The Lovewell family in Nebraska had 2 snuggly cats since they were kittens – Chloe, age 13 and Truman, age 7. Due to a chronic health issue with a family member, the Lovewells decided to take the cats to the Nebraska Humane Society where they believed the cats would find new homes. No one at the facility led them to suspect otherwise and had anyone done so, the family says they would not have left them there.
But that night, the Lovewells were unable to sleep and realized they could not bear to part with their pets, no matter what. They called the Nebraska HS first thing the next morning to let them know not to adopt out Chloe and Truman as they wanted them back. But their calls were sent to voicemail. And anyway, the Nebraska HS had already killed both pets:
Nebraska Humane Society spokesperson Pam Wiese said, “They were acting aggressively, hissing and spitting and swatting and we couldn’t really handle them. If you can’t handle them, you can’t get them into a kennel to get them into adoptable condition.”
It sounds like the cats were scared at the time they entered the facility – which is normal behavior for cats. The staff at the Nebraska HS should know this and should have protocols in place to allow cats time to settle. Instead, the facility apparently has a policy that if a pet is not immediately made “into adoptable condition” – wearing a bow tie and playfully rolling a ball of yarn around the cage I suppose – he needs to be made into dead condition. The Humane, it hurts.
The Nebraska HS says it will now explain to all surrendering parties that their pets might be killed. And someone will start answering calls from people wanting to reclaim their pets. Oh. I was hoping they were going to stop killing animals and conducting useless behavioral assessments at the time of impound. I guess humane doesn’t mean what I think it means.
Note: Comments bashing the owners for surrendering the cats will be deleted. Every single one of us has made decisions we regret. Sometimes we can correct them, sometimes we can not. This family tried. They believed, as most people do, that a place calling itself a humane society was staffed by animal lovers who would not kill their pets. Now they know better. Blame the people doing the killing.
(Thanks Karen for the link.)
Any excuse to kill.
A cat in a strange environment is very likely to freak out. It is NOT very likely to be a big cuddle muffin looking for a lap – that’s the exception, not the rule.
They say that now their animals will be evaluated by an “expert”. Pardon me if I am not filled with reassurance on that one.
They knew that these were house cats and pets. They knew that these cats were socialized to people. But they killed them anyway. How is that humane?
“Humane” is the shill phrase to get donations.
Such a sad story and my heart goes out to these pet parents who did everything right and nothing wrong. Shame on the Nebraska Humane Society! I work with the humane society here in Tampa Bay, which is a no kill for space closed admissions shelter, and one thing I and other rescuers write on every piece of surrender paperwork (I have surrendered most of my foster cats and kittens over the years to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay for adoption, and a shout out to them for doing a great job of getting them all adopted) the words “DO NOT EUTH!” in capital letters. I will always take back one of my own fosters who has health or behavioral issues and they are not to be euthanized.
I’m sorry if I maligned other Humane Societies in my comment. In Nebraska, they are all killers. I will amend my post.
My blood pressure must be through the roof. I can hardly breathe. Is this a nightmare? If only. I am just 50 miles from Omaha.
Posted this blog article on my Facebook page , along with my commentary, as follows:
Dot Cassidy Glenn Davis shared a link.
5 minutes ago
The Omaha “Humane” society should be shut down NOW. We see story after story of these kill facilities that can’t wait to murder animals brought in. Any excuse will do. An animal doesn’t even get a chance to settle down for a few hours after being ripped from his home, caged and transported, and brought into a horribly frightening situation of loud noises, strange scents, and manhandling.
These are not animal sanctuaries or placement centers. The few adoptions they facilitate are just a front, and serve to help fund the many murders that they commit (along with donations from animal lovers, as well as municipalities that simply want cats and dogs dead and gone from neighborhoods).
The directors of these kill houses make great salaries. They ARE NOT ANIMAL DO-GOODERS. THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF NEBRASKA IS A KILL FACILITY with a hair trigger.
1.) Do not donate to places that kill healthy animals. EVER. I would start, to be safe, by not donating to any organization that uses the term “Humane Society” in its name. Especially, DO NOT DONATE TO THE NEBRASKA HUMANE SOCIETY.
2.) There are many, many wonderful no-kill shelters in Nebraska and elsewhere that are running on low dollars because they don’t have the bogus “Humane Society” name to use. They would be able to expand and we could have a no-kill society with your donations. Write me if you need names.
Who cares what they call themselves? “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet.” Or stink.
Is this an open admission facility or animal control? Most owner give ups do not last long in any facility like that, they are killed, often right away, for space considerations. Plus the fact that few people go to shelters to adopt 13 year old cats!
Two healthy, loved cats who were terrified in the “shelter” environment. There is no excuse for killing them. How many others?
Oh no :(
Thank you for not accepting comments critical of the people surrendering the cats. They were doing what they thought was best and now have to live with the pain,
I was trying to explain to someone yesterday the sheer absurdity of a job where your lack of effort can be passed off as a result of the actions of others. “Well, animal shelters frequently have policies that result in the killing to healthy animals…not because the homes aren’t there, but because the shelter’s policies make it difficult for people to adopt them.” “Yeah, but…if the owner didn’t give the animal up, the shelter wouldn’t have had to deal with them in the first place!”
Just…ugh. Animal shelter director is pretty much the ONLY job where you can get away with minimal effort because someone else made a mistake first. It would be like saying it’s fine for a cop to use excessive force…I mean, if the criminal didn’t do the crime, then the cop wouldn’t have needed to arrest them! Or it’s fine if the foster system abuses or fails a child…I mean, if that child was never born, the system wouldn’t have had to handle their case!
(I know that the foster system in this country is severely screwed up and does frequently fail children, but we don’t typically phrase those failures as acceptable because the birth family set things in motion.)
People have such a weird mental block on this issue. I mean, so did I at one point, but once the irony was pointed out to me I got over it quickly. It’s strange for me now to be arguing the other side without effect, because now it just seems so blasted *simple.*
I’ve always wondered.. these places say “we couldn’t handle them to assess, vaccinate , clean,etc.. BUT , they always mange to “handle” them to kill them..
Amen. It was flat-out laziness, and an anger-fueled power move to punish the cats for being upset. Whoever did it will be replicated in a voodoo doll on my refrigerator forever or until they rot in hell.
I think it’s terrible to take ALL blame off the owners and put it on the shelter. Delete away, it seems as if you have a personal vendetta against the facility. It’s Nebraska. That doesn’t exactly scream endless resources. The shelter is not there to help people through personal problems. To think otherwise is disingenuous or naive. Being the director of such a place is clearly a thankless job. Poor cats. They deserved better treatment all around.
I have a personal vendetta against so many places, apparently. And they all kill pets. Huh.
I’m on your team, YesBiscuit. I am so tired of hearing the same old “defense” of facilities that actually are more in the killing business than the sheltering business. There is no defense. But then, you know that. Hope dinska figures it out!
Yes, where do the owners get off thinking that a shelter is going to “shelter” their pets? I mean, duh, obviously they’re going to kill them and the owner is just dumb to think otherwise, right? So clearly it’s all the fault of the owners for being too stupid to realize that “shelter” is a code word for “kill factory”.
Dinska, you’re victim-blaming and it’s not cool. Let’s suppose that instead of surrendering the cats, the owners were killed in a horrific car accident. With no where else to go, the cats are turned over to the shelter. Which, in turn, kills one out of hand for “hissing”. Is that then acceptable?
The point is, it does not matter one TEENY BIT how the cats ended up at the shelter. The moment they did, they were the shelter’s responsibility. And that responsibility includes care and compassion. It should not be “killing for convenience”.
What kind of family gives away 2 family members after owning them for 13 years?? So insensitive I can’t believe it. Then they complain that the cats didn’t make it on their own after being abandoned?? God, people suck.