Letter From A Shelter Manager (The Sad Truth)

A Letter from a Shelter Manager (forwarded to us by Yen):

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?

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!

DON'T BUY FROM PET SHOPS. ADOPT FROM AN ANIMAL SHELTER. CALL YEN IF YOU CAN PROVIDE A HOME FOR A RESCUED DOG OR CAT. CALL HER ALSO IF YOU WANT TO BOARD YOUR PETS. SHE HAS A GREAT PLACE AND THEY WON'T BE CAGED. THE INCOME SHE EARNS FROM BOARDING GOES INTO RESCUING AND REHOMING STRAYS. SO YOUR PETS HAVE A GREAT TIME WHILE YOU ARE AWAY AND IN THE PROCESS YOU ARE ALSO HELPING ABANDONED AND HOMELESS ANIMALS.YEN: 012 415 1524

Jill Robinson Attend's FFF Ambassador, Jewel's, Birthday Party

Story below from NST Streets dated April 1, 2009

The Furry Friends Farm is extending a helping hand to absorb 20 Pulau Ketam's stray animals. If you can help to raise funds please call 016 631 9018.

KAJANG: Residents of Murni Charity Home attended a rather unusual birthday party at their residence recently.

The birthday party was held in honour of Jewel, a rescued stray dog, which had touched the hearts of many with her resilience.

Before she was rescued, Jewel had struck up a friendship with a road sweeper in Taman Wahyu, Jalan Ipoh.

Although she was in pain after injuring her right hind leg in two accidents, Jewel did not complain and was content to tag along with her friend, the sweeper.


The man had built a little shelter for her in the corner of a children's playground.

One day, Jewel was almost nabbed by dog catchers from the municipal council.

She was rescued by a family who contacted an animal shelter called the Furry Friends Farm for help.

Her rescuers and the sweeper paid for her treatment at a private veterinary clinic.

Jewel had an operation recently to amputate her injured hind leg.

She continues to be an inspiration to people around her.

Besides celebrating her second birthday on March 23, Jewel was also appointed the Furry Friends Farm's third ambassador.

Furry Friends Farm principal Sabrina Yeap said the celebration was a beacon of hope to all strays and carried a special message under the organisation's Love and Care for Every Stray programme which was introduced last October in conjunction with World Animal Day.

"There has to be greater awareness on the part of individuals and the government in the treatment of animals.

"Our organisation stands for more humane treatment of strays, while helping to brighten up the lives of people with disabilities," said Yeap.

Baby Orang Utan Kisses Soldier

From The Star Newspaper

FIRST ENCOUNTER TURNS INTO ORANG UTAN RESCUE MISSION
By SHARON LING

KUCHING: Highly-decorated former soldier Kanang Langkau has killed communists deep in Malaysian jungles, but has never seen a baby orang utan before.

“In all my 25 years serving in the jungle during my army days, I never came across a baby orang utan.


“They’re so rare and we need to protect them so that our grandchildren can still see them in the future,” he said.

[Pucker up: Kanang (right) getting a kiss from the baby orang utan before handing the primate over to Landong]

Kanang, who was shot three times when his platoon ambushed a communist camp in Perak in 1980 and killed five communists, was awarded the Panglima Gagah Berani and Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa medals in 1981.

He had his first encounter with the baby primate last Friday when his friend businessman Tay Choon Yong was driving through the Lingga bazaar near Sri Aman, about 200km from here, and came across a boy playing with the baby orang utan by the roadside.

“I don’t know how the boy got hold of the orang utan but I suspect it was being kept as a pet,” Tay said.

Tay persuaded the boy to give him the animal by telling him that it could not be kept as a pet and that it probably would not survive in captivity.

He then called Kanang to inform him about the orang utan and Kanang proposed sending it to Semenggoh.

The two drove here yesterday to hand the animal over to Sarawak Forestry staff members and requested for it to be named Simanggang after the old name for the Sri Aman division where it was found.

Sarawak Forestry chief park warden Wilfred Landong said the orang utan would be sent to the Matang Wildlife Centre for rehabilitation and possibly released back into the wild.

“We may release it in the Kubah National Park, where the Matang Wildlife Centre is located, or at Semenggoh,” he said.

He added that special care would need to be given to the baby as it was without its mother.

“We’ll see if it can have a surrogate mother at Matang,” he said.

Landong said Sarawak Forestry would also investigate how the baby orang utan ended up in captivity.

He said Sarawak Forestry would send a team to Lingga to find out whether there was any previously unknown orang utan habitat in the area.

“We’re very interested in finding out if there’s a new habitat there. If yes, we will propose steps to protect the area,” he said.

Successful Adoption Drive

Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better held an adoption drive at a mall at Ara Damansara recently and it was a hugh success. It was wonderful to hear Wani, one of the organizers, say "We've run out of dogs".

What's more lovely to this endearing story is that many of the dogs were rescued from the DBKL Setapak pound which TV3 exposed in its programme as having allegedly abused dogs and cats, beating them to death and drowning them, according to public complaints.














Here is Wani interviewing a potential family for one of the pound dogs. This couple have already fallen in love with this young pup but Wani is concerned they live in Bentong.



















After bringing over another team member from MDDB who is able to check up on them in Bentong the happy couple's application is finally given some consideration. Regular follow-ups are done to ensure the adopted dogs have gone to loving homes.
















Another happy family in above pix after a successful adoption.




















Education is not forgotten with posters of newspaper stories and other write-ups and notices to inform the public of their responsibilities in the area of animal welfare.
















Can you believe this little guy was rescued from the DBKL pound? His proud guardian holding on to his leash said he didn't look like this when she first took him from the pound. His skin condition was bad and he was malnutritioned. We cannot believe it from looking at him now. His coat is thick and shiny and he walked around proudly with a plastic container around his neck collecting donations from the public.
















The cats were not forgotten too. It is amazing to see the transformation of grubby looking cats living on the streets in the hands of these angels from MDDB group. They look so beautiful and healthy. This is what love can do. To think these angels are just ordinary folk like you and me who, on many occasions, personally bear the expenses of fostering these animals is even more remarkable.

If you would like to learn more about this group and see how you can help them, visit: http://malaysiandogsdeservebetter.blogspot.com

The wonderful work being done by Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better

Many of us opened the Star newspaper one morning and were horrified at this image, thinking what cruel, heartless human being could have caused this dog to look like this. While many would chose to do nothing or at the very least send it to the animal shelter to be put down to save it from misery, the Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better Team decided to give the dog a chance to live a good life. They set out to heal it first from its skin condition.

After medical care, good food and tender loving kindness, this is how the dog looks today.

To the animal shelters who are mere dumping grounds for unwanted pets and strays and do nothing to educate people (for education is the key) this one act of kindness speaks volumes and have educated thousands watching.

During the time Christians are celebrating Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, let me quote St. Francis Assisi, "Go out to the world and evangelize. Use words, if necessary."

Help Ramin Find Arjun

Many of us who are involved in animal welfare have heard of the story of Arjun who, unfortunately is still missing. Ramin lost Arjun several months ago in a thunderstorm and he has never stopped looking for him. Everyday he spends at least four hours after work tracking down the routes Arjun has taken according to eye witnesses. He has distributed flyers and spoken to hundreds of people.

Arjun is 10 years old and was adopted by Ramin from an animal shelter. It is heart wrenching to see Ramin tireless search and draw maps and never lose heart that one day he and his beloved Arjun will be reunited. So please click here to go to Ramin's website and see how you can help. Perhaps you live in the area Arjun has been spotted. Take a good look at his photo and see how you can help:

www.HelpArjun.com