Mississippi Animal shelter near closing

[Jdarg]

Sadly, unwanted animals are dumped in every state, not just Mississippi.

I support the efforts of no-kill shelters, but I am also a realist. No-kill shelters need to be realistic in their adoption efforts, and realistic about the animals they save. Not all animals are adoptable due to breed temperment issues and history (medical and former living conditions), and in fact, it is very irresponsible to adopt out certain dog breeds that are statistically involved in the most attacks on humans (pits, chows, rotts, shar-peis, akitas, etc). I know people will say that the breed is not the issue, but when these type breeds show up at shelters, they have usually had a bad life, and the bad breed traits will very often show up because of former mistreatment or training them to be mean.

Feral cats are also difficult adoptions, and many end up back on the street because they never turn into the sweet loving family cat.

Responsible no-kill shelters should be very mindful of the animals they are putting in an adoption program, especially animals that could be adopted by families with small children or elderly family members. I just looked through a few shelter adoption websites and found way too many dogs that I would not consider family friendly. Sadly, not all dogs are adoptable, and euthanasia is preferable over adopting out a dangerous dog that kills or maims a child, or is "re-dumped" when the adopting family determines that the dog is dangerous. Too much money is spent on unadoptable dogs, when that money could be better spent on care and marketing for the truly adoptable dogs (and cats too).

Also, shelters should be completing a thorough check on the adopters- and have stringent guidelines- or that pet will be back on the street and in a shelter. Not every person is or will be a good pet owner (just like some people shouldn't have kids!).

In the mean time, more money needs to be spent on low cost spay/neuter programs and education. Many times, it is low income pet owners who can't afford the spay/neuter and basic vet care.

Regarding the AKC, I wish they had more stingent guidlelines on breeders, and would limit the number of litters per dog. There are responsible breeders out there, but I think there are more bad than good. I am sickened by people who use their dogs as "cash dogs" and make money on litter after litter. These people need to find another way to make money, instead of pimping out their *****, literally.

As I said, I am a realist. I am an animal lover, but with pet ownership comes a lot of responsibility. People in the business of placing animals into adoptive homes have a huge responsibility to both the pet and the adopting family, and a bleeding heart won't be effective. We need to look at this issue from all sides.

 

[Cork On the Ocean]

Unfortunately, Mississippi is a state where dogs are dumped off in people's yards. Cats also. I cannot tell you how many I see wandering Hwy 72 in Northeast Ms., pitiful. I'm not saying dogs are not dumped out where I live because they are, but in the country it is more prevalent.

Hi Lady

Sadly, unwanted animals are dumped in every state, not just Mississippi.

I support the efforts of no-kill shelters, but I am also a realist. No-kill shelters need to be realistic in their adoption efforts, and realistic about the animals they save. Not all animals are adoptable due to breed temperment issues and history (medical and former living conditions), and in fact, it is very irresponsible to adopt out certain dog breeds that are statistically involved in the most attacks on humans (pits, chows, rotts, shar-peis, akitas, etc). I know people will say that the breed is not the issue, but when these type breeds show up at shelters, they have usually had a bad life, and the bad breed traits will very often show up because of former mistreatment or training them to be mean.

Feral cats are also difficult adoptions, and many end up back on the street because they never turn into the sweet loving family cat.

Responsible no-kill shelters should be very mindful of the animals they are putting in an adoption program, especially animals that could be adopted by families with small children or elderly family members. I just looked through a few shelter adoption websites and found way too many dogs that I would not consider family friendly. Sadly, not all dogs are adoptable, and euthanasia is preferable over adopting out a dangerous dog that kills or maims a child, or is "re-dumped" when the adopting family determines that the dog is dangerous. Too much money is spent on unadoptable dogs, when that money could be better spent on care and marketing for the truly adoptable dogs (and cats too).

Also, shelters should be completing a thorough check on the adopters- and have stringent guidelines- or that pet will be back on the street and in a shelter. Not every person is or will be a good pet owner (just like some people shouldn't have kids!).

In the mean time, more money needs to be spent on low cost spay/neuter programs and education. Many times, it is low income pet owners who can't afford the spay/neuter and basic vet care.

Regarding the AKC, I wish they had more stingent guidlelines on breeders, and would limit the number of litters per dog. There are responsible breeders out there, but I think there are more bad than good. I am sickened by people who use their dogs as "cash dogs" and make money on litter after litter. These people need to find another way to make money, instead of pimping out their *****, literally.

As I said, I am a realist. I am an animal lover, but with pet ownership comes a lot of responsibility. People in the business of placing animals into adoptive homes have a huge responsibility to both the pet and the adopting family, and a bleeding heart won't be effective. We need to look at this issue from all sides.

Regarding breed profiling, I agree that unadoptable dogs should be euthanized (food agressive, child agressive etc) but I haven't found a correlation between breed and temperament that warrants blanket euthanization of a breed. I always believed that pits were mean until I did animal rescue after Katrina. Some of the sweetest dogs that we took in were female and bait pitbulls. They just wanted love so badly and they were such sweet dogs. I think these poor things have been through enough and deserve a chance at a good life. On the other hand, there were fighting pits that needed to be tranquilized to walk or feed. Absolutely, these animals could never be trusted. I just don't think it's humane to euthanize all dogs of a certain breed. It's the owners, not the breed. A person with a family may not want an agressive dog but a single woman might choose one for additional protection so what may be good for some, may not be the right fit for another.

I think ALL rescues should be staged, watched and tested. I totally agree with you that placements should be responsible and adopters should be screened. I know I had to go through an extensive screening and I've kept in touch with the operation that staged Sunshine. Most breeders don't followup on their placements once they sell the dog so requiring long term followup for shelters is not necessarily fair and maybe unrealistic considering their short-staffing and underfunding.

I'm not a bleeding heart. I just respect all life and can't condone allowing people to make more when so many die every day. I can't understand why anyone would NEED a purebred animal or want one considering that anytime that money can be made, abuse and greed will occur. It's inevitable.

There are too many irresponsible (according to society) breeders. Those puppy mill dogs NEVER leave a small cage where they eat and go to the bathroom with little human contact. When they are rescued they are afraid of humans and incontinent. I don't think we should just keep euthanizing these animals?

Then there are "responsible" breeders. My mother is a very small "responsible" breeder with an AKC champion. Some of her "responsible" mentor breeder friends have 20 or more dog stacked in small cages. These dogs have great vet care. They are let out of their cages only 2 or 3 hours a day and about 20% of them have their throats mutilated so that they don't bark in the high density environment. I've seen a Yorkie bred so small that the animal lived in pain and casts because his bones were too weak. Three legged dogs. Severe Hip Dysplasia where the animal limps at 6 months. All from the top breeders in the country that are the big winners of international shows. Those are the throw-aways.

I've personally seen atrocities by the top trainers of world champion Tennessee Walking Horses to make the animals do that "unnatural" high step. Yet the crowd cheers, the more the horse leans back on their haunches, completely unaware of what is going on - never seeing the razor blades in their hoofs.

Most animal lovers can't bear to look at what really goes on and I don't judge them. It's not something that I went looking for but when it came to me I just couldn't ignore it. About 3 years ago, I felt exactly the same as most people here. Believe me, sometimes I wish it were different but I've seen first hand the reality of what goes and I think that does make me a realist. If we all keep doing the best we can, some won't suffer and I think that's the best we can hope for because I don't ever see an end to it.