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“I hate my job…”

While running a busy pet sitting company in Scottsdale, I get asked at least once a week if I “know someone who wants a dog/cat.” At that point in time I usually read the person the riot act (and now will email them the below…) and tell them they better rethink their decision. As a preface….AZ has the second largest pet overpopulation in the country, and the 72 hr time frame this author talks about is true. Pets dies within 72 hrs of being in the shelter. Period. Now please….read on:

I did not write this, it was taken from a Phoenix craigslist posting, but please read the entire note:
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Letter from a Shelter Manager. Education people, EDUCATION!! Let’s pray that 2009 spares more lives than the 11 million killed last year… (do not stop reading until you’ve reached the end.)

A Letter from a Shelter Manager:

I think our society needs a huge ” Wake-up” call.
As a shelter manager, I am going to share a little insight with you all… a view from the inside if you will.

First off, all of you breeders/sellers should be made to work in the “back” of an animal shelter for just one day.

Maybe if you saw the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused eyes, you would change your mind about breeding and selling to people you don’t even know. That puppy you just sold will most likely end up in my shelter when it’s not a cute little puppy anymore.

So how would you feel if you knew that there’s about a 90% chance that dog will never walk out of the shelter it is going to be dumped at? Purebred or not! About 50% of all of the dogs that are “owner surrenders” or “strays” that come into my shelter are purebred dogs.

The most common excuses I hear are;
“We are moving and we can’t take our dog (or cat).” Really? Where are you moving to that doesn’t allow pets and why did you choose that place instead of a pet friendly home?
Or they say “The dog got bigger than we thought it would”. How big did you think a German Shepherd would get?
“We don’t have time for her”. Really? I work a 10- 12 hour day and still have time for my 6 dogs!
“She’ s tearing up our yard”. How about making her a part of your family, how about some obedience training & exercise?
They always tell me: “We just don’t want to have to stress about finding a place for her we know she’ll get adopted, she’s a good dog.”

Odds are your pet won’t get adopted & how stressful do you think being in a shelter is? Well, let me tell you, your pet has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off. Sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn’t full and your dog manages to stay completely healthy. If it sniffles, it dies.

Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room with about 25 other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps.

It will be depressed and it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it.

If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers in that day to take him/her for a walk. If I don’t, your pet won’t get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of its pen with a high-powered hose.

If your dog is big, black or any of the “Bully” breeds (pit bull, rottie, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door. Those dogs just don’t get adopted.

It doesn’t matter how ‘sweet’ or ‘well behaved’ they are. If your dog doesn’t get adopted within its 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed.

If the shelter isn’t full and your dog is good enough, and of a desirable enough breed it may get a stay of execution, but not for long.

Most dogs get very kennel protective after about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment.

If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed because shelters just don’t have the funds to pay for even a $100 treatment.

Here’s a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being “put-down”….

First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash. They always look like they think they are going for a walk – happy, wagging their tails.

Until, they get to “The Room”, every one of them freak out and put the brakes on when we get to the door. It must smell like death or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there, it’s strange, but it happens with every one of them.

Your dog or cat will be restrained, held down by 1 or 2 vet techs depending on the size and how freaked out they are.

Then a euthanasia tech or a vet will start the process. They will find a vein in the front leg and inject a lethal

dose of the “pink stuff”.

Hopefully your pet doesn’t panic from being restrained and jerk. I’ve seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered with the resulting blood and been deafened by the yelps and screams.
They all don’t just “go to sleep”, sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate on themselves.
When it all ends, your pet’s corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer in the back with all of the other animals that were killed waiting to be picked up like garbage.

What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet food? You’ll never know and it probably won’t even cross your mind. It was just an animal and you can always buy another one, right?

I hope that those of you that have read this are bawling your eyes out and can’t get the pictures out of your head I deal with everyday on the way home from work.

I hate my job, I hate that it exists & I hate that it will always be there unless you people make some changes and realize that the lives you are affecting go much further than the pets you dump at a shelter.

Between 9 and 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters and only you can stop it. I do my best to save every life I can but rescues are always full, and there are more animals coming in everyday than there are homes.

My point to all of this: DON’T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER PETS DIE!

Hate me if you want to. The truth hurts and reality is what it is.

I just hope I maybe changed one person’s mind about breeding their dog, taking their loving pet to a shelter, or buying a dog.

I hope that someone will walk into my shelter and say “I saw this and it made me want to adopt.” THAT WOULD MAKE IT WORTH IT!

If you are looking to adopt: www.petfinder.com

Bella’s House & Pet Sitting would like to offer a special THANK YOU to all those who have saved a life, and a plee for recondiseration to all who think about getting a pet from anyplace else other than a rescue. THIS IS A PROBLEM!

Are your vacation memories, pet pictures, and videos really safe on your computer?

Would you be ok if your computer crashed right now and your lost all your precious pictures and videos of your family, vacations, and pets? Let us help you with these easy tips that will take you less than 5 minutes to do! Read here from my good friend – Mr. Computer Doctor with PC Made EZ….

YOUR PET IS EATING WHAT?!?!?

A few years ago at a pet sitting conference I met the author of The Dog Bible, Tracie Hotchner (www.thedogbible.com), and she sparked my interest in understanding what was really in our pets food. She even introduced me to the head of the National Canine Cancer Foundation located here in Scottsdale. Note: Did you know that 3 out of 4 Golden Retrievers will develop cancer and the closer we come to finding a cure for canine cancer the closer we come to finding a cure are for humans too? (www.wearethecure.org)

When I began this journey I wanted to know what ingredients really are good, what are bad, what brands are healthy, and which well…can end up hurting your pet. It always never seizes to amaze me that the commercials are catered to the human pet owners, which after all, are the buyers. Having dog food bits in different colors, saying that whole grains and vegetables are a good thing, and appealing to our human emotion can be so detrimental to any pet if their human does not do their homework.

cat eating food

This article is intended to spark your interest to DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

A good place to learn is from Sabine at www.dogfoodproject.com She is not a representative and does not get paid by any pet food company. She is completely independent and a national expert. Something which Bella’s House & Pet Sitting always trys to provide our clients with…experts.

For instance….Hills Science Diet. I have been told that this food is one of the WORST, yes WORST foods you can feed your pet. It is like feeding them McDonald’s every meal of the day for the rest of their life! Lets take a closer look…after all it is all right under your nose. Read the label and know what you are reading. Also commonly known in the pet world are low quality brands including Purina and Iams. Although they are endorsed by many…so they must be good, right?

Do your own research! www.DogFoodProject.com

How about the fact that AAFCO is regulated by….(drum roll please) THEMSELVES! If I remember correctly from the congressional hearings about the pet food recall – there are less than 10 people in the office. But somehow they manage to get their “seal of approval” on a bag of food. This is ridiculous!

Friends, Clients, Pet Parents, Bloggers… I encourage you to do your own research to find out what you are really feeding your fur kid. How what you feed could be causing the allergies, cancer, or obesity.

It is not true that the “high quality” foods like Innova, Eagle Pack, Halo… cost more. You feed LESS! The low quality brand has lots of fillers and you have to feed more to make your pet full. This is just the tip of the iceberg… please visit Sabine at: www.dogfoodproject.com

If you want cliff notes please view this pamphlet: http://www.dogfoodproject.com/downloads/booklet_better_products.pdf

You know and care what you put in your own body… you should know what you are doing for your pet as well! Please do your homework!

This information has been provided to you by www.BellasHouseAndPets.com