195 Haylea Lane
Ward, AR 72176
(501) 231-9767
Ward, AR 72176
(501) 231-9767
MOST RECENT ADDITIONS:
Stephie, Faye, Dillinger, Sugar, Hera
MOST RECENT UPDATES:
Leila, Butch, Easter
WATCH FOR:
Willow, Chena
SHELTER PAGE ADDITIONS:
Doxie, Min Pin, Schnauzer at Heber Springs
NEW COURTESY POSTS:
Mr. Elvis, Dexter, Bonnie, Charlie the Boxer
FOUND DOGS:
Boxer Mix and Black Lab
LOST DOGS:
(Please See our Lost and Found Page)
BoxAR Rescue Needs Foster Homes!
Hits:
Last Updated:
11/20/2009 10:09 PM
11/20/2009 10:09 PM
© 2009 BoxAR
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MACY - The Unfortunate Story of a Shelter Dog
On February 12, just TWO short days ago, our Memphis BoxAR director notified us of a dog in a shelter that was labeled as a "pit mix". She sent pictures around and the general concensus was that this dog WAS NOT a pit, but, in fact, a Boxer. She made arrangements with the shelter to put our name on her cage, along with a green sticker to indicate that rescue was coming for this dog. She would pull her in the morning, once her 3 day, required stay was up. That was today, February 14, 2009. When Anita arrived at the shelter today at 10:00 a.m. to pull "Macy", as we had named her, she was too late. They had euthanized her before the shelter opened! WHY? Because someone forgot to put a green sticker and our name on her card! This happens every day in shelters across America and we just want the world to know that this is nothing short of a tragedy! When will we care enough to do something about this sad waste of life?
A Righteous Man Cares for the Needs of His Animals Proverbs 12:10 R.I.P. MACY
  A Letter from a Shelter Manager
I think our society needs a huge " Wake-up" call.
As a shelter manager, I am going to share a little insight with you all. ..a view from the inside if you will. First off, all of you breeders/sellers should be made to work in the
"back" of an animal shelter for just one day. Maybe if you saw the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused eyes,
you would change your mind about breeding and selling to people you don't even know. That puppy you just sold will most likely end up in my shelter when it's not a cute little puppy anymore. So how would you feel if you knew that there's about a 90% chance that
dog will never walk out of the shelter it is going to be dumped at? Purebred or not! About 50% of all of the dogs that are "owner surrenders" or "strays" that come into my shelter are purebred dogs. The most common excuses I hear are:
"We are moving and we can't take our dog (or cat)." Really? Where are
you moving to that doesn't allow pets and why did you choose that place instead of a pet friendly home? Or they say "The dog got bigger than we thought it would." How big
did you think a German Shepherd would get? "We don't have time for her." Really? I work a 10- 12 hour day and
still have time for my 6 dogs! "She' s tearing up our yard." How about
making her a p art of your family? They always tell me: "We just don't want to have to stress about
finding a place for her we know he'll get adopted, she's a good dog." Odds are your pet won't get adopted & how stressful do you think being
in a shelter is? Well, let me tell you, your pet has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off. Sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn't full and your dog manages to stay completely healthy. If it sniffles, it dies. Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room with about
25 other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will be depressed and it will cry constantly for the family that
abandoned it. If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers in that day to
take him/her for a walk. If I don't, your pet won't get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of its pen with a high-powered hose. If your dog is big, black or any of the "Bully"
breeds (pit bull, rottie, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door. Those dogs just don't get adopted. It doesn't matter how 'sweet' or 'well behaved' they are. If your dog
doesn't get adopted within its 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed. If the shelter isn't full and your dog is good enough, and of a
desirable enough breed it may get a stay of execution, but not for long. Most dogs get very kennel protective after about a week and are
destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment. If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles chances are it will get
kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed because shelters just don't have the funds to pay for even a $100 treatment. Here's a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never
witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being "put-down".. .. First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash.
They always look like they think they are going for a walk - happy, wagging their tails. Until, they get to "The Room", every one of them freak out and put the
brakes on when we get to the door. It must smell like death or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there, it's strange, but it happens with every one of them. Your dog or cat will be restrained, held down by 1 or 2 vet techs
depending on the size and how freaked out they are. Then a euthanasia tech or a vet will start the process.
They will find a vein in the front leg and inject a lethal dose of the "pink stuff". Hopefully your pet doesn't panic from being restrained and jerk. I've
seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered with the resulting blood and been deafened by the yelps and screams. They all don't just "go to sleep", sometimes they spasm for a while,
gasp for air and defecate on themselves. When it all ends, your pet's corpse will be stacked like firewood in a
large freezer in the back with all of the other animals that were killed waiting to be picked up like garbage. What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet
food? You'll never know and it probably won't even cross your mind. It was just an animal and you can always buy another one, right? I hope that those of you that have read this are bawling your eyes out
and can't get the pictures out of your head I deal with everyday on the way home from work. I hate my job, I hate that it exists & I hate that it will always be
there unless you people make some changes and realize that the lives you are affecting go much further than the pets you dump at a shelter. Between 9 and 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters and only
you can stop it. I do my best to save every life I can but rescues are always full, and there are more animals coming in everyday than there are homes. My point to all of this: DON'T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER PETS DIE!
Hate me if you want to. The truth hurts and reality is what it is.
I just hope I maybe changed one person's mind about breeding their
dog, taking their loving pet to a shelter, or buying a dog. I hope that someone will walk into my shelter and say "I saw this and
it made me want to adopt." THAT WOULD MAKE IT WORTH IT! |