DogsInDanger

A couple of weeks ago I was having lunch with a few of my fellow humane society volunteers. One of the issues we discussed was the major frustration we all have with the lack of honesty our shelter displays with regard to how many animals they euthanize each year. They claim to be a "no-kill" shelter, even though we all know they put down perfectly adoptable dogs almost every week. We all understand that there are not enough homes for all of the animals that come into the shelter doors and that some animals are ultimately going to have to be euthanized, and we don't blame the shelter for this. However, we all believe that the shelter staff should be honest and forthcoming about the dogs and cats that they are putting down. Each one of us has heard a staff member blatantly lie to an unsuspecting person visiting the shelter, and it is unbelievably infuriating.

We all understand why they won't be honest about their rate of euthanasia, even though it's actually better than most city shelters in our area of the country. They are afraid that if the public knew the truth they would quit coming. They think people will be so disgusted and saddened that they'll quit adopting the animals there and quit offering their support.

While their concerns might be valid, it doesn't excuse the lying and deception. I believe that it's completely unethical to run a humane society with anything less than absolutely honesty and transparency. We have a major pet overpopulation problem in this country, and most people have no idea what a huge problem it is because rescues and shelters like ours are not providing any honest education to the public! How will our society ever know they need to make responsible changes with regard to pet ownership if they don't know there is a problem!?

While my own local humane society might not share my passion for honesty, thankfully, there are several organizations that do. My friend Amy shared with me a website called DogsInDanger, whose primary goals are to find homes for dogs who are at risk of being euthanized and to educate the public about the plight of dogs in animal shelters. I wholeheartedly agree with this statement from their website:

"DogsInDanger.com believes in the power of compassion, and that Americans would do more to help and adopt shelter dogs, if only they knew how many dogs shelters were forced to euthanize."

I firmly believe that if every animal shelter or humane society would commit to openly and honestly educating the public about our country's pet overpopulation problem, we would be well on our way towards correcting that problem!

Unfortunately, the DogsInDanger website has been criticized for is mission. As they said in their recent newsletter,"The concept behind DogsInDanger remains singularly controversial; shelters are not in the business of transparency. To reward organizations that care more for their animals than their public relations is a step in the direction of truth."

I just couldn't agree more.

Charlotte

Charlotte is a Chocolate Lab who was written off as unadoptable by the staff at the Lawrence Humane Society. She would generally get very nervous when first meeting new canine friends, and that nervousness would often result in some barking with her hair standing on end. The staff insisted that she was dog aggressive, and they took her out of the adoption area of the shelter so she wouldn't have as much interaction with the other dogs. They would have euthanized her, but my friend and fellow volunteer JoAnna came to Charlotte's rescue.

JoAnna worked with Charlotte for months, going to the shelter every day to walk her and work on her doggy social skills. Every day she encouraged Charlotte's positive interaction with other dogs and corrected her negative behavior. Then finally last week, a family saw Charlotte on Petfinder and came to visit her. They had another dog, and with JoAnna's help the dogs were successfully introduced. Charlotte was nervous at first, but within just a few minutes Charlotte and her new friend were romping and playing in the yard together! Once her adoption was approved, Charlotte jumped right into the back of the car like she'd been friends with the other dog forever! Now she's a happy girl with a new loving family and a wonderful canine sister, and it's all thanks to JoAnna, who stepped in to save her life when she was merely misunderstood!

Charlotte in the backseat on her way home from the shelter.

Charlotte playing with her new sister at her new home.

Charlotte learning to retrieve from her sister.

Charlotte's new family said that after just a few days Charlotte was already way more relaxed and happy than when she first arrived at home. So many dogs of the dogs I've known and fostered have behaved like a completely different dogs after leaving the stressful environment of the shelter. The staff there usually looks for the worst in them and never really tries to see them for the wonderful dogs they will become if given the chance. Thankfully, there are volunteers like JoAnna who look for the best in every dog and go to the extra lengths to save them!