Lameness in the hind legs is not an uncommon problem in older, large breed dogs. Males of some breeds tend to get “front-heavy” as they age while the muscles in the rear atrophy. Many of us with big, old dogs around the house understand the challenges and heartbreak involved with seeing a once vibrant dog struggling to make the stairs or even get up off the floor. Likewise, many of us are thankful for the variety of veterinary treatments available to ease the pain of old age in our dogs and help them to live as comfortably as possible with a good quality of life.
The causes for rear lameness can include such factors as obesity, hip dysplasia and arthritis. Depending on the diagnosis, restricted diet, joint supplements and/or pain relievers may be recommended by the vet. Of course there could be other causes and treatments as well which is why a veterinary exam is needed.
Knowing first hand how much love senior dogs have to give, even if they require some extra care, it makes me sad to see the dog in these photos surrendered and taken away by MAS apparently without having a veterinary exam to determine if his lameness is treatable. Could something as simple as diet, pain meds and TLC have helped this dog regain his mobility? Was he otherwise medically hopeless and suffering? I don’t know and I guess none of us ever will.
As a senior dog-adorer, it is just heartwrenching to read and see this. When my great buddy died in Feb. I would have given anything at all just to have more time with him and then … there are those that get dumped on a floor and nobody checks to see if there is something they can do. I recently adopted out of a kill shelter a 15 year old lab, obviously bred to exhaustion and in need of a comfy place to live out her days – she is such a joy, I can hardly stand it! I plan to rescue as many seniors as I can.
Thank you for looking out for the seniors. Some people honestly don’t realize there are treatments available to make older dogs more comfortable and ease what ails them. And senior dogs are the absolute best pets if you are looking for the I’m-just-content-to-hang kind of companion.
Lisa that is so cool to hear that people still want to adopt a senior, thats just what I would do. I am pleased to see that older animals do have a chance when adopted by someone who really cares about them. Its a shame some owners only see them as a dog and not a family member.
I’ve just started my own rescue – and will be promoting seniors to our locals – I live in FL and we have many senior people, too! I will offer to drive to vet visits and go get food, etc. My ‘new’ dog , the 15 yr old has so much fun just rolling around in the grass – a joy to watch her. Keep up the good work, YesBiscuit! Nice to meet you Annette!
That’s great Lisa W. All the best. Please feel welcome to submit a Shelter Pet of the Day sometime.
Thanks Lisa, I live in New Zealand and I wish I was closer so I could help. Its been really frustrating watching what is going on at MAS and not being able to help those who are trying to make a difference. I am going to check out our shelter here in Christchurch tomorrow to see if there are any senior dogs in need of a new home. Thanks for your inspiration :)
Oooh, cool, Annette! Let me know if you find somebody – that will be such happiness!
It’s possible this was a different scenario than you are painting. You can’t tell from just these photos if the dog simply has really bad hips, or instead doesn’t even have deep pain in the rear. Having worked for a veterinary neurologist, inability to rise can also be primarily a neurology problem. This dog could have a brain tumor or spinal injury/disk problem–I’ve seen many large dogs with such problems. Just getting a diagnosis might require an MRI, which around here costs $3000. Then, back surgery or surgery to remove a brain tumor, if the prognosis is decent, is another $4000-$8000. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have $10G laying around to spend on my dog.
Now, either scenario is possible. But you can’t tell BY LOOKING AT THESE PHOTOS ALONE whether this dog has gone to a vet or not. Arthritis or bad hips are manageable and probably not that expensive–a primary neuro problem is always expensive. A vet can generally tell the difference between the two with a simple exam. But you can’t tell that by just looking at these photos.
I completely agree that MAS is generally a scummy place that hardly qualifies as a shelter–but while we are trying to make the reasonable case that a dog with heavy dental tarter hardly qualifies it for the need of “rescue”, we need to be careful about making judgements about scenarios like this, where we not only don’t have all the facts, we are basically clueless about what might really be going on.
I’m not painting a scenario Jennifer. I’m offering reasonable possibilities. As I said in the post, there could be other explanations. And as I said in the post, I don’t know the answers. But I have questions. Without the benefit of at least a veterinary consultation, how does ANYONE know the answers? There is no vet clinic that I know of that puts pets to sleep without veterinary consultation. Why should a shelter do it, except possibly in rare cases when the vet is unavailable and the pet has suffered severe trauma or some similar scenario?
No, you were making the assumption that this dog is not walking because of arthritis, lameness, or bad hips. If it was that simple, this dog would at least be *trying* to get up. Instead, it just lays there for something like 22 minutes until a shelter worker comes to wheel it away.
I’m saying that it appears to be more serious than that, to me. The point that I’m REALLY trying to make is that you are asking the wrong question. We can speculate endlessly on what was wrong with this dog, why the owners “dumped” it at the shelter, and what MAS did with it afterward. We have no way to answer any of those questions unless MAS chooses to answer you, which it probably won’t. It may have been the worst situation possible, or it may have been a reasonable euthanasia request for a hopelessly down dog that the owners didn’t have 10K to fix. We don’t know, and we probably never will.
The REAL question here, and the one I would like answered, is why MAS staff left this poor dog lying helplessly in the lobby for 22 minutes before coming to get it? That’s what we *know* for a fact happened, based on the webcam times. And that is what you have evidence of, and the question that should be answered by MAS.
Please reread the post Jennifer. I was careful not to say I knew why this dog was lame. You have misunderstood.
If I “misunderstood”, it’s because you only painted one scenario as an option. We don’t really know what is going on here. If we aren’t going to paint the entire public as ruthlessly negligent, other possibilities exist. If these people *told* MAS that this dog had seen a vet and had already been diagnosed with a permanent condition, would you still expect MAS to spend time and money repeating the diagnosis?
Once again, what I am saying is that speculating about these situations is irresponsible in and of itself. You have proof right in front of you of negligence by the shelter–that dog lying there by itself for 22 minutes. That should be your focus–not speculating why that dog was brought there and what MAS should have done about it.
But Jennifer, in order to address what MAS should have done (offer a vet exam), I have to toss out some plausible possibilities for why the dog was surrendered. I want to illustrate that it’s POSSIBLE the dog was not medically hopeless and suffering and that no one – including MAS – knows that w/out the benefit of a vet exam. THAT was my focus. I’m not happy the dog was left alone on the floor like that and that’s why I showed the entire series of shots, but that’s not my focus. My focus, for MAS and for all shelters, is to protect pets from needless killing.
This is one of the many reasons I support CAPA. It removes from the shelter director, the discretion to choose who lives and who dies. ALL surrendered pets and strays are afforded equal protections under CAPA. According to CAPA, pets who are not medically hopeless and suffering can not be killed simply because an owner requests it. As things stand, every shelter is free to kill any pet they want, including those pets who have not had the benefit of a vet determining their health status. I am opposed to that policy in any shelter.
Or the dog could have Degenerative Myelopathy (DM) in which case there would have been nothing which could have been done BUT to humanely euthanise the dog since it is an incurable disease.
Without at least a veterinary consultation prior to killing, the causes and possible treatments remain unknown to everyone. Medically hopeless and suffering? In need of some aspirin? Good candidate for acupuncture? No one knows, including the shelter that killed the dog.
Thanks, Jennifer. I’ve been waiting for months for someone to step up and say you can’t tell the whole story from looking at these pictures. It’s a webcam–not a live feed. They freeze, jump around, etc. It’s convenient that images of adoptions, volunteers bathing/deticking dogs, rocking scared babies in the lobby, walking the pets, etc. are never captured for this site. Oh, and for the record, I will clarify again–the “last stop” as it’s called above is a doorway that leads to the healthy hold/outdoor cages/adoption hallway. The clinic is nowhere remotely close to this hallway. And this surrender is just sadly one of the hundreds that occur daily at our shelter. I will bet all my money and belongings that the reason for this surrender was “old.” One word. I’ve seen it more times than I care to recall. The issues are much, much bigger than the shelter. Many people in this city have no regard for animals. I take pride in volunteering for MAS and showing these babies–those in the adoptable area and those in the stray area alike–some of the only love they sadly will ever know.
I want to make it clear that I am not defending MAS. If someone drops a dog off with simply the reason as “old”, MAS has the responsibility,IMO, to have a vet examine the dog and make the determination that it’s “suffering” before it’s wheeled to the kill room. Blaming the “public” for being “irresponsible” is not a legitimate excuse. If you want to call yourself a “shelter”, act like one.
i’m just pointing out that we don’t know that this dog has NOT seen a vet and been diagnosed with a possibly $5-$10K problem. Not by just looking at the pictures. And, if it has NOT seen a vet, MAS certainly should be vetting it and determining whether it has a possibility of some quality of life left, unless the owner is signing euthanasia papers and requesting euthanasia right then and there. And leaving it sitting there alone in the lobby after the owners left is inexcusable–THAT is neglect.
Heather, please tell me: Is this white dog heading to healthy hold, outdoor cages, or the adoption hall?
Now given the choices, I’d have to say the only one he would be heading to is outdoor cages. Therefore shame on MAS. Outdoor cages is no place for this senior dog. The point is that no one cared enough to take care of this poor old dog when he came in the door.
Heather, go away.
Wow, Morgana, are you really acting like a child?
Heather,
The Clinic and the ER are two different rooms.
The clinic is where s/n is performed and is across the shelter in the area off the rabies observation are.
The ER or euthanasia room is exactly where everyone thinks it is. Even Mr. Pepper says that.
Never said you were supporting MAS. I simply said you acknowledged that the whole story can’t be told from these pictures, and thanked you for recognizing that.
So, the shelter is to blame for the 100+ surrenders a day, of pregnant dogs, sick dogs, injured dogs, etc.? I have left the shelter in tears because of some of the heartless surrenders I’ve seen. These “owners” will turn in a dog for being old, or having accidents, and in the next breath will ask me how much puppies are. My favorite surrenders are those who got a new dog and don’t want the old one anymore. Or the pregnant ones, with reason for surrender being I don’t want to deal with all the puppies. Or blind/deaf dogs who “don’t hunt no more.” Or dogs who come in with embedded collars who “tore up the yard” so they aren’t wanted anymore. Can you please tell me how the shelter is at fault? These are just a few examples of surrenders I’ve witnessed. In which one of those is the owner being responsible?
Those situations do happen – I understand that. But to bring the animals in and then chokepole them into a top cage, carry them by the skin of their back, drag them down a scary hallway past crying/barking animals, terrorizing smells and then off to the kill room does not make the “bad owners” behavior any less bad. The “shelter” is where these poor unfortunate animals should be receiving comfort and help and compassion. They are going from bad to bad. These animals deserve so much better from ALL OF US!!!
Somebody else’s mistreatment/neglect does not excuse ours.
You are so right about the mentality of the people who surrender their so called pets.. HEARTLESS is all I can say about them ALL..SELFISH is another word that comes to mind. And we dont want people just dumping pets on the street. BUT.. I think some would be much better off than being left at this place! Least on the street they have a small chance. Here they have NONE! Specially if they are not a pure breed or PRETTY.. Old, black/brown not so cute dogs have pretty well NO CHANCE!
Whether individual memebers the public are complete dickheads are not is irrelevent. We know they can be. The shelter EXISTS in order the provide SHELTER for pets otherwise owned by DICKHEADS. The public acting irresponsibly does not excuse the shelter from acting like uncaring bastards, which we have plenty of evidence of on webcam. Shelter personnel poking pregnant cats with a pole, lifting dogs into upper cages with chokepole, carrying cats and puppies around by the scruff of the neck. I would like to choke every last one of them.
I do breed rescue, so don’t tell me how the public can be. I took a call just this weekend from someone with a 7 YO cat that she needs to get rid of right away because–get this–it sheds too much. It’s a shorthaired cat. She has new furniture and just can’t deal with the hair anymore. The cat is declawed, doesn’t have any other issues (I specifically asked if it was peeing everywhere) and is otherwise a very nice cat–but it has to go. Preferably sooner rather than later. Just can’t deal with the hair. In addition, I have been a vet tech for 25 years, so don’t tell me how awful the public can be–I know. I have seen people euthanise animals for most trivial of reasons.
However, that is why caring people, and rescues, and –presumably SHELTERS–exist. To help animals otherwise owned by dickheads. So, no, I don’t excuse MAS, anymore than I would excuse ANY shelter for euthanising and otherwise healthy animal.
The shelter is responsible for what happens to the animals AFTER the owners leave them.
The shelter employees are responsible for the treatment of the animals while they are in the shelter. No matter if that is in the adoption area, the stray area, the healty hold, the rabies observation, the court case hold, etc.
The shelter IS AT FAULT if it does not make sure the animals IN THEIR CARE are treated humanely. PERIOD and I mean period.
Humane treatment does not include, scruffing (which is against shelter policy), being put in trash cans to roll them to the euthanasia room,
being dragged by catch poles, having a dog’s 30+ body weight lifted by a plastic coated wire around it’s neck 5 feet in the air to a cage, etc.
Hey, I can’t stand it when someone surrenders an animal because the dog/cat is no longer easy to care for, or there is a lifestyle change or just because a puppy chews a shoe. We all hate that.
BUT WHAT I HATE MORE IS WHEN A “SHELTER” WORKER TREATS THE ANIMAL LIKE GARBAGE ALSO.
That’s it in a nutshell – the inhumane ways these animals are treated, at MAS, is inexcusable – Matt Pepper allows it- our Mayor ignores it – the workers laugh about it – some volunteers ignore it – absolutely disheartening!
The shelter is responsible for the actions within it’s walls.
I have seen dog cages being hosed down with the dogs still inside on those webcams. I have seen pets left alone in the lobby after being dropped off. And I have seen workers shoving and pulling the dogs around cruelly. All on the same day.
How much credibility do you think will be afforded to anyone who works there?
Whether this dog was treatable with some meds or if it was a neurological condition and whether or not it was wheeled into the kill room or going outside, pics 2-5 really makes me sad, where the dog is sitting there all alone.
The diagnosis really is a non issue. The owners are absolute heartless scum of the earth or they would have never just threw their senior dog away. Even if there was no hope and nothing to help the dog the least they could have done was take it to a vet and be with held it and loved it as it was PTS. I hope these people have nothing but bad things happen to them for all of their remaining days and I hope they die really sad and alone!!!!!!!!!!! They obviously had no love for that animal and never deserved it.
Tracy-
I completely agree. I rememeber seeing a Craigslist ad someone posted on FB about a dog named Toby and the owners said AND I QUOTE “Toby is getting old in age and we dont want or need him anymore. We dont want to put him in a shelter but if we dont get anyone to take him, we may have to”. WTF is that? My dog will be with me until her dying day- I just dont understand that mentality. I hope the same thing happens when she gets older and her kids put her in a home. BTW, Toby did get rescued, but I dont know what happened after that. It was in NC, not Memphis, so that mentality is everywhere.
That ad turned out to be a hoax. There was no senior Toby surrendered to the shelter.
But strangely enough there was a REAL dog named Toby in the shelter at the time who had been hit by a car and really did need rescue asap. As a result of all the attention the hoax got, the real Toby got rescued. So this odd story had a happy ending. Even stranger–the shelter was Char-Meck.
Really??? Thats weird! What is the point of it being a hoax- hoping people would donate the money for a Toby that will never show? I dont get it. I am glad that it was fake and that the one that was there got rescued though.
Tracy, I fear you hate me. You don’t even know me, but I feel your anger and judgment. You have ONE web cam photo of people turning in a dog at MAS, and you have decided that they are heartless scum.
What if those people stopped and picked this dog up off the street after an accident where the drivers drove away?
What if this dog had been to the vet and the owners couldn’t afford the treatment?
What if the owners couldn’t afford to even pay a vet to euthanize their dog?
What if MAS doesn’t allow people to stay with their animals during euthanasia? (That’s the rule where I live…)
From what I have heard, this place kills in bulk. They “collect” animals to kills all together in the same room.
I agree it’s a tragedy that this dog sat there alone on the floor for so long. But at least the guy didn’t use a choke pole to drag it away, and maybe they waited to move it until they had the room cleared so that it didn’t have to lie in terror while they killed cats or puppies, or other dogs dragged in by choke poles!?!
The dog was left where he was last loved…maybe.
I wish you love and a long and happy life. Although I fear that you will get that which you are projecting out towards others. Blessings to you and yours. May your animals deserve you as much as you deserve them.
AFAIK, MAS does not allow the public into the kill room ever.
Lynn, All your scenarios seem plausible to me. The other side of the coin I suppose is: Let’s say for the purpose of discussion that the owner was a heartless, cruel and evil person. Maybe he’s the one who made the dog lame by beating him with a golf club. Then he brings the dog to the shelter. Shouldn’t the dog be entitled to a veterinary exam as a protection? Because in this fictional scenario, this dog could REALLY use some protecting.
What if an owner surrenders an animal to be euth. Does the shelter have to euth it?
I hate this place and always have. I have been adopting from there everytime I have room for another pet(I have 9). I so agree something needs to be done.. As they have NEVER done whats best for the animals. They charge too much for the kittens/cats..And I have heard the arguement that if you can’t afford the fee, you don’t need the animal. The animal and I would disagree.. A cat can be turned loose in a barn and live a happy life.. At least more than the needle will give him.. I praise all rescuers and people who try so hard to get just one placed. I have written everyone who is on your list several times. I even wrote Steve Cohen with an idea. Tn has a lottery. Create one scratch off ticket that is for the animals and notify public this ticket is available. Use money to build a nokill shelter and hire caring people to run it.. Such a simple idea must be impossible as I have heard nothing. And Im guessing too much red tape and legal issues to deal with. So until something changes, PEOPLE QUIT DUMPING YOUR PETS HERE, THEY WILL HAVE ALMOST NO CHANCE TO LIVE!
I think the lottery ticket idea is an excellent one.
Me too Laura but do you think anyone will ever go for it? Im sure they will say it will take away from education or something. But if they had a special one just for the animals, Im sure even a non gambler would buy them just to help the animals..
I do too!
Most animal lovers I know dream of winning the lottery, just so they could help more animals. I know I would buy them.
I thought I made myself clear in the post but perhaps some readers missed this part:
Could something as simple as diet, pain meds and TLC have helped this dog regain his mobility? Was he otherwise medically hopeless and suffering? I don’t know and I guess none of us ever will.
I’m asking questions that IMO need to be asked. If you don’t have questions when you continually see pets taken directly to the kill room from the lobby, you either have tremendous faith in the kind heartedness of this shelter or I don’t know what. As for me, I have questions.
Here is another thought: dogs can be made mobile again with therapy and meds and even wheelchairs. TLC goes a long long way when one loves their dog.
My question is where is the vet in this place. I assume techs do the killing. Just what does that vet do? And that begs me to ask how can she just be okay with killing healthy young dogs one after the other? “First do no harm”
I was going to ask the same thing as Arlene- is the vet there as evil and non-caring as the rest of the workers (which I doubt, otherwise why even be a vet in the first place? To me it would sort of be like a homicidal surgeon who ends up killing all of his/her patients on purpose) or is she/he just oblivious to the fact that not every dog needs to be killed right away when there are a million open cages?
Heather Says:
May 8, 2011 at 9:16 pm
Oh, and for the record, I will clarify again–the “last stop” as it’s called above is a doorway that leads to the healthy hold/outdoor cages/adoption hallway.
_______________________________
Heather, if you are providing correct information here (unlike previous comments such as when you tried to mislead people into thinking the trash can family was alive and available for adoption), please tell us where this dog was taken – to the adoption area or to the outside kennels. If this dog was taken to the adoption area, I would say that MAS is still negligent in their duty to at least provide a veterinary consultation for this dog. If this dog was taken to the outdoor kennels, I would reiterate the negligence claim and add animal cruelty to it.
Ditto, Shirley. We never DID get an answer as to where the “kill room” acutally is.
I know I’m way off in Fantasy Land when I say this, but shouldn’t our shelter system be setting the example for the public, and treating animals with respect, and value? I don’t think the public’s attitude about animals being disposable will change until shelters stop treating them like they are disposable. It’s not really just the shelters, mind you. If you follow animal abuse cases to see what the offenders get in the criminal justice system, it’s almost always pathetic. If you look at the number of instances of police shooting dogs w/o justification, it’s appalling. The fact that Puppy Mills can show such complete disregard for the animals in their care, and still be licensed by the USDA, is completely absurd. So many people in this country consider themselves animal lovers, yet they will turn a blind eye to all of this, because it is unpleasant, and/or they are too busy to get involved. It’s sad. None of this is going to change unless the people who care for animals start speaking up.
You mean like actually vaccinating the animals at their shelter instead of just lecturing the public to do it? Yes, that would be a good example to set for the community to my mind.
People get upset about owners who “dump” their pets at a shelter but as I’ve said in past, it’s not possible to “dump” a pet at a safe haven. That’s called being responsible and caring. You can “dump” a pet into a trash can – that’s irresponsible and heartless. MAS literally dumps pets into a pile until the truck comes by to haul away the carcasses to the incinerator. Is that the example they want to set for the community on how to deal with pets in need?
One other thought for those who contend that we can’t tell what’s going on from webcam shots – which I agree with to some extent which is why I ask questions and make reasonable assumptions for lack of answers – why do these same folks presume to know the who/what/why of the surrendering party? You can’t have it both ways. If we don’t know what’s going on on the part of MAS workers from the webcam shots, then we don’t know what’s going in with people bringing in pets.
Maybe somebody should request the MAS records for April 30th. Both the trash can family and the lame dog were surrendered that day. Assuming each pet’s record includes final disposition, we should be able to easily clarify what happened to these dogs.
I may be in the minority here but I really don’t care why people surrender their pets and don’t need to blame them for it. I DO care what the shelter does with them once they get there, though. And it should not be ANYTHING other than caring for them in the best way they possibly can. It should definitely not be killing them. Or dragging them across the floor. Or poking them or choking them or losing them or exposing them to horrible contagious diseases or starving them or hosing them down or cramming them into a tiny cage. All of which this pound has done–on camera–and continues to do. I am so sorry for that dog.
Youre definitely not. Wasnt that the whole point of a shelter to begin with- to SHELTER the dog once the owner decides to give them up for whatever reason until it can get adopted by someone else? Not to cause a pet holocaust. I know people will give the tired “overpopulation” excuse, but as we can clearly see with MAS, they cant even use that excuse.
I dont like what MAS is doing to the animals, but I also blame the people for surrendering the animals to them. I constantly see people surrendering their animals, if they cant look after them in good and bad times then why have them at all. Its not the animals fault its the NEGLIGENT OWNERS and they are as responsible as the murderers at MAS, there is no excuse for this. Its obvious MAS and the employees are having a great laugh at us, knowing they can continue with their cruel treatment of these animals being surrendered. I hope someone out there is working on this project to stop MAS.
This beautiful dog spent 23 minutes in the shelter, from drop off to kill room. I’ve been reading about MAS for a long time now. It’s sad that some of the workers seem to have such a wonderful time spending their days killing animals. However, I am also disturbed that so many people who adopt animals don’t look at that adoption as a lifetime commitment to an animal. I wonder if these same people would adopt a child and if, god forbid, that child developed behavioral problems or a serious illness, if they would try to dump them off somewhere.
This may be neither here nor there, but what state was it when they crafted their Safe Haven law (for the ability to drop off new born babies anonymously so they wouldn’t be left in a trash can), they forgot to include an age limit. People were dropping off children of all ages left and right, even teenagers. They called a special session of the state legislature to correct the law, because they were getting too many kids into foster care.
So, yeah, it happens. These were perfectly healthy, normal children for the most part.
Not the first thing I want to see Monday morning at work, but what do my tears and discomfort mount to compared to that poor, old dog’s? I would have taken him in a heart beat and provided him with as much love as I could. All that I can do now is pray for forgiveness for the owners that brought him in and the workers that killed him. So very, ver sad…
I hate MAS completely and I could never defend how they do things there, and I, too, have known many irresposible people who shouldn’t have animals – HOWEVER – haven’t any of you been listening/reading about the flooding in Memphis? It is possible that many owner surrenders, including this older dog, haved something to do with the people not having any place to live right now, let alone care for the animals they have. It’s always fun to bash the “irresponsible public” but could we just let the jerks at MAS do it so we know it’s being done by those who should examine their own actions first? And, yes, the issue of the dog laying on a cold, hard floor for 22 minutes is just a shitty way to have treated that dog, and that’s something I notice ‘Heather’ doesn’t have any bs to explain away – unless she wants to try and tell us the workers were all too busy walking and playing with the animals to get around to this one. Her bs about the dog going to an outside run or adoption area is just ridiculous.
Someone needs to tell Heather to take off those rose colored glasses! Hey, I thought Heather was done with yesbiscuit….what’s the matter? It appears that the numbers are growing- those of us that can see right through the BS- those of us that will speak up against all of the wrongs at MAS…..go stick your head back in that hole, Heather!
No one answered my question above. If an animal is surrendered to be euth at the owner request, does the shelter have to euth it?
Each shelter makes its own policy WRT owner requested euth. Some shelters have a policy stating that they will not kill a healthy/treatable pet. MAS obviously has no such policy.
Please note that all of you who watch those webcams… The head and face of fmas thinks it is very sad that you have nothing better to do then watch the webcams all day long. She feels that you should have better things to do with your day. Please keep that in mind when you watch the webcams and defend MAS. Obviously some that work there and volunteer there have the same awful mentality- it’s okay to blame everyone else except that pitiful excuse for a shelter. Do you really think everyone is just out to get you? Do you think thousands of people are just making everything up? Even when given the chance to defend yourselves MAS volunteers you avoid the questions and give excuse after excuse. So if you want to say everyone on this site is making excuses to avoid the shelter then you are doing a lot of pot calling the kettle black. And by the way heather I have a lay out of thr shelter and guess what is at the end of that hallway?? Well I’ll give you a hint it isn’t adoption area. Especially since MAS isn’t going to immediately take a newly surrendered animal to the adoption area. How brain washed can you be?
Great post! So, the head of FMAS thinks those that watch the webcams have nothing better to do?! I would think FMAS would be so happy that people actually care so much about the animals and want to protect them (kinda like what a “shelter” is supposed to do), so when we see things that are “questionable” on the webcams, we address it! Hmmmm
Well the shelter is free at any time to make the webcams too boring to watch – just day after day of pets being cared for humanely and with compassion. No killing, only euthanasia to relieve suffering and that doesn’t happen all that often. Happy pets being adopted by public, transferred to foster/rescue… actually, wait – I’d still be interested in watching that! Sorry “Friends”.
At least this shelter has webcams to view. I would love to see webcams in every shelter, be it kill or no-kill. I’m sure there are differences in treatment, but strangely I have heard that same phrase, “sad that you have nothing better to do then watch the webcams all day long. She feels that you should have better things to do with your day.” This is the catch phrase for any organization that is not open to criticisms.
Oh no! The face of FMAS doesnt like what I chose to do in my sparetime? Im going to go cry my eyes out now!
Tell FMAS to get over themselves and if they werent cruel enough to support this “shelter” I wouldnt have to watch- to me, THAT is sad.
I am sure I’ve mentioned this before but I know a person who let his dog run loose. When the dog was hit by a car, he took the dog to the shelter for killing in order to avoid paying the vet to do it. The idea of spending money on a dog was not even up for consideration in this person’s mind. When he went to the shelter, he lied. I presume (but don’t know for sure) this was to make himself look better to the staff. He said he had taken the dog to the vet and the vet stated the dog was medically hopeless. I know he left the dog there but I have no idea what that shelter’s policy was. I have always hoped the shelter had their vet take a look at the dog and see if she was savable. I know it’s more likely that the dog was killed immediately upon surrender.
This left a big impression on me. Now maybe this is the only time in the history of the world an owner requesting euth has lied to a shelter about a pet’s health status. But I would guess not. In any case, the bottom line for me is: if a pet is savable, I want to save that pet. And the only way to know if a pet is savable is to have a veterinary consult upon surrender. Just like they do in regular vet clinics when owners take in a pet for euth.
Too bad the guy that brought that dog in didn’t have to pay the price for his atrocity at this time. His dog did- and since “what goes around comes around” maybe at some point in his life someone will determine this guy’s life to be as of little value as he felt his dog’s life was- not even deserving of a humane end to suffering. This is NOT a comparison of a dog’s value vs. a person’s value, it’s a law of cause & effect. I hope it happens before he has a chance to be responsible for the deliberate killing of any more poor animals who may be unfortunate enough to end up with him.
I hate to see this, no dog should have to die like this, so alone and uncared for. And yes, a vet check is the least they should have done. As to the owner/dropper off of the dog, I don’t know the circs. Maybe they are bad people, maybe not. I suppose I look at it a little like foster care for children. Irresponsible, or damaged or criminal or too poor people have children and can’t keep them. They end up in foster care, I know the outrage when foster parents abuse children, it seem extra cruel when the children are with them as a last resort. That is how I see Mas at this point, a shelter should be kind.
Geeze. Pics 2-5 are heartbreaking. Just. Heartbreaking.
Does the person who dropped that white dog off know their dog was going to be killed, I have to wonder. Either way, I have to cry.
I will never, as long as I live, ever understand how anyone could take their dog, family member you promised to care for forever, loyal friend, child-like and dependent on you to do right by them, and leave them here, in a place like this, to die all alone and afraid. Why? Tears just roll down my cheeks imagining what this poor dog went thru, imagining all the other dogs just like him sitting in conditions not ideal, waiting to die just because their owners made bad decisions or just doesn’t want them anymore.