Why We Do What We Do: A Letter from a Shelter Manager - anonymous in North Carolina

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?

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.

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 persons 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

The Truth Behind The Eyes.

Have you ever really loved a dog? I mean really really? Did you ever find solace and peace within, just by gently resting a hand on top of his head? Me too, very often, and whenever I wish, if you want you can even come over anytime and try out the "head of the hound". You might want to bring a treat or 3, oh and be prepared to get a lick or two, but the peace found within that furry little dome is nothing but heartwarming.


Did you read about the most recent puppy mill raid done in Quebec? 527 dogs seized. To me that means 527 dogs that have not been loved, hugged, or been someones peace. This hits close to my heart because my first basset "Oscar" was a puppy mill pup. Most likely yanked from his Momma before he was old enough, then shipped to Northern Ontario to a rather popular pet store. Then of course there was the sucker of a woman who walked by and found him too cute to resist and pay $600 for him. But she only left him outside on a little 3x3 patio because he shed too much. That's how I got him at 16 months, because thankfully, he shed too much and she was expecting her 4th baby! I always wondered about his parents, did they get to live to be seniors? Did they die young of some kind of a disease, or were they tossed out on the side of a road when she was no longer able to get pregnant? How many pups were in that litter with Oscar, how many got to live to their 5th birthday, better yet their 10th? How many other dogs were on the same puppy mill property, how big were their cages? Could Oscar even have been born at that same puppy mill? A puppy mill this size could easily put out 1000 to 2000 puppies each year. I wonder what percentage of them end up in the hands of awful people, or the hands of the pound to only be tossed into a gas chamber like Quebec is so famous for.


I will never know, especially when it comes to Oscar, his papers were all false, false breeder names, vet names, and addresses. We tried looking for where he was born right after we got him. None of it was real, but I suppose that if you ship a dog to another province, and offer this "pedigree" with all made up information you can get away with it pretty easily because no one ever really looks into it. Thankfully the pet store where Oscar was bought has since closed. I heard a rumour that they might have even moved out of town. I don't know. The pet store where I buy my dog food doesn't even sell pets, they usually have a few "humane society" cats putting around the place, but never dogs, or hamsters, or birds. I refuse to give them my money if they take part in the animal trade at all. Even the few dollars profit from you buying cat litter and kibble from a store that sells animals gives them more money to bring in more pets.


Do you remember the crate you used for your puppy when you first brought him home? That is most likely bigger than the cage that puppy mill dogs live in for their entire life. Cages are stacked one on top of the other where urine and feces drop down through the cages below onto the floor. The dogs are rarely, if ever taken out and groomed or checked for sores or disease. They are just bred time and time again. When a 10 year old puppy mill female basset goes into rescue it is generally estimated that she has given birth to between 100 and 200 pups during her life time. Getting pregnant on her first heat cycle at 6-8 months and having a litter every 6 months after that. She usually has many physical health problems, let alone the mental ones having never been out of a cage, seeing people, or touching grass. It is heartbreaking.


Back yard breeders are one step above, the dogs generally live with the family, and have freedom to run around. They have food and exercise. Half of the time they even receive vet care on a regular basis. They are usually brought to the vet when ill because they only have one, maybe two females. They often create "high class" crossbreeds, and ask astounding amounts for their pups because a sucker is born every minute and will come and buy them as fast as they can produce them. The problem here again though is that they are not screened for genetic diseases, temperaments, and overall health. When it comes down to it, we should all be picking a dog, and expecting it to live the rest of its hopefully long life with us. Not us having to give it up because of temperament, or size, or having to have it put to sleep because of a genetic disease.


So what can all of us do to end this vicious cycle? For the first thing ADOPT DON"T SHOP! Rescue organizations everywhere are full with purebred and crossbred dogs. Watch Petfinder.com and don't let distance sway you either, my very own Odie came all the way from Louisville, Kentucky. They will help you find a way to get the dog you want to you. #2 Research your breed, we have the world at our finger tips now, if you want a certain size dog, or activity level look for the breed that suits you. The avid hiker and runner isn't going to want a basset, just like the average home body, that wants a cuddle around the house dog isn't going to want a border collie. #3 Let go of the puppy idea, TRUST ME, puppies, are not always fun, they are a lot of work and will cost you half a fortune by the time they hit a year old. Besides that rescue dogs are nearly always already spayed/neutered and are calmer and more appreciative of the home that they get. They are done the chewing, and peeing on the floor phase, and are ready for a family who just wants to love them till the end of time! #4 Spay or neuter your pet, don't be naive thinking that "Well Rover never leaves the yard" It only takes one run away for 10 minutes for a neighbour hood female to be having pups that look an awful lot like Rover. #5 Talk, talk, talk, tell friends, neighbours, people you meet while walking, about the truth behind pet store puppies and back yard breeders. Tell them about all the rescue organizations out there and how willing they are to help you find a dog that will fit your family, and do their best to get it to you. Remind them to spay and neuter, there are also many health benefits to it as well, not just prevented puppies! #6 If you are thinking that you don't want a dog, and that you would like to do more than just passing on the words of wisdom here there are still other options, most rescue organizations are begging for someone to foster for them till a home is found. They will pay for everything, you just need to offer, love, patience, and time. It is good for your soul too. Or you can make a monetary donation to a rescue organization for your favourite breed. I found Odie by simply putting "basset hound rescue Canada" into my google search engine. Many dogs that come into rescue rack up pretty big vet bills in a rather short time so any amount, no matter how small is always appreciated. Mostly though again, please remember folks, ADOPT don't SHOP!! My bassets thank you for it!

This is a link to a petition to ban puppy mills. Please sign and save a life. I did! http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?3450

A Basset is an Asset!

Somebody somewhere wrote a song called "A basset is an asset", you really should look it up on You Tube if you have never heard this cute little ditty before. As time seems to tick on I am beginning to think that there must be some kind of a conspiracy going on here. I have had bassets in my life for about 6 years now, and sometimes feel like perhaps I have been tricked into this "asset" business.
Don't get me wrong, I love, even adore my bassets. Really can not imagine my life without them in it. The love and entertainment that I get from them is astounding. When I have been sick and they tend to dote on me all day, not making a huge fuss, but hanging close none the less. The stillness and quietness that overcomes them when I am sad and crying, the way that they just lay there and let me softly stroke their fur and sob, knowing that the next day no one will even know that I was crying and that my troubles will not be the latest gossip to go around in the circle of friends. They force me to drag my old behind out of the house in the evening for a walk, otherwise known in my house as a "doo dee dooo" courtesy of my best friend with 2 beagles that is also not allowed to use the "w" word in her house. She coined the "d" word a year ago at least and I have recently stole it. I never throw left overs in the garbage, even empty chip bags are carefully licked in my house, nary a crumb on my floor, and if I take a little stroll outside before washing the table after a meal, there also won't be a crumb on the table. Now that's convenient! The other side of my queen size bed is never empty, even when hubby works out of town, or gets up at 3:30 in the morning. There is always somebody on the other side of the bed when I open my eyes in the morning, it isn't always a pretty sight, sometimes it might be basset belly, basset teeth, or the worst and most popular of them all the basset butt. I have learned not to leave a plate around with food on it to eat later, cause the plate is still there but nice and shiny clean, so I suppose that they are also kind of like a diet, eating the food that they "know" you shouldn't for the good of your health and waist size. So yes, I suppose that in many ways a basset is an asset. Not to most, but to a trained basset lover all of these could be good qualities, bassets have perhaps "trained" us into thinking that these are good qualities.
But, all in the same breath sometimes these two characters of mine are enough to make me bonkers and wonder what exactly I was thinking when I got that first basset, let alone the 2 that have followed him. Double for the fact that 2 at once is its very own set of challenges that I never even really thought of. Now seeing as I so lovely listed how a basset "could" be an asset, I am going to offer my own rebuttal, so to speak. I am going to begin with the telephone, bassets and phones really do not mix, in more ways then one. Our phone company has an answering service like most do, but it seems to pick up way too soon. On about the third ring, to be precise, now in my house when it rings if I am in the far end of the house I often kinda jog to the phone because I want to talk on the portable phone because I generally know who is calling and I know that it will most likely be a lengthy conversation. So now in my house it is not just me making that dash to the phone the bassets do it as well. Even before I begin my jog they are heading that way, trotting kinda sideways, UNDER my feet, tails gaily wagging, knowing that they are going to trip me on the way there and that I am most likely gonna miss that last ring and then rough house with them for getting in my way. So I suppose that like the dog that drooled when the bell rang, mine think its tackle mom time when the phone rings. If by the lucky chance that I am prepared for the phone to ring, or make it before the machine picks it up the dogs take that as "wow its wrestle time". If I go to the sun room to talk the dogs wrestle there, generally right under my chair, when I try to sneak off into the living room they catch me and follow only to wrestle in front of where ever I am. Did I mention how noisy they wrestle??? Cause its loud, so sometimes I sneak outside, well that doesn't work either because then they sit at the other side of the door and howl their faces off because I didn't take them. Secretly I think that it is because they know that I am sitting on a lawn chair and they just want to wrestle under it. Another example of the "non assetness" would be TOILET PAPER and that is all I am going to say on that subject, there are too many stories, and too much money tossed into the trash to go into details. How about hair and poop, how do you even get into the amount of each of these, we tend to forget that bassets are "big" dogs on little legs, well we all know that big dogs don't have little poops..... The hair is always around, white and black clothes are out of the picture, basset owners live in an array of colours, especially grey, and denim, the hair doesn't seem to stick as much to jeans. Gotta admit though it does make me giggle sometimes seeing that "tumbleweed" roll out from under the bed when I open the window. There is also the barking and the drooling. Hoover isn't really a big barker, (thank goodness) but Odie is, he just seems to love the sound of his own voice. He however is a little drier lipped, Hoover is my drooly hound, the one who splatters walls, the TV, clothes, the car, your face, even the ceiling on the odd occasion. He also likes to not quite finish drinking his water before walking away from the bowl, leaving a nice slippery tail for about 6 feet from the bowl, so nice to step into.
So yes, deep down I think that somewhere out there is a really smart basset who wrote that song and paid some bar singer to sing and record it. Bassets everywhere are laughing behind our backs knowing that they have brainwashed everyone into thinking that they are super dogs. But to be honest, I really don't mind, I know that people are hating on me everywhere cause they are jealous that I have the best breed of dog out there. Especially Labrador people, I mean seriously, what is wrong with those dogs? More so, what the heck seems to be wrong with their owners? How the heck did they land the number one breed, for most popular and hold the position for so long when my breed is so superior compared to them numb skulls? They can keep their number one position though, because an abundance of labs are destroyed everyday in North America. Our bassets and the people that love them are a community working together to save the breed from being put to death in shelters. With that I will end with the motto once again that perhaps that yes "A basset is an asset" but PLEASE remember just as important "Adopt, don't shop". There are many basset rescue organizations across Canada and the United States, contact one if you are thinking about a basset or would like to make a donation to a worthwhile charity.