Letter from a pound employee

First of all, all pet sellers/breeders should work at least ONE DAY in a pound.
Maybe seeing those sad, lost... troubled eyes would change your mind about breeding and selling to people you don't even know.
That puppy you just sold will probably end up in my pound when he's no longer a pretty ball of fur.
So... how would you feel if you knew there was a 90% chance that this dog would never get out of the pound if he even got there?
Whether it's purebred or not. 50% of the dogs that come into my center, whether abandoned or from the street, are purebreds...
The most frequent excuses I hear are:
- "We're moving house and can't take our cat/dog with us".
Really?
Where are you moving so you can't take a pet and why did you choose this place and not another where you could keep it?
- "The dog got bigger than we thought".
And how big did you think a German Shepherd was?
- "I don't have time to take care of it".
Is that true?
I work 10 or 12 hours a day and still manage to find time for my 6 dogs.
- "He's ruining our whole yard".
Why don't you take him inside with you?


People always tell me, "You don't have to insist on finding him a home, we know he'll be adopted, he's a good dog".
The sad thing is that your pet will NOT be adopted.... and do you know how stressful a pound is?
Let me tell you:
The animal has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you leave it.
Sometimes a little longer if the pound isn't full and manages to keep him in perfect health.
If he catches a cold, he dies.
He'll be confined to a small cage, surrounded by the barking and crying of 25 others.
He'll have to fend for himself to eat and sleep.
He'll be depressed, constantly crying about the family that abandoned him.
If he's lucky, and if I have enough volunteers, he can be taken out once in a while.
If not, he won't get any attention except a plate of food slipped under the cage door and a few squirts of water.
If the dog is large, black or of a "bull" breed (pit bull, mastiff...), you've led him to his death as soon as he's gone through the door.
These dogs are generally not adopted.
It doesn't matter if he's "gentle" or "trained"...
If the dog is not adopted within 72 hours of being admitted and the shelter is full, it will be sacrificed.
If the shelter is not full and the dog is sufficiently gentle and of an attractive breed, his execution may be postponed, but not for long.
Most dogs are put in protective cages and sacrificed if they show the slightest sign of aggression.
Even the calmest dog can change in such an environment.


If your dog is infected with kennel cough (canine infectious tracheobronchitis) or any other respiratory infection, it will be sacrificed immediately, simply because pounds can't afford to pay for 150-euro treatments.
And here's something about euthanasia for those who have never witnessed how a perfectly healthy animal will be sacrificed:
First, it will be taken out of its cage on a leash.
Dogs always think they're going for a walk, so they go out happily, wagging their tails... until they get to the "room", at which point they all slam on the brakes.
They must smell or sense death or feel the sad souls that have been left there.
It's weird, but it happens with all of them without exception.
The dog or cat will be held by 1 or 2 veterinary technicians, depending on its size and nervousness.
Then, a euthanasia specialist or veterinarian will begin the process of finding a vein in its front paw and injecting the dose of "pink stuff".
Let's hope the animal doesn't get spooked by feeling immobilized.
I've seen them scratch themselves and end up covered in their own blood, deafened by barking and screaming.
Not all "sleep" immediately.
Sometimes they spasm for a moment and soil themselves.
When it's all over, your pet's corpse will be piled up like a piece of wood in a big freezer, with all the other animals, waiting to be picked up like garbage.
What happens next?
Will it be incinerated?
Do they take it to the dump?
Do they turn it into animal feed?
You'll never know, and you'll probably never wonder.
It was just one animal and you can always buy another, right?


I hope that if you've read this far, your eyes have been troubled and you can't get out of your head the images that occupy my mind every day when I get home from work.
I hate my job, I hate that it exists and I hate that I know it will always exist unless you change and realize the lives you are wasting, far more than just the one you leave at the pound.
Between 9 and 11 million animals die in pounds every day, and only you can stop it.
I do everything I can to save the lives I can, but the shelters (pounds) are always full and every day there are more animals coming in than going out. I just want to stress this point:
DON'T BREED OR BUY ANIMALS AS LONG AS THERE ARE ANIMALS DYING IN POUNDS.
Hate me if you want.
The truth is painful and reality is what it is.
I just hope that with this text at least one person will have changed their mind about breeding and abandoning their pet in a pound or about buying a dog.
Hopefully, one day someone will come to my work and say "I've read this and I want to adopt". It would be worth it.


If you want the situation to change, send this text back to all your contacts.

Jazz M. Onster.