Goodbye to a little friend

The word "euthanasia" comes from the Greek term eu (good) thanatos (death).  The literal translation means to give a good death.  In modern terms, it is used (or is supposed to be used) to describe the act of euthanizing an animal for humane reasons, especially one who is suffering greatly or experiencing a poor quality of life. 

This is the problem I have with the term being used so loosely to describe what happens at animal control facilities across the country. Lack of space at an animal control facility with severely limited adoption hours, or one that refuses to work with legitimate, licensed rescues is NOT a humane reason to "euthanize".  The animal in this case would not be suffering, nor would it be experiencing a poor quality of life due to a medically untreatable or manageable condition.  The animal in this case would be experiencing a reality caused by humans, and only a truly short sighted individual could rationalize that ending a life due to lack of space is humane.

Why can't animal control facilities apply for animal welfare grants to improve the conditions?  Why can't they offer extended adoption hours one or two nights a week to allow working individuals to actually get there and adopt?  Why can't they employ someone, even on a volunteer basis, to act as a rescue/adoption coordinator to increase public adoptions? 

I want to give a shout out to the Rockdale Animal Control right now.  I don't know much about them, don't know about their euthanasia rates, but we were at an animal adoption fair in Alpharetta a few weeks ago and Rockdale Animal Control showed up with all of the animals who had been there too long and were coming up on time to be euthanized.  They adopted out 18 dogs that day.  AND they micro chipped them as they were being adopted!  This is the same animal control staff that actually attended a Creating No Kill Communities seminar in Douglasville a couple months back.  This is a facility that is really trying to go against the way it has always been done and is trying to save some lives.  Sure is harder to do this, than make up a "list", but it has to feel a lot better to save lives than to end them.  Of course....I've always said, the speed of the leader determines the speed of the pack.  Maybe it's time to shake up some leadership.

Critics of the No-Kill Movement ridicule those of us who embrace it.  They say, and I quote "How can you criticize us when you put down animals too?"  Well, it's easy.  I and my colleagues do not euthanize animals for convenience, or "lack of room".  I and my colleagues do not arbitrarily wake up on Wednesday and Friday and put down animals who have been around too long, or euthanize cats because they are black and it is October, or euthanize cats who are freaked out and stressed in a tiny cage when they have never been in a cage in their lives.  We do not label animals "wild",or  "aggressive" without having them evaluated by a trained animal behaviorist to ensure that they aren't perhaps just scared, or injured,  or poorly socialized.

So, you may wonder why I titled this post "Goodbye to a little friend".  Well, it's because yesterday I met a little guy at Coweta Animal Control who touched my heart.  I named him "Peanut" because he was so little.  Peanut had been at that facility for his mandatory 7 day hold period.  There was a flurry of activity, and postings to save him and offers came flooding in, but no one showed up to get him.  I was at the shelter to pick up two puppies - two little misidentified pitbull mixes - who were on the "list" for this morning.  As I was signing out the puppies, the clerk asked me if I was getting the dog I've named Peanut.  I said I had no plans to, but believed he was getting out the next day.  They told me he was on the "list" for this morning, so having no idea what I was going to do with him, I signed him out. 

They told me that Peanut "wasn't much on walking" and asked if I had a towel to wrap him in.  They carried Peanut out wrapped in a towel and he didn't so much as lift his head.  I placed Peanut on the front seat beside me and tried to prop him up in an upright manner, but he just fell over.  He laid like that the whole way to the vet's office.  I prayed the whole way he wouldn't die before I could get there.  I parked the car, left it running with AC full blast and went and checked in.  I went back out to get him and he had not moved an inch...still laying on his side with his head hanging off the seat.  I bundled him up and walked in with him.  The people in the waiting room were aghast at his condition.  First of all, this dog smelled worse than words can possibly describe.  His eyes were completely matted shut with gooey discharge because he suffered from a horrible condition referred to as "dry eye".  He was blind.  He had no teeth.  He had growths all over his little body.  He had a horrible honking cough and his heart murmur was so significant, you could feel it vibrating by placing your hand on his breastbone.  Needless to say, people moved out of my way when I walked in with him.  A short time later, after consulting with the veterinarian, we euthanized Peanut.  He was given something he may never have known in his life - compassion and people who put his needs ahead of their  own feelings and needs.  Did I enjoy it?  Absolutely not.  Did the vet?  Of course not.  So why would we have chosen this option for him?  It's really quite simple.  We were advocates for Peanut.  We gave Peanut a "good death" and ended his horrible suffering.  This, gentle reader, is euthanasia.

Goodbye my little friend.

Tomorrow's euthanasia list at Coweta County Animal Control

A lot of people may wonder what good it will do to have a No-Kill Shelter. I don't want to say "if" we get a shelter, I prefer to say "when" we get one. Right now at Coweta County and over a hundred other government run facilities across Georgia, there are literally thousands of animals waiting. Waiting for owners who will never come back, waiting for the right adopter to come along, waiting for a rescue group to take pity on them and save them, waiting....to die.

Tomorrow in our little county facility, there are TWELVE hearts that are scheduled to stop beating. You can call it euthanasia, or whatever you want, but the bottom line is TWELVE lives will end tomorrow. Then more on Friday, then more next Wednesday, next Friday and so on, ad nauseum.

Of those twelve lives - they have been classified this way: 5 are sick (therefore they must be euthanized), 4 are on the list due to their breed identification (pitbulls or pit mixes...therefore they must be euthanized), 1 has been classified as Aggressive (and must therefore be euthanized), and 1 has been classified as wild (and therefore must be euthanized). Only one little cat has been classified as healthy, adoptable, but there too long.....and must therefore be euthanized. Does it bother anyone else that 91% of the animals on this "list" are classified as unhealthy, untreatable or unadoptable? Doesn't that seem like an extraordinarily high percentage? I've lived in this county since 1994, and have worked in the veterinary field since 2001 and can literally count on two hands the number of truly vicious, aggressive animals I have encountered - including those at animal control facilities.

I have a cat named Cameo. Cammie came to me after she was abandoned at a boarding facility. She was so mean that the staff had to wear leather welding gloves to change her litter box and food. She bit me the first day I met her. Yet there was something about her that just broke my heart. Maybe it was so sad to me that her owner had ditched her after 11 years, or maybe it was just that look of utter fear and confusion in her eyes. Either way...I just couldn't let her die. I brought her home and here I am ten years later with a 21 year old cat who is sweet, affectionate and brings joy to me every day as she greets me when I get home. This was a so called "wild" cat, an "aggressive" cat who couldn't be handled and was literally plucked from the brink of death.

I once rescued a dog classified as a "bite case". She came into the shelter VERY pregnant...in fact she was in labor. Apparently, in labor and in distress, she had bitten someone who tried to move her. Thus, she became a "rescue only" bite case. We rescued her and her EIGHT beautiful 6 day old puppies. If we had not taken her, she would have been euthanized along with those precious little newborns.

So I guess this is what bothers me most by these classifications. How many of them are truly vicious, aggressive, or wild? How many of them are really just confused, scared, hurt? Animals don't have words to tell us, "Stop! I don't like that, or I'm scared!" Animals only have snarls, hisses, growls and barks to warn us away when they are frightened or injured. They rely on us, as the "superior beings" to exercise good judgment in interpreting these natural reactions.

So this my friends is why we WILL have a No-Kill Shelter in Newnan. This is why we must fight for them and create a no-kill community. They didn't ask to be born, and they don't deserve to die simply because they end up on a "list".

Chase Community Giving - you can support us without spending a dime!

NCHS is participating in a new challenge called Chase Community Giving. This one is based on Facebook and doesn't cost a dime! All you need to do is sign into Facebook, navigate to Chase Community Giving's fanpage where you can search for your favorite charity - of course Newnan Coweta Humane Society! You can vote for as many charities as you want

The really cool thing about this one is that TWO HUNDRED charities will be awarded a grant by inspiring supporters to click and vote. No donations, no hoops to jump through, just point, click and vote. Please consider helping NCHS win at least $25,000 by putting us in the top 200 charities. $25,000 will go a long way to help us open our No Kill Shelter!

Long time no see!!

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged. I started this blog when we first entered the America's Giving Challenge which we did not win, but did raise over $30,000 in donations!!! So, I'm excited and humbled to say that in the years since then we've continued to fundraise, apply for grants and finally are getting ready to open PHASE I of this dream - a No-Kill Shelter in Newnan, GA!!

We have signed the lease on our building which will operate as a Low-Cost/High-Volume Spay Neuter Clinic in participation with the Humane Alliance in Asheville, NC. The Humane Alliance and their National Spay/Neuter Response Team are an incredible group of talented, passionate people who have a proven model that makes spay/neuter affordable without sacrificing the quality of the veterinary care provided to the animals! NCHS is deeply honored to have been accepted into this program. We anticipate the opening of our clinic in September 2010!!

As part of our business model for this facility, we will have a small capacity for holding animals awaiting transport to receiving rescues, thus ensuring that these animals are properly quarantined, vaccinated and spayed/neutered before going to these receiving rescues! This has been a critical missing piece in our rescue transport program and we look forward to saving hundreds, if not thousands more lives by having this capacity.

We continue on our quest, to have a stand-alone, open admission Animal Shelter and to END EUTHANASIA in our county's animal control facility due to lack of space. In our minds, to kill (yes, I said kill) healthy animals or those with treatable or manageable medical conditions due to lack of space is unconscionable. We have proven our tenacity by our accomplishment of the Spay/Neuter Clinic, and we know that our PHASE II - No Kill Animal Shelter is in our sights!

Join us in helping make this phase of our dream for the animals a reality. Go to our website at www.NCHSrescue.org and click on the link to "Donate". There is a link for the Spay/Neuter Clinic Project where you can donate and designate it for Phase II-No Kill Shelter!! Thank you for caring and we'll be reporting back soon on our progress!