News @lemmy.world jeffw @lemmy.world 2 mo. ago

America’s animal shelters are overwhelmed. Pets – and staff – are at breaking point

www.theguardian.com America’s animal shelters are overwhelmed. Pets – and staff – are at breaking point

The shelter where I work took in 694 animals last year. Every day, we face animal cruelty – and communicating the crisis can feel impossible

Just a warning, this article has some unpleasant parts to read

53 comments

A friendly reminder to "adopt don't shop!" My wife and I just adopted a dog a few weeks ago (sadly, we had to put down one of our dogs a few months back)
- I agree with you 100% but even adoption has been corrupted. Go to petfinder.com and search for a doodle. You will instantly see a bunch of puppies that are clearly from the same litter with an "adoption fee" of $800. I recently learned it's called "retail rescue".
  
  We need to start heavily regulating breeders and educating the public.
  
  Most people really need to stop getting their hearts set on a specific breed when adopting. I constantly see posts of people rehoming dogs because they can't keep up with them or meet their needs. Like, yeah, maybe instead of adopting a 1 year old Aussie, you should've gotten a 5 year old chihuahua if you're not the kind of person who runs and does agility and shit.
  
  Also, I had a labradoodle who was rescued (as a 7 year old) from a puppy mill, which is where pretty much all doodles come from now. He shed like a motherfucker, was absolutely not hypoallergenic, and cost a ton of time and money in grooming bills. He was also the single most anxious dog I've ever had. We adored him but they're not some magical perfect breed. (We didn't seek one out, my parents just fell in love when I was fostering him.)
  
  That’s why you go to a local shelter or through a legit nonprofit. My poor guy was a stray abandoned in a park and cops took him to the SPCA :(
  
  But yeah, that just sounds like backyard breeding with extra step
- Definitely adopt and do it from your shelter. And get a mutt because they tend to be smarter and healthier. Don't go to a shelter looking for a breed, go to a shelter looking for a dog that you make a personal connection with. That is how I have always done it (with one exception that we got from a rescue instead) and I have not regretted it with the four dogs I have had in my life.
  
  I am sorry you had to lose one of your dogs. It's always so hard because to a loving pet owner, they are family.
  
  Thanks, they really are family members! It was hard because we only had him about 4 years. It’s hard no matter how old they are but we had to put him down when he was only 10. In those last few days his quality of life totally changed though. Luckily we had like 6 months warning and he lived towards the long end of the vet’s expectations given the size of the mass they had found.
  
  Well put, but I'd say include your lifestyle to help in selecting that mutt's breeds.
  
  As in, don't get a working dog breed if you can't be there to give them something to do all day.
  
  But it's really best to meet mutts to see if you gel together.
- Same goes for children, too!
- I don't expect this to be a popular opinion, but by all means, adopt the pets created by unethical breeders instead of buying ones from breeders who are ethical, cautious, involved, and caring.
  
  All these people who are vehemently "adopt, don't shop" never like to have it pointed out that they are adopting puppy mill dogs who need to be rescued. Those dogs do need to be rescued, but we should support good breeding practices at the same time. Responsible breeders should not be lumped in with the puppy mill trash. They should be what we aspire the future of dog breeding (and buying/adopting) to be.
I think a lot of people got pets during covid and are now dumping them.
- FWIW, this is anecdotal evidence based on my recent adoption but in chatting with staff, that wave is largely over.
- That's certainly been the case here. Shelters are overwhelmed with dogs who were never properly trained or socialized, which in turn means it takes longer to get them adopted because they need extensive (re)training.
I see this is a symptom of the larger problem of the unaffordability of life we face today due to low wages and inflation. People being unable to afford simple life necessities can certainly not afford to keep the pets they once cared for. It’s horribly tragic, and pets are now suffering the consequences.
- Actually, the number of euthanized animals annually has plummeted from like 20+ million a year 50 years ago to close to the 1-3 million iirc. The problem has gone down despite increasing inequity
  
  Oh, sure, because many more shelters are no-kill shelters. That just makes the burden in the shelters greater— caring for all the animals.
- And the time commitment. I have been having to work more time than ever before just to maintain. I would love to have a dog but I know I don’t have the time to properly care for one
  
  I have always had a cat for my entire life. I can’t imagine not having a cat. I just can’t. But I have to admit, it’s getting a lot more expensive to have a cat, wtf. Between cat litter and food, my expenses have exploded, but my pay hasn’t. That’s a problem.
When can we euthanize pet breeders?
- The good news is we already can!
  
  You just can't get caught.
My equivalent of doomscrolling is going to animal shelter websites in the region and looking at all the doggies I can't adopt (we already have two).

Thankfully, the shelter in this county is a no-kill shelter. But they are definitely overwhelmed.
- I do this but with zillow.
barking point

I hate my brain sometimes
- Why did your brain do this to all these dogs?
Tax the puppies and kittens!

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