Below are some websites. It is about an animal shelter in Louisiana that euthanized 170 dogs and cats. Now they are doing an investigation to find out why.


http://eugene.craigslist.org/pet/789345993.html

What a shame...that was really painful to see the pictures of those that died...
The soulful eyes on those pets made me profoundly sad. Thanks Sandi I believe
the Lord has a place for all of His beloved creatures that have died.

whoa. i couldn't watch the memorials. not even the survivors. breaks my heart to hear about that.

kris

So, so sad... - Broke my heart. I don't understand how anyone could do this with a clear conscience. This is horrific. Has mankind became so calloused, uncaring that we would lower ourselves to do something of this nature? Whoever approved, or was involved in this action, may your dreams be haunted, may you not rest.
Do you think God looked down and smiled on this? Yes, he did give us dominion over the animals, but God does not like abuse. God is merciful.. Are we not to be like him? .......... those poor babies.. how sad, how sad.

I saw this story run on the local news. What apparently happen is that the animal shelter - like most of the ones around here - have no money. They had a lot of animals in a small place and did not (and could not) quarantine, so a lot of animals got very sick, very quickly and the shelter was unable to save them.

I don't know how shelters are in every area, but I know a few of the ones around here are very small and have a very low adoption rate. The one in the area we just moved from just got a new director that is pushing towards no kill. She made an effort and applied for all kinds of grants and what not since the Parish approved the shelter to work on very little money. She is using the money she applied for to build dog runs, kitty condo, hire a full time vet (they didn't even have one on staff!), etc. That shelter - not sure if you saw this in the news or not - had a few animals get sick and die because a tech sprayed the water bowls down with some kind of cleaner (which was clearly marked not to use near the animals). About 10 different people on staff there were fired.

In the area we just moved to, they are doing something similar and just hired a whole new staff. They have been working towards not kill for about 2 years, but say that is in exceptionally hard because the majority of animals they get in are already so sick that they can not be saved (who true that is who knows).

Honestly, I think a lot of people in this state have a very very poor idea of how to care for animals and it all boils down to respect and education.

I've actually been wondering recently what kind of impact the pets section of craigslist has on local animal shelters. If you can get a pet for very cheap or even free on craigslist, why would someone want to spend the money to adopt from a local shelter? Don't get me wrong; I understand why an owner would prefer to rehome on craigslist rather than give their pet to a shelter to rehome, but if shelters can't adopt out as many pets as they used to, what happens then?

Unfortunately, the animals are euthanized. Ads on Craig's List are just replacing the same ads that were always in the newspaper.

And the economy is hurting animals the worst of all. So many people can't afford the care for their kids so the pets get neglected. Also with the housing crisis, so many are losing their homes and have to give up pets as they move into rental property - so sad! I can't remember what state it was, but some where they were trying to pass a law so that they could be able to prosecute people that abandoned pets (leave behind in an empty house when they lose their houses and it would make it so shelter staff could "break in" to get them sooner.

In a perfect world this wouldn't have to happen. How many of us are to blame for this happening in our state? How many of us don't adopt every dog that needs a home in our state? This is the only way pets of all sorts will stop being euthanizatation. Yes there are no kill shelters but they too have their limits to how many dogs, cats and other animials they can take. They will only keep animals so long, and if they become over crowded they will pick the weaker, meaner dogs to go first then the ones that have been their the longest. Usually it's the big dogs people don't want. Most people want puppies and kittens.

I know a woman who will not turn her back on a stray. The end results? Not good- As she has over 50 ferrel cats roaming her farm. She has not taken the time to get them fixed so they are populating like rabbits. Despite all this, she cares for, feeds and takes in the babies as needed. They never go hungry, but is having that many unfixed cats or dogs any better then them being euthanized? I think that a horder is a far worse life especially when they aren't getting them fixed and they are breeding.

It's a double bladed sword, danged if you do and danged if you don't.

The solution is spaying and neutering, but unfortunately there are too many irresponsible pet owners who don't give a dang. Backyard breeding is also a cause, as well as puppy mills. If anything, we should blame the uneducated people who perpetuate the prolific breeding, not the shelters that are only trying to do what they can to save the poor animals. If people would just start adopting from shelters, and NOT from irresponsible breeders or pet stores (I loathe pet stores), things would be a lot better. This topic really gets me going...