If you come home from work and find your pet is missing, how do you react upon learning that animal control has picked up your lost pet?
A. Oh thank god! She’ll be safe tonight and I’ll go pick her up in the morning. I think I’ll take a bag of treats in with me for the shelter pets and pastries for the staff to thank them for taking care of my pet in this crisis.
B. Oh god no – not that! Anything but the local safe haven for pets!
If you answered A, you are lucky to have a good shelter in your community. Bring extra treats.
If you answered B, your community does not have a shelter. But you can change that.
Love it :-)
If people in your community would rather leave a dog on the streets than in your “shelter” you have a high kill dog pound.
I would panic……
I’m glad I can answer A. Also, my dogs have id tags and microchips and I’d be called within two seconds. AC would probably bring them to me. 98% adoption rate to boot.
The one time I had to take a loose dog to the pound because he had no tags and I couldn’t find the owner, the ACO took him in, called all the neighboring municipal ACs, and stayed in touch with me all week until the owner finally came to get him. (It turned out the owner had been on vacation, and the “friend” supposed to be taking care of the dog had failed to mention the loss of the dog.)
The owner, in addition to getting his dog back, also received a stern lecture on the benefits of licensing your dog, and having, in addition to the license, an i.d. tag with both home and cell numbers, as well as a microchip.
I’d definitely bring cookies for both humans and dogs, if I had to go pick up Addy there.
I would panic and answer B. Ive heard of too many bad instances. Hopefully that will change in time so every shelter will be an “A” but IDK.