Protecting shelter pets’ right to live is the moral duty of every animal welfare group. The killing of healthy/treatable shelter pets by the very groups who claim to be sheltering them is a scam. And tragically, it happens all too often, in both public and private facilities.
In July 2012, a reporter in Atlanta exposed a scam at the Boggs Mountain Humane Shelter where the shelter would pressure donors to send money quickly in order to save a pet in the Lucky Dog program then, with cash in pocket, would take the “lucky dog” to the county pound to be killed. Authorities have identified 17 dogs so far who were killed under these circumstances, their sponsors receiving cruel letters stating the dogs had been adopted into loving homes.
Buddy came to the SPCA of Southwest Michigan from the Carthage HS in Missouri via Rescue Waggin at the end of October 2012. He was 8 months old. Rescue Waggin had evaluated and passed him, which was a requirement for transport. The Rescue Waggin website states they only deliver “behaviorally and medically sound dogs and puppies” to shelters. After a few weeks at the SPCA of SWMI, Buddy was assessed and passed again. A handwritten note on Buddy’s file describes him as “mouthy but very sweet” and “high energy”. The SPCA of SWMI killed Buddy for supposed behavioral problems, along with another dog named Artie, whom they also obtained via Rescue Waggin. When I spoke to the acting president of the SPCA of SWMI, she told me how proud the group was of its affiliation with the Rescue Waggin program.
At the HS of Memphis and Shelby Co, there have allegedly been dozens of dogs killed in the past year. They were all apparently longtime residents of the shelter and many of them were part of a HS program called Anakin’s Buddies:
[T]he Humane Society launched the Anakin’s Buddies program, which allows volunteer dog walkers to sponsor the adoption fee for a rescued animal at the humane society.
[…]
Many of the Anakin’s Buddies dogs have called the humane society home for several years, and volunteers cannot understand why no one has adopted them. As a result, many of them sponsor more than one dog. “When a volunteer sponsors a dog, they are basically vouching for that dog,” said Kelly Jo Graves, executive manager. “Every Anakin’s Buddy is sponsored by a dog walker who knows them well and has bonded strongly with them.”
Animal advocates allege that after accepting the funds to cover the adoption fees for the dogs in the program, the HS kills some of them and pockets the cash.
Some animal groups give their fraudulent fundraising/secret killing programs special names while others scam compassionate pet lovers by using two simple words: animal shelter. Make no mistake: if your local “shelter” is killing healthy/treatable animals, it’s a scam.