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Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Kill Shelter Dog Finds A Home

How many animals enter animal shelters each year?
And how many are euthanized?

The Humane Society of the US estimates that animal shelters care for 6-8 million dogs and cats every year in the United States, of whom approximately 3-4 million are euthanized.

In the 1970s, American shelters euthanized 12-20 million dogs and cats. Today, shelters euthanize around 2.7 million animals.  This enormous decline in euthanasia numbers—from around 25 percent of American dogs and cats euthanized every year to about 3 percent—represents substantial progress. 

Low adoption rates are one factor driving the high number of animals in shelters, but every year, millions of dogs and cats  are relinquished by their owners—or rescued from the streets by animal control officers and private citizens—and brought to animal shelters. These circumstances leave shelters and rescue groups with a large number of animals in need of homes.  One of those animals recently found a home.

I'd like to introduce you to McKenzie, a dog rescued from a kill shelter. 
We adopted Mac this weekend.  She's an 8 month old Shepherd/Labrador mix. 
Mac has a beautiful personality. She is very good with my kids. 
 My 21 month old Jacob named her and is just fascinated with her big ears. 
This is one of the sweetest dogs I've ever met.  I can't imagine her being put down. 

 

Most animal shelters have no set time limit for holding an animal. In the vast majority of shelters, decisions about adoption and euthanasia are based on factors that include the temperament and health of the animal, and the space and resources available to humanely house and properly care for the animal.
Some animal shelters take in strays, and many of those facilities have an established holding period for those animals to allow their owners a chance to find and claim them. This stray holding period is typically set by local or state law, so it will vary from one community to the next. 
  
If an animal becomes sick, stressed, or exhibits challenging behavior, the shelter should take steps to treat these conditions, working with available veterinary and behavioral assistance, and using responsible foster homes to get the animal into a less stressful environment.

However, if efforts to treat the illness or behavioral problem fail and the animal is not showing signs of recovery, some shelters may not have the resources to continue treatment and may not have access to a reputable rescue group or foster home. In some of these cases, euthanasia may be warranted.

Ending the euthanasia of homeless animals is a goal that all animal welfare organizations share.  But the reality is that shelters, with their limited space and finite resources, cannot achieve this goal without high levels of community support. 

The Humane Society focuses on the root of the homeless animal problem by educating pet owners, helping them deal with behavior problems and other issues so that they can keep their pets for life. They encourage spaying and neutering to reduce animal overpopulation, promote adoption from shelters and rescues, and seek to end the mass breeding of dogs in puppy mills and their sale in pet stores and on the Internet. 

You can make a difference! Support community-wide efforts to prevent overpopulation. Encourage your local shelter to work as diligently as possible to find loving homes for the animals in their care. You can even volunteer! 

Adopt your next companion animal from a shelter, have all your pets spayed or neutered, and be a responsible pet owner—protect your pets with current identification tags and don't let them roam.

Angel

25 comments:

  1. So incredibly cute!!! - I am sending Mac a "virtual" hug!! Congrats on your new family member.
    Angie

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    1. Thanks Angie
      I'll give Mac a big hug from you.
      Angel

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  2. I am a vet tech and come from a background in shelter medicine. I worked in a shelter that was AMAZING. I did my fair share of euthanisa but they were all justified in some way. We would hold dogs for YEARS if they were adoptable. This was in Michigan. Now, I'm living in San Antonio and its a HUGE problem. They have so many strays that they can't hold on to pets longer than sometimes 72 hours!!!! Heartbreaking.


    Congrats on your adoption <3

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    1. It is such a sad problem. Mac is so sweet and I'm so glad we found her. I wanted to bring all of them home with me.
      Angel

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  3. Mac is so adorable.I'm an old follower,dropping by for Wordless Friday
    hope you can visit my Wordless Wednesday

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    1. Hi Michie
      I just left your place. Such a beautiful post today.
      Angel

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  4. You made my day, she is beautiful and surely hope she is happy in your family. I am almost ready to get another dog. Had to have my golden put down 3 yrs ago and that was the worst day of my life.......but I need another doggie. Congrats and so happy for Mac and you and your family. Andi

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    1. Hi Andi
      I know what you mean. I lost my Great Dane 2 years ago and it just broke my heart.
      Angel

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  5. What a wonderful dog! I am so glad you and your family saved him Angel! I love dogs. All my pets are dogs. All the very best to Mac! Take care and my best wishes to you and your family.

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    1. Thanks Judy
      I love dogs too. We all love Mac. She just won our hearts the minute we saw her.
      Angel

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  6. Congrats on the new addition to your family. I love hearing stories of shelter adoptions. We adopted our dog Roxy from a shelter 4 years ago and she is such a loyal and protective dog. She spent a year bouncing around in shelters and had a rough life before we got her. There are sooo many dogs in shelters who need a loving home and so glad Mac found you.

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    1. There truly are such an abundance of dogs in these shelters. It is just heartbreaking. We are so glad we found Mac.
      Angel

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  7. What a sweet baby. Thank you for adopting a dog from a kill shelter. So glad that everything is working out and that your baby is in love with the new dog. Hope you all have a long happy life together.

    Felissa
    http://twolittlecavaliers.com

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    1. Hi Felissa
      Thanks. We are very happy we found Mac. I can't even imagine that she might have been put down. She is truly a wonderful dog.
      Angel

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  8. I found you through the meet and greet blog hop. Yes so many dogs are killed daily in the shelters. I know here I believe they said at least 70% adoptable dogs are put down yearly. It is a sad number. People need to stop breeding, get their pets fixed. I myself have 3 dogs. Two were rescues and one was just one my S.O. fell in love with and just had to have her. We have all females. You know just in case we could not get them fixed before a heat cycle came about. I have had a bad experience with having a dog spayed. I look forward to reading more posts by you.

    www.naturalbeautism.blogspot.com
    www.arkriders4autism.storenvy.com

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    1. Hi Melissa
      Great to meet you. There is just so many homeless pets that need loving homes. So many sad stories when you talk to the facility workers. We had a cat a few years ago that someone had abused pretty badly. She lived with us until she passed away. Sweetest little thing you could ask for. I'm very glad Mac is with us now. She seems very happy in her new home and my kids just adore her. She's the new Queen of the house, lol.
      I just visited your blog and I'm following you via GFC. Your blog is wonderful.
      Angel

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  9. She s a pretty dog. We are dog people but are looking at adopting a cat from a shelter for our daughters. Found you through the meet and greet blog hop.
    Angela @ Time with A & N

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    1. Hi Angela
      Hope you find the perfect cat for your girls. I've been following you and I love your recent photos. You have a lovely family.
      Angel

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  10. I agree with everything you said! I fully support adopting animals from shelters, more people need to do it and stop having to have designer breeds!! I have 2 rescues and i love them more than anything!
    I found you on the meet and greet hop =]

    A Golden State of Mind

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    1. Hello
      I'm very glad to meet you. We want a pet that loves our kids, it doesn't matter what breed she is and Mac is a wonderful puppy. I visited you also. I love your photos. I'm lol owing you via Twitter and Bloglovin.
      Angel

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  11. Congrats on your new family member! I wish everyone adopted, the thought of one dog getting euthanized breaks my heart so I can't even think of millions. I adopted my dog in December and I honestly cannot imagine life without him. I have no idea how anyone could have ever given him up. He has brought so much joy into my family's life and it was love at first site!! I hope you are enjoying your new puppy and I am so happy for you!

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  12. Sweet dog!!

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

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  13. Awww...Mac is adorable! We had a rescue English Mastiff named Abigail who was sweet as pie also! Thanks for bringing attention to this out of control problem and thanks for linking up today!

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  14. She is adorable! It made me so sad to read your post. I wish kill shelters didn't exist. And I don't understand how anyone could relinquish a family pet. Our local shelter is non-kill. Of the 7 animals we have now, 5 came from them, one came from a rescue and one is a puppy that we got from a friend. I cannot go into a shelter without bringing home a new furry family member so right now I am staying away! Stopping in today from the Doing You Well Blog Hop!

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  15. It made me sad to think about those animals when I our own is so loved. Lucky Mac, he now has a loving home. At least the numbers are going down.

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