This past week I was talking to Heidi Snyder, the president of the Randolph County Humane Society. Heidi is one of the most visible people at the shelter as she is there during normal business hours during the week, plus she plans the transports that take the animals to meet the plane that takes them to other shelters across the country when no one here adopts them, or plans for the upcoming medical needs of the shelter based on past demand and a wing and a prayer. She does all of this in-between chemotherapy treatments and yet rarely seems to miss a day at the shelter. Everyone that donates their time to the shelter, all of the volunteers, and that includes all of the office staff, all of the board of directors, and all of the people that clean the shelter, they take care of the animals as their own until someone walks through that door to take them on to their forever home. A gentleman called recently that was very put out that the doors of the shelter weren’t open at his convenience to drop off his dog. It was explained to him that the shelter is an all volunteer operation and we are happy to arrange to meet with anyone at their convenience, but the main shelter hours are open at the convenience of the volunteers that staff it. He was even more unhappy when he found out that the shelter couldn’t take his dog because it was an aggressive breed. There are protections that are in place to protect the dogs that find the shelter their home, the workers that volunteer to take care of those animals, and the public that enters our doors seeking the loves of their lives. Upon further discussion he said the dog he wanted to surrender was 10. Now this is the part of the story where I have a great deal of difficulty understanding how this could be. If you have an animal that has been part of your family for 10 years and has recently gotten aggressive then you need to take it the vet, not the shelter. And if you find out from the vet that after 10 years of being good there isn’t anything you can do to help this aggression, then you need to spend the money and have your dog euthanized. After 10 years of being your dog, you need to man up and take care of business, and not leave it for the shelter to try and find a new family for a senior, aggressive dog that will not find a home before it dies, which will happen much quicker now that it has no family to love him as it did in the past. It’s not right to walk away from your obligations in the end just because it’s easier. There is a senior, female lab in the shelter right now. She’s the best girl there is. Someone just left here and didn’t look for her. She never messes in her cage, she’s grateful for every biscuit she gets, and she never tires of any pets and kisses that are bestowed on her. But it’s doubtful that anyone is going to look her way when there are so many younger animals to be adopted, and yet she’s the perfect companion. I know, I have one just like her, my 13 year old white German Shepard, Girlie Sue. She’s still in great shape, even for an old girl, and she’s every bit a viable part of this family. We all have difficult times to face in our lives, and when our animals get old is one of them. Of course it never occurred to me that people just dumped their senior dogs. I wonder what will happen to the 10 year old aggressive dog now. I wonder if his person will take care of business, or find some other way to pass the buck. I pray for the dog’s sake that he takes the high road this time. And all of you out there, remember, if you see animal abuse, call the shelter and report what you are seeing. And never forget, it is only through you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.
There’s no excuse for being a weanie in the end.
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