Shari spoke these words of wisdom in news:shari-
:


Michael A. Ball wrote:

The shelter here serves a human population of about 150,000. We take in
an average of 80 dogs per week [+ cats] and have a kill rate above 50%.
For me, that means there will be about 15 new dogs today, and one or
more of them will need what I provide. They don't know it, but I need
them, too! They help me forget the dogs that didn't make it out alive.

How long do they have to find homes before they are taken off by the
euth tech?

Dakota came from a no-kill shelter but Gypsy Rose came from a regular
county shelter and had been there for a week when I adopted her. I've
often thought she must have been very close to that euth tech... and she
was (and still is) the most incredible dog. I never understood why two
different families got rid of her. She was amazing, somebody had spent
a LOT of time training her.

Her paperwork had the phone number of her last owner, and I called them
to learn about her. They were very helpful in telling me everything
they knew, and how they came to have her, and why they got rid of her.

I still cry when I think of how close she must have been... seriously,
even at this moment I tear up. I've had her for over 10 years.

I will cry more for a animal than most humans. Animals are so innocent.
They are so totally at our mercy and we let them down, and when they die
it's usually the fault of a human.

Thank you for sharing about your job. You must love them a lot.

How often do adult dogs get adopted? Do most people go for the puppies
or do you get a fair amount of folks adopting dogs 6 months and older?

Shari


Last month, one of out dog instructors died the night we expected her to
teach class (not even giving us warning she was ill or telling us not to
expect her to teach class-it was that sudden)

Had she not missed class, no one would have investigated to find out why,
and we would have only found out after she had been dead and buried. Her
family were over the road truck drivers and could not take her dogs. They
were going to send the dogs to the pound, because they needed a plaacement
for the dogs fast. Because dog club stepped in and said we would handle the
fostering and adoption of these dogs, they were successfully placed instead
of being sent to the bad place. Many people are not aware of rescues, or
resources of they have a sudden change of circumstances