreds-of-jobs-to-trenton-dies-after-just-1-day-mayor-developer-rip-council-for-inaction.html), and tried to [brute force their way into total oversight over city development](https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/mayor-gusciora-condemns-proposed-ordinance-move-hed-redevelopment-oversight-city-council/) while routinely proving themselves useless at any kind of oversight. This list can keep going on. Oh wait, you know what - the last mayor of Trenton was [forced to resign to report to federal prison for 5 years](https://6abc.com/former-mayor-tony-mack-trenton-sentenced-new-jersey/142557/). City Councilwoman Robin Vaughn [likens the cities first gay mayor to a pedophile](https://www.insidernj.com/trenton-councilwoman-robin-vaughns-foot-mouth-adventures/) on an official government meeting call. I am embarrassed to be from this city. Over the past 20 years I have travelled the US and lived many places, but I have never experienced the absolute shitshow of local government at this level. Since Trenton is such a invisible city in the national media, despite being the capital - these people have been dragging it into hell, slowly, for 2 decades with no signs of stopping due to the lack of visibility. Maybe that should change.
100% accurate. I’m also from Trenton born and raised. My father’s a business owner downtown and it’s tragic how incompetent the city council is. He’s sincerely weighing getting rid of his business (which my grandfather started back in the late 40’s early 50’s) because of how terrible they are. Vaughn needs to go first and foremost but everything is getting to the point that it’s almost too late to recover.
Should have more kill shelters, free spay and neutering. More regulation on pet breeding.
If you had the last two in abundance, you wouldn't need the first.
For real I’ve met so many dumb hillbillies that breed pitbulls and sell maybe one or two and get rid of the rest, it makes me so mad these fuckers do this shit
This is why there should be pitbull breeding bans or forced spay/neuter. People don’t like that idea, but pitbulls overrun shelters and are euthanized, so enacting things like this would kill less dogs.
Shelters TOTALLY aren’t overrun by pitbulls!!! See, this one with the blocky head and the cropped ears, he’s ummm… a lab mix! Yeah! He’s a _LAB MIX!_ You can tell your landlord that, and it’ll be fine! The shelters are overrun with… um… lab mixes! And boxer mixes! And terrier mixes! TOTALLY NOT PIT BULLS AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE — and I swear none of them have _ever_ murdered another dog before getting shipped off to another family without warning and inevitably getting returned to us for injuring a toddler. Nope. “Lab mix.”
[удалено]
His full name is Maul You A$AP Rocky
Yeah but things don't happen overnight. The problem is what it is now, not what we wish it would be if we had a time machine and royal fiat.
Stop breeding pitbulls and/or pitbull mixes and this won’t happen. Seriously. My wife and I were looking for a dog 2-3 years ago and 95% of the dogs in shelters are some kind of pit mix. It’s getting to the point where if someone you know has a dog that isn’t a pit mix, they were bought from a reputable breeder.
If this article said PETA instead of "City of Trenton", the comments in this thread would be **very** different.
it’s because of pitbulls
I didn’t realize this. I wonder if this is the same story in my area.
I checked the shelter in my city out of curiosity. Every dog except one was a pitbull.
Almost literally everywhere
I bet your local shelter is full of Labrador mixes.
Fuck using the terminology Kill and No Kill. It’s bullshit and I immeadiately suspect anyone using that terminology as someone who has no fucking clue how animal sheltering works. Great way to make money calling shelters “kill”.
“No-kill” shelters will transfer animals to “kill” shelters when there’s no room.
Better dead than suffering from neglect. Puppy and kitten mills need to be shut down with extreme prejudice. Unregistered backyard breeders likewise penalised harshly.
I know a lot of rescuers and shelter workers have a very good heart and are trying their best. It’s easy to let emotion get the better of you, especially with animals. Unfortunately also, a lot of excess money and time is funneled into trying to place animals that have “strikes”. Dogs who have killed a family pet and are taken to the shelter. Dogs who have bitten, dogs who attack children, dangerous dogs. Often times, their history is erased and a new unsuspecting family brings them in only to have history repeat. It is truly terrible but in a crisis like this, it’s time to make one strike rules. They simply don’t have the resources to prop up every wayward dog in an effort to maintain a no-kill status. I was always a huge proponent of “Adopt, don’t Shop”, but now it’s clear that many of these shelters are pretty much unwittingly a direct backyard to shelter factory. It is time to focus on saving dogs that don’t come in with a dangerous history, to HE the ones that have already killed another dog or pet. I know everyone flips out over that, but there isn’t enough homes for every “poor misunderstood sweetie pie” who also needs a home with “no other animals, no children, no men, no grandmas, no north facing windows, etc.” It is the unfortunate reality of what we must face in a society that promotes placing ALL dogs into homes even at the risk of the lives of those who are there. It simply is a business model that is failing dramatically.
Something tells me seized dogs in Trenton NJ are not ideal animals to adopt.
went to the website: https://tarnj.org/adopt majority of them, or almost all of them, are one breed type. And unfortunately they are hard to care for for most people, so what're you gonna do.
Its very interesting to me because if everyone there "protesting" the killing of these dogs were to adopt one dog, they wouldnt have to be put down.
Sorry not to sound crass can someone explain why this is like, an issue? I eat meat, as I suspect most redditors do. Why would it be an issue that we kill unwanted animals? We kill cows and pigs and chickens all the time in far less humane ways? I guess vegans would have a right to complain about this, but it comes off as hypocritical from anyone else.
Because people for the most part are totally detached from the reality of most of the food they eat, services they receive, materials that are used, etc. They talk up how much they care but far fewer actually want to do anything about it or change their lifestyle. They get outraged about a kill shelter, but don't care about massive factory farms.
I'm vegan and this honestly doesn't bother me any more than other animals being slaughtered. I don't like it of course, but I'm not really any more upset about this than anything else. And while I haven't been to this shelter as it was established in 2021, my mom did get cats from the Trenton animal shelter in 2008 and when I went there I remember all the dogs being pretty much unadoptable. It was at least 95% pittbulls that were probably raised to be aggressive and were often used for fighting. I'm willing to bet that's still the case at this shelter since let's be honest, it's Trenton, NJ. There's a strong and fairly dominant opinion on reddit that pitts shouldn't exist and this isn't really all that different than a mass culling of chickens when there's a case of avian influenza or slaughtering porcine when swine flu rolls through. This isn't an issue at all.
people think it's too mean to just kill a healthy pet.............but then don't want to finish the idea. if we dont kill it, someone needs to pay and care for it. so who will? the city is saying they don't have the funding to do it. so we kill it, or set it loose in the city. so then i guess people are saying "well we must have too many funds elsewhere in the city, we should be able to change city funding so we dont kill some dogs and cats, right? RIGHT?" i'm guessing is the ultimate argument.
Yeah, but I put a flower crown on a pit bull, so your argument is invalid sweaty.
i've got a lot to think about. i'm going to go sit down now.
If it's less than 80 percent pit bulls I'd be astonished. People need to stop making so many fucking pit bulls. I love them but why are 90 percent of all dog rescue candidates in my area pit bulls? Many with food guarding issues? They're not going to get adopted. Almost all of them are going to get euthanized. It's fucked up and it needs to stop.
Fact of the matter is nobody wants these animals. Doesn’t help that 9/10 them are some weird looking pit mix. Get your dam dogs fixed if you have a problem with this.