This was written by an American animal shelter manager . Only a few shelters in the uk have a no kill policy, most have to face destroying animals just like this manager as incoming numbers are so great. What an unhappy job. Appeared on my FB and was asked to share. My FB is pretty much family only, so sharing on here instead.

"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 too that doesn't allow pets? Or they say "The dog got bigger than we thought it would". How big did you think a Great Dane 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 part of your family? They always tell me "We just don't want to have to stress about finding a place for her we know she'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 freaks out and puts on the brakes 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 pets 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 farther than the pets you dump at a shelter. Across countries, millions of pet 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. ~

I've had this on my facebook a few times & I always share breaks my heart reading it,it's bad enough having had to have my own pets put to sleep.There needs to be a law to ban byb's & puppy farms for a start.makes me mad when I meet other Akita owners apart from vanman who have got a couple of dogs & want to breed them when there are so many in rescue,that's how I got Misty.people used to ask me was I going to let her have pups & I said no,for one she was a rescue 2 I don't know what health issues she had eyes,hips & I wouldn't want to be responsible for adding to dogs in rescue when owners couldn't handle it.The irresponsible breeders should be made to work in these kill shelters,it might change there mind.

Somehow i don t think it will change there minds Star.Breeders just want the money and do not care what happens to the puppies.
Really sad reading this.

Thanks for sharing Venice.

it's not just the bad breeders,it's people who don't research a breed,it seems to be French bulldogs becoming now seeing a lot more of them,same with huskies.A dog film comes out that breed becomes popular with the must have dog people just buy them & then some people can't be bothered to put the time into training their dogs so they get thrown out.

It would read better if it were broken into paragraphs.

You're right Ex! I'll do it again as lots of people only read the last couple of posts of a topic anyway.


This piece below, was written by an American animal shelter manager . Only a few shelters in the uk have a no kill policy, most have to face destroying animals just like this manager as incoming numbers are so great. What an unhappy job. Appeared on my FB and was asked to share. My FB is pretty much family only, so sharing on here instead.

"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 too that doesn't allow pets? Or they say "The dog got bigger than we thought it would". How big did you think a Great Dane 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 part of your family? They always tell me "We just don't want to have to stress about finding a place for her we know she'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 freaks out and puts on the brakes 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 pets 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 farther than the pets you dump at a shelter.

Across countries, millions of pet 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. ~

It is very rare that a dog is euthanised like that description unless the operator chooses it to be like that - most animals are put down without any struggle at all, there is absolutely no need to move them to a "death room" per se.

If he wants to get the message across he should state the number of animals he puts down.

The way it is written makes me think that this is just some "do-gooder" writing a piece of fiction.

However, I totally agree with the sentiment of the message - there is no need to buy an animal from a breeder or a store, go to a rescue place, don't encourage this overproduction of animals.

Oh such is life!!!

Yes I agree, a bit of story telling there, but think a rescue center buy is the thing to do.

I think the euthanasia experience is likely to be partly true because there are different ways of putting to sleep. If you have your dog put to sleep in a private practice, the vet isnt rushing, its you who's paying the bill, so he's free to use the best method he can to ensure a perfect 'pts'and he can 'tailer' it to the animal. Possibly a sedative beforehand, hopefully the most up to date euthanasia drug and maybe a catheter inserted to ensure a clean drug delivery , all of which will help to give the animal a stressfree death.

Imagine a high turn over rescue short of money. Maybe they have to make compromises to be able to keep afloat at all. Its not hard to see how they might have to have a one size fits all kill regime , using just basic principles , older equipment and cheapest drugs. Its not long ago that the RSPCA were using individual gas boxes for cats etc because their use was cheap .

Pentobarbital is nearly always used for injection, there isn't anything cheaper, it is very quick and painless if injected into a vein.

Gas boxes are still used especially for smaller animals and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this method, its much the same as having gas at the dentist. Its possibly the safest method of ensuring the animal is euthanised correctly.

With most animals a very humane method is a bolt through the brain but most humans find this distasteful (physical destruction of the animal) and it is a bit more dangerous to the operator.

I think American shelters use a far wider variety of methods than in the uk (officially) .
Ive seen gas boxes used in uk though, and some animals DO appear distressed as they scrabble and try and force their heads into corners looking to escape breathing the gas (Admittedly it may not have been Isoflurane) . Why did the RSPCA replace the boxes when they were so cheap to operate?

Pentobarbital though,does seem to be quite quick and seemingly painless when used properly .

Locally, I'm not sure if the RSPCA put animals down, whenever RSPCA animals are treated they are are done by local vets.