Nina,
I think everyone here knows my views on the no
kill issue.
It is great for those that can be "retrained",
but my dilemma is with the poor dogs that have to live such a solitary
existence. And some of these dogs are just plain "evil", through no
fault of their own I'm sure.
I took Middy because her fate would have been
living in a kennel, 24/7, 365. To me, that's not a life. It's more like
prison.
We don't have funding to have a professional
come in to work with the dogs. We even purchased a boarding kennel, off
premises, to keep the worst of the dogs due to insurance &
liability.
Who knows what these dogs have been thru?
And sadly, they will not trust any human. (We do have one caretaker who is
able to handle "most" of them...)
All I know is due to restrictions, we are only
able to have "X" amount of dogs on the property. And there is nothing
sadder than having to turn away a perfectly adoptable dog because we don't
have room. We do have many fosters, but we have grown so much in the last
few years, our foster homes are maxed out with dogs.
Like I said before, being confined in a kennel,
never touching grass, or being able to run is not a quality life. In fact,
I think it just adds more stress to the already over-stressed animal. But,
I don't make the rules. I just question them.......And that doesn't go
over well, questioning the "authority figures".
At least with our feral cats, they do have a
good life. Many go to foster homes to see if they'll come around.
Many settle down quite comfortably in their new
home.
And the ferals that have come from colonies that
do not adapt, are relocated with some of our employees/volunteers that
live on farms in rural areas. One of my best friends, has cats from 3
colonies, living the life of Reilly.
It's just so sad that so many wonderful animals
are not given the chance for a new life, due to the number of aggressive
dogs.
Patti
