Dispelling the “Kill-shelter” Phobia

Debates continue to rage over whether so-called “no-kill” shelters actually help or hurt pet overpopulation. There are some legitimate concerns over whether no-kill shelters create more problems of their own. One problem that’s been created is that some proponents of the no-kill movement foster animosity towards shelters that are forced to euthanize their excess animals due to lack of space.

One woman I spoke to online recently said that the shelter in her area euthanizes animals, so she refuses to support them in any way. Another person suggested that euthanizing animals for whom there are no homes is a form of cruelty. Indeed, a very common misconception among pet owners is that shelters euthanize animals because of cruelty or indifference.

When connecting with rescue workers to help resolve the problem, my mother and I met up with two ladies who had both gone through bad experiences due to working at “kill” shelters. They agreed to share their stories with me so as to let others know just what they’ve gone through. Understanding that many shelter workers are victims just as much as the animals are raises more sympathetic awareness.

One lady, named Carmen*, set up her own rescue group for dogs. Prior to this, she had worked at a shelter that euthanized when there was no space. Even though she was not a euthanasia technician herself, she was subjected to a lot of verbal abuse. Accusations of being a “pet killer” and even death threats were common with the calls that she picked up.

Another woman, Patty*, works for a city animal control agency. She says that the euthanasia part of her job was something that she truly hated, and was in tears as she talked about this part of her job. A woman who turned her dog over to the shelter one day verbally attacked her because animals were put down there.

Sometimes the best way to learn how difficult these situations can be is to hear about them directly from the employees of these shelters. In a popular video on YouTube, workers at a shelter share what happens at a city shelter that takes in over 100 animals a day. Once in the shelter, these animals have 6 days in which to be reclaimed by the owners or adopted. When their time runs out, the animals must be euthanized. The video, which I highly recommend, can be viewed here

By some estimates, around 4 million animals enter shelters every year. While some of the lucky ones are reunited with their owners or adopted, as many as 60% of them are euthanized. See here for more information. Something practical needs to be done.

That something that must be done needs to include ceasing relentless attacks on employees of “kill” shelters. All this does is cause more emotional stress for those involved, and does nothing for the animals. “Boycotting” shelters that euthanize doesn’t help the animals at all. That only causes people to seek out “no-kill” shelters and ignore perfectly adoptable pets at the municipal shelters.

If you, like many others, are distressed about animals being euthanized in your city’s shelter, do something practical. Find out how you can get the word out to people looking for an animal. If more people would adopt from shelters where they are actually saving an animal’s life, rather than necessarily picking “no-kill” shelters , fewer animals would be euthanized. Hopefully, in time, euthanasia will become a relic of the past for all public and private shelters.