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Has anyone heard of this horrible way the kill-shelters are killing neonate kittens and puppies? Do you know what methods are used by your nearest shelter?
I was just told by an ex-worker that our country shelter, a brand new building, state of the art, is using this barbaric way to kill the infant kits and pups brought in. They will not allow people to foster these babies. They will not allow volunteers to take the pregnant ones, they too are killed as soon as brought in. All expectant mothers die there. And not by Lic vets, but by technicians. I'm sick over this..... this isn't a shelter, it's a slaughterhouse.
Our shelter in the neighboring count has the same set up. All litters are euth'd as are all pregnant *******. We don't know how ours are killed though, because the Director refuses to let anyone in the building when he's killing. He's known to be a nasty, vile man that is cruel, so the thoughts in my head make me ill. We know that until about a year ago he didn't feed the animals either, because he felt that since he was going to kill them in three days anyway it was a waste of tax payer funds. Thankfully that has changed, although early this year I did pull a dog from there that had managed to not be killed for three weeks, but had lost tons of weight. His pictures from the day he was picked up he looked great. He was all skin and bones when I brought him home. Vet confirmed it could only have been from not being fed. Yep, he's a great guy.
And this is said by someone that works closely with many shelters and their Directors and has the utmost respect for them. This is just one of the bad ones, run by a slimy corrupt county.
Check with the state and make sure they're legally allowed to euth in that manner, though they probably are. Also see what state requirements are in place for euth'ing. Here you just have to take a one day class. They don't seem to really care too much in my state how animals are killed or by who.
In many states vet techs are legally allowed to euth as well as many other procedures. Just so you know. Not saying I agree with WHAT they are doing in the shelters but it's part of their job and it's a hard part.- just saying that you shouldn't assume that just because a "technician" is doing something that it isn't being done within guide lines. Vet Tech school is very difficult and there is not a lot of difference between a tech and a vet if you look at it on paper. A tech is not allowed to diagnose disease - though they study disease, biology, micro biology and anatomy extensively or prescribe medication though they take pharmacology classes. They are certified in x-ray as well.
The next time you see your Vet Tech at your local shelter, or animal hospital you should show a bit of appreciation for how hard they work and the education they have. They have to do continuing education every year to keep their licenses current. Many work 12 hr shifts just like a nurse in a hospital and many even specialize in a particular area such as emergency training, dentistry or senior care.
Our shelter in the neighboring count has the same set up. All litters are euth'd as are all pregnant *******. We don't know how ours are killed though, because the Director refuses to let anyone in the building when he's killing.
I found out by asking in the Pet section of our local Craigslist for replies from people who worked at our shelter-slaughterhouse. My inbox was filled with all kinds of replies.
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He's known to be a nasty, vile man that is cruel, so the thoughts in my head make me ill. We know that until about a year ago he didn't feed the animals either, because he felt that since he was going to kill them in three days anyway it was a waste of tax payer funds. Thankfully that has changed, although early this year I did pull a dog from there that had managed to not be killed for three weeks, but had lost tons of weight. His pictures from the day he was picked up he looked great. He was all skin and bones when I brought him home. Vet confirmed it could only have been from not being fed. Yep, he's a great guy.
Have you tried talking to your county commissioners? That's how we got them to remove the animal drop boxes about 25 years ago. People were tossing cats and kittens in with the dogs to hear them being killed.
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And this is said by someone that works closely with many shelters and their Directors and has the utmost respect for them. This is just one of the bad ones, run by a slimy corrupt county.
What about your local Press? No help there?
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Check with the state and make sure they're legally allowed to euth in that manner, though they probably are. Also see what state requirements are in place for euth'ing. Here you just have to take a one day class. They don't seem to really care too much in my state how animals are killed or by who.
It's legal here as long as the Tech has training and is certified to kill the dogs and cats. What's so galling is we have plenty of people willing to take the neonates to hand raise but the shelter will not allow it. Some rescue people drive out there to Murfreesboro, park in the lot, and stop people from entering the shelter... and ask if they can have the infants to bottle raise. Almost everyone will give them the pups or kits. Once in that shelter, they're doomed. But there aren't enough people to be there on a daily basis. Only 10% of the cats entering that shelter leave it alive and 30% of the dogs.
It was everyone's frustration who replied to my ad that they can't get people here to spay and neuter. We have low-cost spay clinics so there is no excuse.
In many states vet techs are legally allowed to euth as well as many other procedures. Just so you know. Not saying I agree with WHAT they are doing in the shelters but it's part of their job and it's a hard part.- just saying that you shouldn't assume that just because a "technician" is doing something that it isn't being done within guide lines.
My problem with that is there is no vet on staff to supervise the techs. As for the method - hitting the heart is not easy. It can't be seen. I saw this technique done once and the baby screamed and screamed in agony..... It's not painless or quick. I would never want to see another kit killed this way.
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The next time you see your Vet Tech at your local shelter, or animal hospital you should show a bit of appreciation for how hard they work and the education they have.
Brevity snips!
I Know vet techs get training/an education, and don't mind when a tech does something with my cats rather than my vet. They give them shots, emptied Zephyr's anal glands etc. It's the cruel way they're killing the neonates at this County shelter. The 2-shot method. I know they have no choice if they want to keep their job. I know they have training. One thing that bothered them all was that this shelter refuses to work with fosters and volunteers who would save hundreds of lives each year. The local pet stores were willing to let them use their space and the shelter refused. That's why I see the place as a slaughter house, not a shelter. I don't know what I can do to change anything as I remember the horrible time we all had years ago getting rid of the drop-boxes. But that was a real dedicated group of people. Most are now gone... deceased or moved away.
its a shame but common paractice in many shelters these days, with high numbers and the sad fact that most people adopting want young puppies and kittens which results in less adotpions of adult dogs, combined with the limited number of available foster homes (here its a scramble to find a foster home for any animal let alone an animal that needs bottle feeding every few hours) neonate euthanasia has become the norm...
seems to be the "solution" for increasing adoption of the older dogs...
personally i think its discusting, i dont feel euthanizing a healthy animal with a good chance at life is the best solution and i also feel that the practice of euthanising all pups (here if something comes in under 8 weeks its almost always automatic pts) is actually pushing many folks into the arms of pet stores and BYBS...they want a puppy and while some who want a puppy will "settle" for an older dog, many will not and when the shelters "dont have any" theyll continue looking puppystores and local bybs are more convenient.
its frustrating...
i dont blame the techs, i dont even blame shelter workers, its typically managment and govt choices, added to a lack of education...
and while low cost spay/neuter clinics are around, they are rarely clearly advertised and the population in general doesnt seem to be being educated...theres nothing here in my area of CT teaching kids the importance of regular vet care ect...its depressing.
but we simply "dont have the money" (bull) for any kind of public awareness programs
its a shame but common paractice in many shelters these days, with high numbers and the sad fact that most people adopting want young puppies and kittens which results in less adotpions of adult dogs, combined with the limited number of available foster homes (here its a scramble to find a foster home for any animal let alone an animal that needs bottle feeding every few hours) neonate euthanasia has become the norm...
And it's sickening. The neonates and the pregnant Queens are the ones I plan to work with. I'm waiting for more information several people are going to send me. It seems we have a lot of rescues and fosters for small dogs here, and not as many, not enough for cats and kittens.
[/quote]seems to be the "solution" for increasing adoption of the older dogs...[/quote]
Oddly enough, older dogs of the smaller breeds are being adopted out here. People want small dogs and most apts in this area will not rent to people with dogs over 25 lbs. The big adult dogs are at a real disadvantage.
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personally i think its discusting, i dont feel euthanizing a healthy animal with a good chance at life is the best solution and i also feel that the practice of euthanising all pups (here if something comes in under 8 weeks its almost always automatic pts) is actually pushing many folks into the arms of pet stores and BYBS...they want a puppy and while some who want a puppy will "settle" for an older dog, many will not and when the shelters "dont have any" theyll continue looking puppystores and local bybs are more convenient.
its frustrating...
It is frustrating. The shelters here always seem to have puppies though. In my entire area I don't know of one place, one store, that sells pups.
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i dont blame the techs, i dont even blame shelter workers, its typically managment and govt choices, added to a lack of education...
and while low cost spay/neuter clinics are around, they are rarely clearly advertised and the population in general doesnt seem to be being educated...theres nothing here in my area of CT teaching kids the importance of regular vet care ect...its depressing.
but we simply "dont have the money" (bull) for any kind of public awareness programs
Where animals are concerned, it's always a cry of poverty. The city commissioners everywhere have the same old cry. No money. No funding... but they keep raising the taxes, building more roads and schools and bridges. There is no way to reach all the people in my county and educate them. The radio and papers wont give free time or space.
It's still a semi-rural county. And we have the ignorant and the plain stupid and the cheap who don't believe in spaying and neutering even if it were free. They'd rather buy a 6-pack of beer.
A vet does not necessarily have to be on premises to "supervise" technician - supervision can be given by "remote" meaning direction over the phone. Euthanasia is performed in small animals through an intraperitoneal procedure all the time when a vein can't be found or hit. Basically they fill the abdomen with the pentobarbital flushes through the cavity and is absorbed. It is slow and can be painful - most will give some sort of sedative first at least. Intracardiac euthanasia is common as well and is fast once the drug is administered as it does not have to circulate through the system - however the delivery is quite painful. Neonates have no distal veins to hit and it is extremely difficult to euthanize traditionally. Any intracardiac or intraperitoneal euth should be gassed first to avoid undue cruelty - but in all honesty many people just don't as they don't see that it matters. It's cruel and when you are forced to do it enough you loose your compassion. It's a sad thing that happens to the wonderful people that enter veterinary medicine - it's a sad truth.
A vet does not necessarily have to be on premises to "supervise" technician - supervision can be given by "remote" meaning direction over the phone.
I see that things have changed since I worked in the Animal Hosp years ago. I can't say if it's for the better or not.
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Euthanasia is performed in small animals through an intraperitoneal procedure all the time when a vein can't be found or hit. Basically they fill the abdomen with the pentobarbital flushes through the cavity and is absorbed. It is slow and can be painful - most will give some sort of sedative first at least. Intracardiac euthanasia is common as well and is fast once the drug is administered as it does not have to circulate through the system - however the delivery is quite painful.
Exactly and this is what I'm against. There are gasses that kill painlessly such as ether. I remember a shelter using that method in NY and saw no suffering. The pups just faded away. I didn't see it used on kits. This 2-shot method is sadistic. How on earth can it be legal and moral to use?
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Neonates have no distal veins to hit and it is extremely difficult to euthanize traditionally. Any intracardiac or intraperitoneal euth should be gassed first to avoid undue cruelty - but in all honesty many people just don't as they don't see that it matters.
I asked. No pre-anesthetic of any kind is used. They suffer and die, helpless. All they can do is scream and cry. I was hoping they at least used some Ether which is cheap and easy to administer.... but nope!
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It's cruel and when you are forced to do it enough you loose your compassion. It's a sad thing that happens to the wonderful people that enter veterinary medicine - it's a sad truth.
I can't help wondering how these people who replied to me managed to work there for several years. Yes, one did seem to lose her compassion. She spoke about the neonates as though they were spoiled excess oranges or pears to be gotten rid of in the back room of a store. I would have nightmares.... probably end up too depressed to even go to work.
I found out by asking in the Pet section of our local Craigslist for replies from people who worked at our shelter-slaughterhouse. My inbox was filled with all kinds of replies.
No one here knows. No one's allowed to know. They've had the same Director with the same rules for years and have no intention of changing a thing. At our shelter, you're not allowed in the building at all. I didn't think they could legally keep a citizen out of a county owned building that taxes pay for, but apparently I was wrong. If your pet is missing you have to sit in your car and wait for someone to come out to you, you tell them what species/breed/ color/sex you pet is and they tell you if they have it. So if you say your yellow lab is loose and they've got it tagged as a tan pit, tough crud for you. Well, for your dog. Same with adoptions. You tell them what you want to adopt and they bring them out one at a time. Some of the stories I've heard from there - and things I've seen with my own eyes and in photos - would keep you up at night.
Have you tried talking to your county commissioners? That's how we got them to remove the animal drop boxes about 25 years ago. People were tossing cats and kittens in with the dogs to hear them being killed.
LOL. Oh, yeh. And they're totally behind the Director of the shelter. When we tried to work with the county we were labeled crazy animal people and the things said about us were horrible. They dug their feet in and started making threats to the people in rescue and those that worked with the HS here. It's pretty corrupt here.
What about your local Press? No help there?
They're worse. They 'interviewed' a few of us when newborn hours old puppies were found inside the building sewage drains (this is why no one is allowed inside anymore) and then totally twisted our words in their article. When we were very vocal about the incorrect reports they smeared our names terribly in the local paper and said we owed the citizens an apology for what we'd said. They even claimed the photos of the puppies in the sewage drain were staged even though it wasn't physically possible to stage them. It's a really bad, small county with corruption that runs deep. I'd heard of places like this and see movies and always thought it was BS. I grew up in a law enforcement family and went into it myself when I was an adult. Then I retired and moved here and I've been appalled at what I've seen ever since. We've tried to get attention from the state and nationally. I've had posts on here with proof and photos and even with people from here calling and complaining, the county refused to do a thing. There simply aren't enough people in the county that care about the animals to band together to vote out the corruption. Never thought a place existed that cared so little for animals that they'd allow the things to go on here that have.
It's legal here as long as the Tech has training and is certified to kill the dogs and cats. What's so galling is we have plenty of people willing to take the neonates to hand raise but the shelter will not allow it. Some rescue people drive out there to Murfreesboro, park in the lot, and stop people from entering the shelter... and ask if they can have the infants to bottle raise. Almost everyone will give them the pups or kits. Once in that shelter, they're doomed. But there aren't enough people to be there on a daily basis. Only 10% of the cats entering that shelter leave it alive and 30% of the dogs.
Murfreesboro......................TN??? PAWS??? Oh, if that's what you're talking about, you've GOT to message me!!!
It was everyone's frustration who replied to my ad that they can't get people here to spay and neuter. We have low-cost spay clinics so there is no excuse.
Oh, there is. People see them as 'things' they can use to pimp out to make a buck for themselves. I see it here daily. It makes me ill. Can you imagine taking a teen girl and pimping her out to sell her babies to people and not bothering to check into who those people are? In my mind, it's the same thing. Those animals are relying on the humans to care for them. Instead, they're neglected and never shown any care of love, never given any direction as far as training, just locked in a cage to pump out as many dollar signs as they can get out of them before they're too old to be of any use to them anymore. It's absolutely sick!
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Originally Posted by =^..^=
And it's sickening. The neonates and the pregnant Queens are the ones I plan to work with. I'm waiting for more information several people are going to send me. It seems we have a lot of rescues and fosters for small dogs here, and not as many, not enough for cats and kittens.
Our problem here is people don't adopt cats. I get calls all the time for litters of kittens that need help. I've got one rescue that's had some success in finding them homes. I think in the four or five years I've done rescue here I adopted a total of 3 kittens. And people wanted to negotiate the $50 adoption fee!!! I feel horrible, but when people call me about cats I have to refer them to the other rescue and I know she's over full. Sadly, you can only take in as many as you can handle and then you're locked in to that number until some are adopted, and here it takes many, many months to find approved adopters. I lost easily $150 for each kitten I took in, which is fine, I don't care how much they 'cost' me, but in that time I had to turn away dozens more. I just couldn't do cat rescue here. Too hard to find them homes.
Where animals are concerned, it's always a cry of poverty. The city commissioners everywhere have the same old cry. No money. No funding... but they keep raising the taxes, building more roads and schools and bridges. There is no way to reach all the people in my county and educate them. The radio and papers wont give free time or space.
It's still a semi-rural county. And we have the ignorant and the plain stupid and the cheap who don't believe in spaying and neutering even if it were free. They'd rather buy a 6-pack of beer.
It's the same in most rural areas, especially if you're in the southeast. We kill animals here at rates higher than other areas. The northeast and the west seem to have a handle on spay/neuter. Of course there are still some dogs in shelters, but if you go through Petfinder you find most of them are labs, pitties, sick or old dogs, or those with aggression issues. In shelters here you find plenty purebred, small breed, and very wonderful dogs in every imaginable color, size and breed. And if you approach most counties about it and try to get changes made, you might as well bang your head against a brick wall. We tried to get annual registration done for the rabies for dogs. We had a lady that STARTED THE HUMANE SOCIETY IN THE COUNTY fighting it because the local BYBs would have to pay $5 or $10 per dog more in annual fees than those that had their pets spayed / neutered. Turns out, she's a freaking BYB herself! How in the world can you work in a rescue type organization and go home and pimp out dogs in your back yard???
All you can do is start a Facebook page or something similar and connect with as many local people there as you can. Do up fliers on your computer asking for all pet lovers to form a local group that meets monthly and see if together you can come up with some ideas. Leave the fliers at vet's offices, grocery stores, pet or farm supply stores, gas stations, etc. Give yourself plenty time for your first meeting - nearly a month - and leave your e-mail and phone number for people to contact you. Suggest the annual registration - increase it by $5 or $10 for unaltered pets per year if you already have one - be put into a dedicated sole account only for spay / neuter programs. Contact people in the national HS and ASPCA groups and see if they can send you any information on humane euthanasia and take that to the county. It's all about money so if you can find anyway to make it more fiscally feasible for them to humanely kill these poor babies, they're more willing to agree.
Get your group of animal lovers together to see if you can start a volunteer group at the shelter. If your Director is a it won't be easy, but try your best to kill them with kindness. Take a basket of muffins or brownies or something in and tell them you admire they work they do. Try to not gag out loud. Then ask if there's anything you can do to help them out so they don't have so much on their plate and they can spend more time with their families. If you can get your foot in the door you may be able over time to talk them into working with pet stores or pet supply stores for adoptions days, start foster programs, etc. Start a Facebook group as 'Friends of xxxx Shelter' and post photos as often as you can of animals coming in, their available and euth dates, etc. Find out what their criteria is for working with rescues to get animals pulled out of there. The rescue world is VERY heavily into Facebook and you'll make friends there FAST. They are good about cross posting and you'll quickly find people that strictly cross post that will help you out.
It's not easy. The entire situation is ugly and stressful and heartbreaking. Unfortunately when dealing with some people, change is resisted even when it's for the good of living creatures. It will come slowly though. Expect set backs, expect brick walls. But if you can get a group together and keep working and keep light pressure on them, it will happen. I don't expect to see a major change in my lifetime but I sure hope my kids will see it in theirs.
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It's not painless or quick. I would never want to see another kit killed this way. 
I don't know what I can do to change anything as I remember the horrible time we all had years ago getting rid of the drop-boxes. But that was a real dedicated group of people. Most are now gone... deceased or moved away. 
it won't be easy, but try your best to kill them with kindness. Take a basket of muffins or brownies or something in and tell them you admire they work they do. Try to not gag out loud. Then ask if there's anything you can do to help them out so they don't have so much on their plate and they can spend more time with their families. If you can get your foot in the door you may be able over time to talk them into working with pet stores or pet supply stores for adoptions days, start foster programs, etc. Start a Facebook group as 'Friends of xxxx Shelter' and post photos as often as you can of animals coming in, their available and euth dates, etc. Find out what their criteria is for working with rescues to get animals pulled out of there. The rescue world is VERY heavily into Facebook and you'll make friends there FAST. They are good about cross posting and you'll quickly find people that strictly cross post that will help you out. 
