Unwanted

[Christina Pontius]

After Sargeant came to live with us, I told my husband it was his turn, we could start looking for that bulldog he wanted. Since we are people who will only adopt (it took a number of years to find Sargeant, today, finding a purebred dog is much easier), we have been having problems finding one. The ones in shelters are picked up quickly and most rescues will only adopt to people in their area. The animal shelter we have here in Hastings puts an ad in the weekly paper noting some of the dogs and cats they have. Last Saturday a 10 month old bulldog was listed. We could not get to the shelter until Monday. When we got there we were told she had already been adopted. We were happy to hear that and hoped she had found a good home. We decided to take a quick walk through to see who else was available. There were a number of dogs that were happy to see us. We scratched a number of faces and were the recipients of a number of kisses. Each kennel had a sign describing the dog. There were a number of dogs that were turned in by their owners because the owners were moving and could not take the dog, typical of the time we are living. A few were strays and could have their owners find them. A couple of dogs made me the saddest. One was a shepherd mix named Lucy. She would come to the front of the kennel, sniff your hand, but then go back to the back of the kennel. She was one that was turned in by her family because of a move. I knew she was looking for her family and did not understand why they left her in that horrible, scary place. She was probably even grieving. Her eyes still haunt me. They still haunt my husband too. The second one that made me the saddest was a chocolate lab mix that was friendly and loving, we got a lot of kisses from him. The sign on his kennel said he was unwanted. UNWANTED!!! That was it, unwanted. How could anyone not want this lovable pup? Did he tear up your favorite pair of shoes?! Did he pee on the rug one too many times?! Oh did this infuriate me. Actually the sign was honest, all of these dogs were obviously unwanted or they would not be at the shelter. I wanted to take them all home, but our financial situation and the city would not allow all of those dogs at our house. I do not know how I got out of that place without taking one home. I told my husband it was his decision and we came home to think about it. Now our financial situation has gotten even worse, so we will probably not get to go back to get one of those sad faces.
It frustrates me so much to see more and more members of the ASPCA community who have bought a dog from a pet store, or from a backyard breeder when there are so many dogs needing homes in shelters and rescues. Do they not understand what the ASPCA stands for? Anytime someone asks where my dog came from, I proudly tell them he is a rescue and I urge them to adopt too. I understand people have had bad experiences with shelters and rescues, but those are the exceptions, not the rule.

[Christina Pontius]

My husband & I decided to go back to the shelter and get Lucy. We could not get there until Saturday (4-18). When we got to the shelter, we could not find her. We checked with the women at the desk and they did not even know who we were talking about. They told us she was either taken by the SPCA, adopted or euthanized, they did have to euthanize six dogs this past week. She had been one of the featured pets in the paper that week, I would hope they would not euthanize a featured pet. The way we were made to feel and that the women could not tell us what had happened to her made us feel horrible. This is a small shelter, so not knowing which dogs are which is disheartening. The sheriff's department runs the shelter and it is not run well. They have inmates working at the shelter, so volunteers are not allowed. I am trying to find out why the Humane Society in this town does not get involved, all they do is a Spay Day every year. These poor animals are obviously treated without any feeling or heart. My husband was so devastated that he swears he will never deal with that shelter again. I am trying to convince him that kind of attitude will only hurt the animals and not the employees. I have cried my eyes out over this, I saw this dog in my mind's eye as a member of our family, I could see her and Sargeant laying around together and following me around the house together and playing in our backyard together. My heart is heavy and I am grieving. I feel I cannot change anybody's mind. The dealings I have had with humans this past week has made me feel that all of their minds are made up and they cannot be changed. Very few people I have dealt with have shown any kind of compassion. I can only find it on these websites and then not from everyone. I cannot write anymore about this, it hurts my heart too much.