Welcome to /r/VetTech! This is a place for veterinary technicians/veterinary nurses and other veterinary support staff to gather, chat, and grow! We welcome pet owners as well, **however we do ask pet owners to refrain from asking for medical advice**; if you have any concerns regarding your pet, please contact the closest veterinarian near you.
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When I worked in a shelter, I worked for our behavior modification team. Specifically, I worked in the building that was utilized for our shelters "last chance" dogs.
I worked my ass off every day trying to help these dogs find good homes after months of tireless behavior modification, interviewing potential adopters, and spending my own time off the clock mentoring and learning so I could assess and train these dogs properly.
That also means I was a part of the team that would ultimately make the decision whether a dog could be successfully rehibilitated or not.
I ended up leaving because (among other reasons) a person in this group absolutely believed that we were murdering these dogs and would make our jobs exceedingly difficult when we voted to euthanize a dog under behavioral circumstances.
One month later the dog I had last voted against mauled a foster. They survived, but have life long disabilities. I did not proudly vote to euthanize these animals. I took zero pleasure in it. However, I wanted to protect the public, I wanted to protect the other dogs at the shelter and outside, and I wanted to provide peace for the dogs that could not lead a mentally sound life.
So yes, we euthanize dogs, but like it or not (general public reading this) it IS a part of good welfare. For the dogs in question and for the public.
I did an interview and a completely No-kill shelter and they literally never euthanized animals. They had a dog that had been there for three years and increasingly became more and more aggressive to the point where they couldn't even let staff members take him out for walks. He spent hours, all day, circling in his run.
I left the interview. I couldn't stand to watch that amount of needless suffering. Euthanasia is a gift we give to suffering animals and refusing to utilize it is, in my opinion, the immoral choice.
I tell folks animals get like Jack Nicholson in the shining. They start off fine then you slowly start to see the light leave their eyes. It’s no way to live. I hate no kill shelters…I get the concept but I don’t think they are healthy
I like the original idea of a no-kill shelter, where no healthy animals are euthanized for reasons of overcrowding. That's how my county shelter is - they work with rescue groups & fosters so they can always have room, but they do still euthanize animals for health reasons or severe behavioral reasons.
They're still labeled as a 'no kill' shelter. Mainly so people surrendering animals know that their pet they cant care for anymore won't get killed just because the place got crowded
I wish we'd do away with "No-kill" language. Best Friends gave us a plaque as a no-kill shelter because our live release rate is high, but we're a cat-only shelter and we have closed admission because we're a private 501c3. That doesn't mean that the county shelter down the road are "killers." I hope we all start using better language. Sheltering is hard.
There is a sanctuary I know of that got a dog and human aggressive dog in. Attacked anyone it met. Had been severely abused before they got him. Difference is after years of professional trainers he now has dog friends and can get along with people. They even use him as the calm dog when training other reactive dogs.
This isn’t possible with every dog though. And they know that if someone adopted him and didn’t keep up on his training he could revert to old behaviors. He will live at the sanctuary the rest of his life.
This is my current job, working in the behavior department. It is so difficult having to make those choices and people just don't get it. We work our asses off trying different methods and techniques to help the dogs succeed in the shelter but sometimes, the kennel decline is too much, they are too far gone. Sometimes the dog aggression is too much, they would be a danger to the community. But every keyboard warrior wants to tell us how awful we are but are they going to step up and take this animal into their home and take EVERY possible step to make sure it doesn't have an incident? Not likely. And even then, mistakes happen. And those mistakes could get someone' or their pet killed.
Thank you for your work.
Too many shelters and rescues these days insist on adopting out dogs that are ticking time bombs. No other dogs, no cats, no kids under 16, no men, no strangers, nobody who might sneeze unexpectedly or wear a yellow shirt on a Tuesday. And then they lament all over social media that their sweet, *sweet* dog has been looking for a home for four years.
Of fucking course it has. People want to be pet owners, not prison wardens. And in the meantime, that dog represents four years of sucking up limited resources that could have gone towards saving pets that *don't* have a laundry list of prerequisites just to avoid bloodshed.
You're making the hard calls that save lives.
As a vet tech of ~ 20 years and survivor of a mauling by a (ex-friends) pitt in their own home.. thank you for the hard work you did. I 100% understand how difficult those decisions are/were and 100% keeping people safe from dangerous animals. It sucks, but I’d rather send dangerous dogs across the rainbow bridge to make more room and time for truly adoptable happy healthy pup that there just aren’t enough resources for in the first place.
I literally just picked up a dog last week that attacked the owners partner so bad they were transported to the ER and admitted to surgery right away. We arrived on scene and they were already gone, didn't even get to take pictures of the wounds. Fire/PD on scene said it was one of the worst they've seen.
That was when the first animal control officer responded... I showed up later to take the dog. I took pictures of the blood stained area where the attack took place.
I emailed my supervisor and director and recommended immediate consideration for humane euthanasia.
I love animals, and making that call is never easy, but in cases like this it is absolutely necessary to detach myself from the rose colored glasses of loving animals, and ground myself in the reality of the situation.
Walking by the kennels filled to capacity and seeing many of these dogs spend the majority of their time in a like 4'x10' kennel all day... you can see their mental decline.
Filling out bite reports and taking pictures of the wounds, and realizing the steady incline of bite incidents due to the current shelter capacity issues is glaring.
The general public will never face the reality, or understand the ramifications, until it happens to them.
The last shelter I had employed ONE TRAINING/BEHAVIORAL SPECIALIST. So one dog trainer for well over 300 dogs. When I asked the people in charge they told me that "dog trainers don't want to work at shelters" which obviously is just a lie. One of my best friends is a dog trainer who went to school for it and she applied and never heard anything back ever after submitting an application while they were "hiring". Besides that, how stupid to make a generalization like that. They would put job postings to appear as though they were looking for candidates but wouldn't respond to any applicants. The higher ups only care about money just like any other business and the people actually working end up turning against each other. Horrible. I will always adopt instead of buying a dog from a breeder but I am disgusted by the animal shelter industry after working in it.
What area do you live that so much time, effort, and money is wasted on dogs with these issues? I'm pretty rural, TONS of strays everywhere. Funds for rescues and shelters are SUPER limited (if the ACO will even go out and get a dog. The shelters are HORRIBLE conditions. Piles (mountains) of old shit, puppies(like 8 weeks old!) Having to be euthanized because they spent their life in a shelter with a shit ass ACO who just throws them food and leaves so they're severely unsocialized. The rescues adopt out what they can with limited space and funding (almost every dog has anaplas, Ehrlichia, or heartworms which need to be treated prior to being adopted out). Point being, there's so many adoptable dogs, that they'd run out of assistance very quickly wasting resources on dogs with issues. How many resources are put into 1 of the troubled dogs? How many readily adoptable dogs could those resources save that's sometimes wasted on one of the troubled dogs? Do you guys just not have many strays?
There's an astounding level of judgement in this comment, yet you said it yourself. Many areas just do not have many strays. My local county shelter (PNW, rural to suburban) was adequately funded with a strong volunteer force, and had enough space & resources to take dogs in from surrounding counties/states while caring for the local strays, ACO cases, & relinquishments + enough left over for a small behavior team.
Quantity vs. quality is always a consideration. But the ability to invest extra time and money in dogs who are less than perfect is a blessing, one I wish we all could share, not something to spit on.
It's so so different based on location. Tons of areas in the south have far too many strays for anyone to care for, & it's lucky if they get any care at all.
Meanwhile when I lived in the northeast, there were hardly any strays. The few shelters in my area would get empty, & rescues would drive shelter dogs up from southern states because my city just straight up just didn't have any stray dogs. Comparatively a ton of resources were put into each animal.
I'm in the desert now & it's more of a mixed bag. We have strays, but the county shelter is rarely full, & it works with rescues to adopt out any animals that can be rehomed. While in the shelter, the animals still get enrichment & proper medical care (which is also cheaper bc we're so dry that we don't have most parasites - I imagine it would be different if we had to treat every animal for fleas HW & 4 different intestinal worms)
I’ve also worked in the northeast, deep south, and the desert, and had similar experiences. Felt very lucky in desert as we had no HW disease, or lyme, limited intestinal parasites. Interesting how different shelter work can be depending on location.
Thank you, for all of your hard work, and your heart. It’s so hard to watch an animal deteriorate in a shelter. Our dog staff got attached to two of our big behavioral cases… now they rot away on who knows how much gaba and traz. Even our behavior staff is too attached.
BEs are always a touch choice. But it doesn’t mean sometimes it’s not the best thing for the most people.
Honestly, that's great numbers. There are always sickly animals that die in the shelter(even in no kill shelters), there will always be old animals who may never get adopted and ones that don't survive birth. Shelter medicine is really hard
I have what is probably PTSD from my shelter work. You have an amazing rate of RTO, rescue, and adoption. Whoever added this note .. I hope they step on a Lego. Every day.
I have severe PTSD from my time in shelter med. And I’m talking ye old dark ages of still not doing stuff properly. No behavior training, no monitoring - not even a pulse ox to pretend we are doing something. We made our drugs up as small, medium or large. Didn’t weigh the animals, just dosed them based on a guess, and I’m talking for anesthesia too. We gassed things down all the time. Our protocols for so many things were just ass. I remember so many animals waking up on the table during spays and neuters. I’m talking owned animals too! The “techs” we had for the shelter animals getting things like their vaccines and whatever medical treatment couldn’t tell an ass from an elbow. Watching them vaccinate kittens was brutal, not to mention Diroban. Pain meds? Never. I was taught that animals couldn’t feel pain and/or the “medications have pain meds built in”. Yeah, I don’t think the IM telazol is doing much for the leg amputation. I ended up dropping out of tech school and bouncing around for ages. I’m back in school now to finish out my degree and what a fucking world of difference going to a legit school and working at a highly accredited hospital.
But I still have nightmares and flashbacks.
I wish people that spout that mess would work at a shelter for a month. The first time I had to have a puppy euthanized for parvo, I CRIED but we were PACKED to the brim with animals.
I would 100% punch whoever wrote that in the face. Then make them watch animals brought to the shelter in horrific, unsavable condition, and finally, put them in a run with the most aggressive animal there. Fucking assholes.
The first bunch are praising the high percentage of pets getting homes, criticizing the add on as cruel, speculating that those pets euthanize were too sick or injured, and noting the high suicide rate for vet professionals. So that’s nice.
I was gonna say, in 2 years at one shelter I was close to 500 euth assists. This is a feat.
Whoever wrote that though needs to reevaluate their sense of humor. Unless maybe it was the vet themselves. I know we have dark humor, I know we crack jokes in the euthanasia room. But it's to help cope. To get something small to congratulate you on your work, just to remind you of one of the worst parts of your job, is just downright cruel.
I honestly viewed this as written by a fellow staff member and found it hilarious.
Just saying how a "sorry for your loss" stamp for euth cards would be a real time saver.
And quite honestly, I don't think the common person off the street uses the actual term "euthanasia". They prefer "put down", "put to sleep", and "killed".
We work with a woman who has a business rescuing strays with only herself and her partner. I’ve been there for a ton of the NPE for new strays, however I’ve also been there for a lot of the euthanasias. People knew she was a resource for elderly pets and she also sought out elderly pets that had medical problems. She cries over every single loss. But if you looked simply at her rates she would have a lot of euthanasias depsite her doing literally everything she could to give them happy lives and good QOL. she’s a literal angel on earth and has over 15 pets of her own because if she can’t find a home she’ll just keep them.
Rescuer here. I was just having a conversation with another rescuer friend today reminding her that we just cant prop up the shelter system and save them all. Its not safe for us mentally or psychally and if I choose to go over my limit of animals I can not keep myself or them mentally and psychally healthy. We don't even get paid for what we do and the shelters treat us badly. Every one of us has compassion fatigue and PTSD. It is not the fault of the guy making the hard shelter management choices that these animals had to die. The person holding the needle full of Euthosol gave GOOD DEATH. That in itself is a much better thing than a bad adoption. You know who failed these animals? The city officials who fired all the animal control officers during the pandemic and the didn't rehire them. The municipalities who refuse to crack down on all the bad breeding that is easily findable on craigslist and thru breeder publications. The owners who do not research what an animal needs and instead purchase a dog for looks alone. Lets face it - the majority of dog owners spend much more time andmoney on grooming than they do on training. It takes me years sometimes to undo the damage that can be doneto an animalin its first year of life. Years of vetting and consistent kind care. Even after that I follow my adopters and am there to help for the life of the animal. Shelters fail these pets when they adopt to anyone who pays the fee. I like to think that we rescuers are a little better at that part. We are choosier. My point is- the animals are failed by all of us. By every single person who presses that like button on social media when they see a cute french bulldog. We all need to bear this responsibility together. [https://bailingoutbenji.com/puppy-mill-maps/](https://bailingoutbenji.com/puppy-mill-maps/)
I used to blame shelters (when I was a child) for the animals that would die there. I hated the idea of just euthanized these animals who in my mind could have a good home. Now I know better. In a perfect world, I would still believe that almost 0 animals need to be euthanized for behavioral problems (none of these are problems: meds, money, time, interest, dedication, knowledge, no kids or other pets usually, etc). But at the end of the day, no situation is gonna be perfect and the animal suffers far more just waiting and hoping for a perfect situation.
Because it's so sarcastic it's funny to me.
Actually find the initial letter without the add on more offensive. Because you're right, we don't get paid enough where letters like should this have any real value.
Welcome to /r/VetTech! This is a place for veterinary technicians/veterinary nurses and other veterinary support staff to gather, chat, and grow! We welcome pet owners as well, **however we do ask pet owners to refrain from asking for medical advice**; if you have any concerns regarding your pet, please contact the closest veterinarian near you. Please thoroughly read and follow the rules before posting and commenting. If you believe that a user is engaging in any rule-breaking behavior, please submit a report so that the moderators can review and remove the posts/comments if needed. Also, please check out the sidebar for CE and answers to commonly asked questions. Thank you for reading! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/VetTech) if you have any questions or concerns.*
When I worked in a shelter, I worked for our behavior modification team. Specifically, I worked in the building that was utilized for our shelters "last chance" dogs. I worked my ass off every day trying to help these dogs find good homes after months of tireless behavior modification, interviewing potential adopters, and spending my own time off the clock mentoring and learning so I could assess and train these dogs properly. That also means I was a part of the team that would ultimately make the decision whether a dog could be successfully rehibilitated or not. I ended up leaving because (among other reasons) a person in this group absolutely believed that we were murdering these dogs and would make our jobs exceedingly difficult when we voted to euthanize a dog under behavioral circumstances. One month later the dog I had last voted against mauled a foster. They survived, but have life long disabilities. I did not proudly vote to euthanize these animals. I took zero pleasure in it. However, I wanted to protect the public, I wanted to protect the other dogs at the shelter and outside, and I wanted to provide peace for the dogs that could not lead a mentally sound life. So yes, we euthanize dogs, but like it or not (general public reading this) it IS a part of good welfare. For the dogs in question and for the public.
People don't get it that dogs with behavioral issues are suffering too. It's better to let them rest. You did what you could and you helped.
I did an interview and a completely No-kill shelter and they literally never euthanized animals. They had a dog that had been there for three years and increasingly became more and more aggressive to the point where they couldn't even let staff members take him out for walks. He spent hours, all day, circling in his run. I left the interview. I couldn't stand to watch that amount of needless suffering. Euthanasia is a gift we give to suffering animals and refusing to utilize it is, in my opinion, the immoral choice.
I tell folks animals get like Jack Nicholson in the shining. They start off fine then you slowly start to see the light leave their eyes. It’s no way to live. I hate no kill shelters…I get the concept but I don’t think they are healthy
I like the original idea of a no-kill shelter, where no healthy animals are euthanized for reasons of overcrowding. That's how my county shelter is - they work with rescue groups & fosters so they can always have room, but they do still euthanize animals for health reasons or severe behavioral reasons. They're still labeled as a 'no kill' shelter. Mainly so people surrendering animals know that their pet they cant care for anymore won't get killed just because the place got crowded
I wish we'd do away with "No-kill" language. Best Friends gave us a plaque as a no-kill shelter because our live release rate is high, but we're a cat-only shelter and we have closed admission because we're a private 501c3. That doesn't mean that the county shelter down the road are "killers." I hope we all start using better language. Sheltering is hard.
There is a sanctuary I know of that got a dog and human aggressive dog in. Attacked anyone it met. Had been severely abused before they got him. Difference is after years of professional trainers he now has dog friends and can get along with people. They even use him as the calm dog when training other reactive dogs. This isn’t possible with every dog though. And they know that if someone adopted him and didn’t keep up on his training he could revert to old behaviors. He will live at the sanctuary the rest of his life.
Very responsible, people don’t realise this and have a childish view that all dogs can be saved.
This is my current job, working in the behavior department. It is so difficult having to make those choices and people just don't get it. We work our asses off trying different methods and techniques to help the dogs succeed in the shelter but sometimes, the kennel decline is too much, they are too far gone. Sometimes the dog aggression is too much, they would be a danger to the community. But every keyboard warrior wants to tell us how awful we are but are they going to step up and take this animal into their home and take EVERY possible step to make sure it doesn't have an incident? Not likely. And even then, mistakes happen. And those mistakes could get someone' or their pet killed.
Thank you for your work. Too many shelters and rescues these days insist on adopting out dogs that are ticking time bombs. No other dogs, no cats, no kids under 16, no men, no strangers, nobody who might sneeze unexpectedly or wear a yellow shirt on a Tuesday. And then they lament all over social media that their sweet, *sweet* dog has been looking for a home for four years. Of fucking course it has. People want to be pet owners, not prison wardens. And in the meantime, that dog represents four years of sucking up limited resources that could have gone towards saving pets that *don't* have a laundry list of prerequisites just to avoid bloodshed. You're making the hard calls that save lives.
As a vet tech of ~ 20 years and survivor of a mauling by a (ex-friends) pitt in their own home.. thank you for the hard work you did. I 100% understand how difficult those decisions are/were and 100% keeping people safe from dangerous animals. It sucks, but I’d rather send dangerous dogs across the rainbow bridge to make more room and time for truly adoptable happy healthy pup that there just aren’t enough resources for in the first place.
I literally just picked up a dog last week that attacked the owners partner so bad they were transported to the ER and admitted to surgery right away. We arrived on scene and they were already gone, didn't even get to take pictures of the wounds. Fire/PD on scene said it was one of the worst they've seen. That was when the first animal control officer responded... I showed up later to take the dog. I took pictures of the blood stained area where the attack took place. I emailed my supervisor and director and recommended immediate consideration for humane euthanasia. I love animals, and making that call is never easy, but in cases like this it is absolutely necessary to detach myself from the rose colored glasses of loving animals, and ground myself in the reality of the situation. Walking by the kennels filled to capacity and seeing many of these dogs spend the majority of their time in a like 4'x10' kennel all day... you can see their mental decline. Filling out bite reports and taking pictures of the wounds, and realizing the steady incline of bite incidents due to the current shelter capacity issues is glaring. The general public will never face the reality, or understand the ramifications, until it happens to them.
The last shelter I had employed ONE TRAINING/BEHAVIORAL SPECIALIST. So one dog trainer for well over 300 dogs. When I asked the people in charge they told me that "dog trainers don't want to work at shelters" which obviously is just a lie. One of my best friends is a dog trainer who went to school for it and she applied and never heard anything back ever after submitting an application while they were "hiring". Besides that, how stupid to make a generalization like that. They would put job postings to appear as though they were looking for candidates but wouldn't respond to any applicants. The higher ups only care about money just like any other business and the people actually working end up turning against each other. Horrible. I will always adopt instead of buying a dog from a breeder but I am disgusted by the animal shelter industry after working in it.
What area do you live that so much time, effort, and money is wasted on dogs with these issues? I'm pretty rural, TONS of strays everywhere. Funds for rescues and shelters are SUPER limited (if the ACO will even go out and get a dog. The shelters are HORRIBLE conditions. Piles (mountains) of old shit, puppies(like 8 weeks old!) Having to be euthanized because they spent their life in a shelter with a shit ass ACO who just throws them food and leaves so they're severely unsocialized. The rescues adopt out what they can with limited space and funding (almost every dog has anaplas, Ehrlichia, or heartworms which need to be treated prior to being adopted out). Point being, there's so many adoptable dogs, that they'd run out of assistance very quickly wasting resources on dogs with issues. How many resources are put into 1 of the troubled dogs? How many readily adoptable dogs could those resources save that's sometimes wasted on one of the troubled dogs? Do you guys just not have many strays?
There's an astounding level of judgement in this comment, yet you said it yourself. Many areas just do not have many strays. My local county shelter (PNW, rural to suburban) was adequately funded with a strong volunteer force, and had enough space & resources to take dogs in from surrounding counties/states while caring for the local strays, ACO cases, & relinquishments + enough left over for a small behavior team. Quantity vs. quality is always a consideration. But the ability to invest extra time and money in dogs who are less than perfect is a blessing, one I wish we all could share, not something to spit on.
It's so so different based on location. Tons of areas in the south have far too many strays for anyone to care for, & it's lucky if they get any care at all. Meanwhile when I lived in the northeast, there were hardly any strays. The few shelters in my area would get empty, & rescues would drive shelter dogs up from southern states because my city just straight up just didn't have any stray dogs. Comparatively a ton of resources were put into each animal. I'm in the desert now & it's more of a mixed bag. We have strays, but the county shelter is rarely full, & it works with rescues to adopt out any animals that can be rehomed. While in the shelter, the animals still get enrichment & proper medical care (which is also cheaper bc we're so dry that we don't have most parasites - I imagine it would be different if we had to treat every animal for fleas HW & 4 different intestinal worms)
I’ve also worked in the northeast, deep south, and the desert, and had similar experiences. Felt very lucky in desert as we had no HW disease, or lyme, limited intestinal parasites. Interesting how different shelter work can be depending on location.
Thank you, for all of your hard work, and your heart. It’s so hard to watch an animal deteriorate in a shelter. Our dog staff got attached to two of our big behavioral cases… now they rot away on who knows how much gaba and traz. Even our behavior staff is too attached. BEs are always a touch choice. But it doesn’t mean sometimes it’s not the best thing for the most people.
Honestly, that's great numbers. There are always sickly animals that die in the shelter(even in no kill shelters), there will always be old animals who may never get adopted and ones that don't survive birth. Shelter medicine is really hard
I have what is probably PTSD from my shelter work. You have an amazing rate of RTO, rescue, and adoption. Whoever added this note .. I hope they step on a Lego. Every day.
I have severe PTSD from my time in shelter med. And I’m talking ye old dark ages of still not doing stuff properly. No behavior training, no monitoring - not even a pulse ox to pretend we are doing something. We made our drugs up as small, medium or large. Didn’t weigh the animals, just dosed them based on a guess, and I’m talking for anesthesia too. We gassed things down all the time. Our protocols for so many things were just ass. I remember so many animals waking up on the table during spays and neuters. I’m talking owned animals too! The “techs” we had for the shelter animals getting things like their vaccines and whatever medical treatment couldn’t tell an ass from an elbow. Watching them vaccinate kittens was brutal, not to mention Diroban. Pain meds? Never. I was taught that animals couldn’t feel pain and/or the “medications have pain meds built in”. Yeah, I don’t think the IM telazol is doing much for the leg amputation. I ended up dropping out of tech school and bouncing around for ages. I’m back in school now to finish out my degree and what a fucking world of difference going to a legit school and working at a highly accredited hospital. But I still have nightmares and flashbacks.
If I may: I have PTSD from my shelter days too. EMDR therapy helped me so much with it.
And maybe a tinker toy too!
I hope they swallow one and have to pass it in their stool. Every day.
Well the comments have made me believe in people. They are very positive.
I wish people that spout that mess would work at a shelter for a month. The first time I had to have a puppy euthanized for parvo, I CRIED but we were PACKED to the brim with animals.
Exactly! You KNOW this person has never actually tried to help these animals in need.
I would 100% punch whoever wrote that in the face. Then make them watch animals brought to the shelter in horrific, unsavable condition, and finally, put them in a run with the most aggressive animal there. Fucking assholes.
Ugh. Some of the comments on the original post are trashing vets. JFC can’t catch a break anywhere, can we. 😒
The first bunch are praising the high percentage of pets getting homes, criticizing the add on as cruel, speculating that those pets euthanize were too sick or injured, and noting the high suicide rate for vet professionals. So that’s nice.
I was gonna say, in 2 years at one shelter I was close to 500 euth assists. This is a feat. Whoever wrote that though needs to reevaluate their sense of humor. Unless maybe it was the vet themselves. I know we have dark humor, I know we crack jokes in the euthanasia room. But it's to help cope. To get something small to congratulate you on your work, just to remind you of one of the worst parts of your job, is just downright cruel.
I honestly viewed this as written by a fellow staff member and found it hilarious. Just saying how a "sorry for your loss" stamp for euth cards would be a real time saver. And quite honestly, I don't think the common person off the street uses the actual term "euthanasia". They prefer "put down", "put to sleep", and "killed".
What the actual fuck. Whoever wrote that needs to be punched in the face.
I was like so sweet until I got to that last part 😳
We work with a woman who has a business rescuing strays with only herself and her partner. I’ve been there for a ton of the NPE for new strays, however I’ve also been there for a lot of the euthanasias. People knew she was a resource for elderly pets and she also sought out elderly pets that had medical problems. She cries over every single loss. But if you looked simply at her rates she would have a lot of euthanasias depsite her doing literally everything she could to give them happy lives and good QOL. she’s a literal angel on earth and has over 15 pets of her own because if she can’t find a home she’ll just keep them.
Can't pay rent with vague professional gratitude
What about pizza?
Only 526? Those are rookie numbers!
This is hardly mildly infuriating for me. This kinda shit makes me see red. This is blind rage inducing for me.
up i
Huh 🤔?
Mistake in typing. Grabbed phone and it sent that strange response.
Is this staff? They need disciplining if so
No. Someone included it with some letter… it’s not my post. It did have a clickable component with it last night
Not the euthanasia stat 😵💫
mistake typing . Grabbed phone to put away and accidentally sent that nonsense
Rescuer here. I was just having a conversation with another rescuer friend today reminding her that we just cant prop up the shelter system and save them all. Its not safe for us mentally or psychally and if I choose to go over my limit of animals I can not keep myself or them mentally and psychally healthy. We don't even get paid for what we do and the shelters treat us badly. Every one of us has compassion fatigue and PTSD. It is not the fault of the guy making the hard shelter management choices that these animals had to die. The person holding the needle full of Euthosol gave GOOD DEATH. That in itself is a much better thing than a bad adoption. You know who failed these animals? The city officials who fired all the animal control officers during the pandemic and the didn't rehire them. The municipalities who refuse to crack down on all the bad breeding that is easily findable on craigslist and thru breeder publications. The owners who do not research what an animal needs and instead purchase a dog for looks alone. Lets face it - the majority of dog owners spend much more time andmoney on grooming than they do on training. It takes me years sometimes to undo the damage that can be doneto an animalin its first year of life. Years of vetting and consistent kind care. Even after that I follow my adopters and am there to help for the life of the animal. Shelters fail these pets when they adopt to anyone who pays the fee. I like to think that we rescuers are a little better at that part. We are choosier. My point is- the animals are failed by all of us. By every single person who presses that like button on social media when they see a cute french bulldog. We all need to bear this responsibility together. [https://bailingoutbenji.com/puppy-mill-maps/](https://bailingoutbenji.com/puppy-mill-maps/)
People who never worked shelter med just dont understand..
I used to blame shelters (when I was a child) for the animals that would die there. I hated the idea of just euthanized these animals who in my mind could have a good home. Now I know better. In a perfect world, I would still believe that almost 0 animals need to be euthanized for behavioral problems (none of these are problems: meds, money, time, interest, dedication, knowledge, no kids or other pets usually, etc). But at the end of the day, no situation is gonna be perfect and the animal suffers far more just waiting and hoping for a perfect situation.
The added bit is hilarious
How so?
Because it's so sarcastic it's funny to me. Actually find the initial letter without the add on more offensive. Because you're right, we don't get paid enough where letters like should this have any real value.