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Animals are Put to Sleep Everyday in
Shelters Across the US
Patricia, I do not know you but your actions
make me feel you are a loving, caring person, as your husband
must be. I have a short story to share with you and all readers
about a sad situation last week, and others should also be aware
of the circumstances.
Last Saturday I was walking my dog like I have so many days over
the past few years at a local park when nearing the end we came
upon a stray dog. Some men were working near the dog and helped
me to capture it since it was so afraid, and I saw that it was a
young puppy about 3 months old, but extremely underfed. The
bones were showing through the skin and fur, and it was filthy
dirty and smelly, but I was able to cradle him in my arms and
drove him to my veterinarian about 3 minutes away. They agreed
to check him out and gave him a fair bill of health along with
medication for his ring- and round- worm condition, and of
course gave him plenty of food and water which he consumed
quickly and politely.
I took him home and gave him a bath, probably the first in his
life, fed him, and walked him, and allowed him to sleep for
several hours, peacefully, on the floor right near my chair.
Talking the situation with my live-in girlfriend, she stated
that since we already have a dog, it might be best if we gave
the stray to the SPCA here in Dallas, and let them try to find a
home for him. Since I was unable to get in touch with anyone
there at the SPCA, I called several other no-kill establishments
and asked for their help, but none were able to accept pets. One
man said that a shelter could come and retrieve him and I
decided to use that service and called them. They were available
24 hours a day, but the wait was so long that I decided to
deliver the dog myself at the 18 mile distance, but they were
unresponsive to the locked doors after hours, however they did
have a drop box to leave animals in, so I put the puppy in the
box and closed the self-locking handle.
I was so sad when the dog looked at me with those small,
almond-shaped, brown eyes as if to ask me, �What�s wrong? What
did I do? Aren�t we friends?�
When I returned home from that incredibly long ride, I sat in my
SUV and wept like a child. (I am fighting tears now just writing
this.) Because I was so overcome with grief from what I just
did, my girlfriend said that if it mattered so much that we
could probably get the dog back and make arrangements with the
apartment complex we live in to keep it for a few weeks until it
was healthier and we could more easily find a good home for him,
as I have done with a stray dog before about two years earlier.
Unfortunately I couldn�t get in touch with anyone but an
answering service employee that said I should be able to reach
someone on Monday morning since I could not connect with anyone
Sunday, try though I often did. I drove down to the shelter
again to claim the dog and I was unable to find it. I looked in
every cage three times and did not see him. I then asked an
employee if I could speak with someone that was working there on
Sunday but he was not there on Mondays. Nobody could account for
that dog�s whereabouts, and one officer told me, after I
described the dog�s emaciated condition, that the dog may have
been destroyed if it was in poor enough condition. The officer
went to find another person who might be able to tell me more. I
said to another young lady employee that I hoped the dog had not
been put to sleep in such a short time, and she commented that
it wasn�t likely and that usually they wait about 72 hours
before doing so.
I found out Tuesday that the dog had been destroyed, and that
they destroy dogs every day. There is currently some condition
now known as Parva that is contagious, and they could not risk
anything spreading to other animals so the decision was made;
the animal is their property once it is in their custody. I
suffered an excruciatingly painful loss once I found this out.
More people should be aware of these circumstances because of
the inconsistent and unforthcoming information I finally
uncovered. Had I known that the decision as it happened was
possible, I never would have let the dog out of my site.
I hope others will benefit from my mistake and from the
information I am passing to you to place on your site and in
front of as many people as you can. It is a feeling of remorse
that I can�t seem to shake off, and I would save people that
feeling anyway I can.
Jim Angel
Dallas, TX
[email protected]
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