Humane Sheltering

My car pool partner told me about the SPCA animal shelter in town that allows volunteers to walk dogs.

I'm a pet lover that knows I can't be a responsible pet owner so rather than subject a dog to my screwy work hours and inability to commit I thought I'd volunteer for a good cause. Seems to me a nice way to spend time with animals.

So I called up the local SPCA and the woman on the phone was completely rude. She made it clear she didn't care to discuss the volunteer programs. I asked about three questions, and the answer to each was "just come fill out an application". I was just a bit surprised, but why should I be? First of all, she could have been having a really bad day. Second of all, when people are searching for work, it often means searching for any work. Just because she works there doesn't mean she enjoys aniamsl. Needless to say, I really do have screwy work hours so I have decided they won't have orientation when I'm available. I'll just have to find another volunteer opportunity.

Part of the reason this came about today was because I have my nephew in town for the summer and he wants a puppy (which he can't have). When he asked why, I figured it was the perfect time to tell him that about half of animals left at animal shelters (3-4 million) are killed rather than adopted each year (got the #s here). I said I'd never get a puppy because I can't guarantee I'll keep the dog until it is old.

The "why can't I" questions continued so I told my nephew the story of another woman I worked with about a year ago that bred her non-papered Rottweilers every time it was possible. The dog would have 4-5 puppies. This woman could never sell many of the puppies because they didn't come with papers. She admitted to dropping the others off at the pound, or at grocery stores, etc, and starting again every chance she had. This woman and I never did become friendly because I told her, "Anything to make a few bucks, huh?" She didn't appreciate that.

(By the way, I didn't tell my nephew about being a bit sarcastic with that woman about her choices because I figured I was taking a bit of a risk telling someone like her what I thought of her puppy mill.)

The end of the conversation boiled down to, I know I can't promise a dog a home for many years so I won't get one.

Here is a post about another Nevada shelter that I found ... Las Vegas Shelter killed 1,000 Pets Last Week

One of the statements in this article is: The facility doesn't keep any of the roughly 7,000 animals it sees each year if they run out of space at its animal Karen Layne, president of the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society, said Lied's policy as a low-kill facility "was a mirage" that led residents to believe it was OK for their dogs and cats to have offspring.

Since I can't go walking dogs to do my good deed, I'll end this post by saying. "Spay and neuter your pets."

(Here is the silly ending after all the credits are over ... pork and beans.)