Pop quiz:
(No scrolling down in advance – that’s cheating.)
Your volunteer group helps out a high kill pound. The pound has a very limited web presence and no social networking presence at all – but your group does. The pound doesn’t post its pets online – but your group at least posts a fraction of them. Because the pound has no significant online persona, many visitors mistakenly believe your group’s webpages are actually those of the pound. People contact you regularly seeking assistance.
One such person writes you a letter indicating they’d like to adopt a specific pet they believe is at the pound. The adopter explains they’ve called the pound several times already but no one knows exactly which dog it is they are wanting and so no one has helped them. They have found your group’s pet listings but do not see the dog they want. The adopter gives you a detailed description of the pet, including intake date, and believes your group is the pound. They are asking for your assistance in adopting the dog.
You respond with your stock answer, which is…?
Thank you so much for writing and expressing an interest in adopting this dog. Our group is a volunteer organization and not the pound itself but I’m happy to help because getting pets into homes is why we are here! I’m taking the description you sent and going right now to look through the intakes for that day to see if I can find any possible matches. I’ll get back to you ASAP with photos of any dog(s) I think might be the one you are wanting to adopt. Be in touch soon!
Or…
What do I look like, your personal assistant? You need to get off your fat ass and come down here to look for yourself. If the dog ends up in the kill room before you get here, it’s going to be YOUR FAULT because you were too stupid to know that no one is going to help you save this dog. Don’t bother me again.
OK now you can scroll down and see if you are a winner. Or a weiner.
Can we at least pretend to get a little excited about getting a dog from the stray area out of MAS alive? I know he’s not one of The Chosen Ones but sheesh. I wish MAS would let in some of the people who have offered their volunteer services but been turned away. The city may not like “their kind” but dang, could they do any worse?
I’m also willing to bet MAS could attract additional, compassionate volunteers if the 3 page application form didn’t contain questions like this:
- No I don’t understand.
- No I don’t agree there is a “pet overpopulation problem”.
- No I don’t agree that MAS or any facility “has to” kill healthy/treatable pets. Ever.
- No I don’t think beating dogs with steel poles, tossing puppies into a trash can or hanging a cat by the neck on the way to the kill room qualifies as “humane euthanasia”. Nor does forcing dogs and cats to watch each other die before it’s their turn for the needle.
I guess the partial line available for comments on that question is just not long enough for me.
Is there anyone in a leadership position in Memphis who is interested in plain old lifesaving as opposed to excuses, laziness, and blaming everybody else for the killing? If not, can you be that person?