CNN is apparently going to pick up the story about the trash can family. I am glad for the international exposure and hope it will further the efforts of no kill advocates in Memphis. While I absolutely do not want to diminish the mistreatment and needless killing of those dogs in the slightest, part of me is sad that it takes a story like this to garner widespread media attention.
The reality of Memphis Animal Services is mistreatment and needless killing of pets. But most of these pets aren’t caught by webcam watchers. And the ones who are, sometimes get overlooked in favor of the sexier shots showing dogs being dragged by chokepoles or puppies being carried by a leg or, understandably – puppies in a trash can. You know – if it bleeds, it leads.
But every day that MAS is open, I receive many shots of pets – usually dogs – being needlessly killed, in what appears to be an assembly line manner. They were never offered for adoption. They were forced to sleep and eat in an indoor kennel where they relieved themselves. They got hosed down with piss water in their kennels. They never even had names. This to me, is the true heartbreak of MAS – the needless killing of healthy/treatable pets when there are enough homes for all of them and nobody at the shelter demanding they get there.
This post is a tribute to the thousands of pets killed every year by MAS – the ones we caught glimpses of on the webcams and the ones we did not: You didn’t make the mainstream news but you should have. Because each of you is the best pet in the world, even if no one at MAS saw the value in your life. You are not alone. We are not giving up on you.
Memphis, please – stop the killing.