Well...this is just another beautiful example of people having no regard for anything but themselves. I need to rant for a moment. More than a moment, actually.
I absolutely blame "pet owners" for this one...you know the ones I mean. The ones who think it would be nice to get the kid a puppy (as if it's a toy) and then no one really loves the animal as soon as it grows up...Then there's the person who decides to move to a new apartment that doesn't allow pets, so they think THIS is an adequate excuse for abandoning an animal or sending it to a pound. FIND A DIFFERENT APARTMENT! PERIOD. It wouldn't even OCCUR to me to go where I couldn't bring the animals. I'd live out of MY CAR before I abandoned mine. Nothing pisses me off more than people who claim to "like" animals but still think it's okay to get rid of them when it's no longer convenient to have them.
The ones who refuse to spay and neuter piss me off just as much. The ones who insist they let their cats or dogs have at least one litter so that their kids get to "witness the miracle of birth"....BAH!!! Watch the freakin Discovery Health Channel! When are these insensitive people going to WAKE UP and realize the gravity and responsibility of bringing more life into the world? You can't PAY people to take kittens! Most will be euthanized.
It can be a big headache having animals, because the world doesn't necessarily make it easy. The entire year leading up to my move to South Africa was, without any doubt whatsoever, the most stressful time of my life, because making an international move with a large dog and two cats is not easy. The costs were phenomenal, the red tape was unbelievable. But we did it; it would never have occurred to me to drop them off at an animal shelter. When the time comes for Jacog and I to move from this place, we're taking all 8 cats and the dog. Simple as that.
Having a pet is a RESPONSIBILITY...one which so many people seem unwilling to meet and it just drives me nuts and leads to tragedies like these.
The mass euthanizing at this shelter probably makes little difference overall. How many of those animals would have been adopted out? How many would have been kept BY THE SAME FAMILY FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES?
I wish all shelters had no-kill policies.
Ugh. This topic upsets me so much. We have so many animals in our family mostly because of stupid people. Snorkie of course we picked up as he was being chucked in front of our car by some kids who were hoping he'd get smashed- and they were laughing about it. Heksie we got when he showed up at our house as a lean, hungry, un-neutered wild cat. It took some time, but he's fully socialized and plays with the dog and the other cats now. And he seems HAPPY- which he never did before. Before, he always acted is if he thought someone was going to hit him. Someone gave me Grendel, because the "family" she grew up in didn't want her anymore and the father of the house was threatening to shoot her...Pixie was a tiny stray kitten about two weeks old discovered near her mother who had been killed by a car. Her other litter mates died...Mumu was one of those grocery store kitten give-aways...Findlay was a reject from an Alaskan sled dog kennel and slated for cheap euthanasia (meaning a shot to the head)...They're all such beautiful individuals and it just tears me up to think that other people didn't care about them.
When animals just show up needing care...what are you going to do? I just hope that we can always make room for more.
Blegh. Now I'm all depressed. This sucks.
