We all know that animal shelters can be very stressful places for pets who are accustomed to living in a nice home, or who had been freely roaming outdoors. Shelters can be noisy, crowded and loaded with unpleasant smells associated with other animals. The animals are confined to small spaces and often have to share their “room” with other animals. Can you imagine living like that? You would be stressed too!At the ARL, we have researched ways to decrease stress for the animals, especially cats who can be very susceptible. Cats are more likely to succumb to stress by not eating or grooming themselves and having a lower immune system resulting in illness.
Here are just a few of the things that the ARL is doing to decrease stress for the cats while they live at the ARL:
1. Cats love high places. No matter if they are alone in a cage or in a colony with other cats, they still enjoy sleeping on an elevated bed. Thanks to several generous donators, the cats at the ARL now have Kuranda beds in their cages! It didn’t take long for the cats to take to their new beds. And, of course, the four colonies have shelves where the cats can lie “above it all.”
2. Minimize moving cats from cages too frequently. When cats are taken out of their spaces every day for cleaning or to just rearrange the space, it places stress on them. Imagine yourself if you are staying at a hotel and you are told to pack up and move to a new room every night! It wouldn’t be a nice, restful vacation, would it? Cats like to be around familiar smells, their own scent, and each time they are moved, their scent must be re-established. Keeping them in the same space helps them to relax.
3. Cats love to hide! In our cat colonies, we have added easy-to-clean hollow cubes and boxes that cats can use to get away from it all. And even just a blanket that a cat can hide under helps!
4. Playtime! All cats need exercise and time to play. Each cat is given “recess” out of the cage to run around and play. We have a large variety of toys to increase their stimulation and reduce boredom.
5. Ability to be alone. That’s certainly not a problem for those cats in individual cages but for those living in the colonies, it’s almost impossible to find solitude. We’ve installed doors in each colony so that the cats can freely come and go outside to the ledge. Some love it out there where it’s quiet and others prefer to be inside to watch what’s going on.
Regardless of what we do for the animals, they will always be stressed when they are not in a nice, loving home. The ARL works with several cat rescue groups to find adopters and foster homes. Plus, cats are now a part of the ARL’s Grey Muzzle Foster Program. Please consider being a foster home to a homeless kitty!
If you are a regular reader of the ARL’s blog, you know that we use this space as a way to educate people about a variety of animal-related topics and happenings at the ARL. We love to communicate our knowledge of animals, from training and behavior to nutrition and care for critters and other animals. We’ve shared our struggles with the large number of animals who come through our doors, and asked your help as a community. We’ve brought you a wide range of information but one thing we have not done is use this blog as a political platform or a way to pass judgment on others. From the start of this blog back in May, 2008, we have stuck with only the issues concerning the ARL and we are proud of that.
Writing this blog takes time, time away from other equally important tasks that will bring awareness about the ARL and the animals to the public. We don’t have lots of employees sitting around thinking of clever blog posts to write which will amuse people. This blog is not an exercise in creative writing with hopes of a book contract! We rank this blog high on the priority list because it is a voice for the shelter. And we take it seriously. We believe that we have a large pool of great knowledge here and we want to pass that along to you.
As you may know, there are a huge number of issues swirling around PA that the ARL is or is not directly involved with. The state is close to crisis with animal control as some shelters are closing their doors to strays and municipalities unable to pay for animal control. Plus the problems of puppy mills and pigeon shoots, to name a few, are still challenging animal advocates. Just so you know, the ARL is not a lobby group. We do not have individuals getting paid to attend meetings that are not shelter-related. Although we care deeply about all of the animal issues, we cannot get involved with those that take away from our primary mission: to care for the homeless animals of Berks County. So, know that all of your donation dollars are going directly to the care of Berks’ animals.
The ARL has a huge undertaking being the only shelter in Berks and some surrounding counties that takes in so many animals. We must stick to that agenda; the animals need us.
More pet rabbits than ever are showing up at the ARL. We currently have about 15 available for adoption. Why so many? Could it be that people buy bunnies because they’re so cute, then the novelty wears off? Or maybe they quickly realize that bunnies require a lot of care and that they will chew everything if left out? Or did they buy the pets for their kids and the bunny wasn’t willing to allow the kids to handle it?
Regardless of the reason why they come to the shelter, the ARL is faced with the problem of finding homes for them. This month, we are offering a free cage and water bottle with every critter adoption. That may be an incentive to come to the ARL for a bunny instead of buying one at a pet store. But people need to know to come to the ARL to find the bunnies. We must spread the word to people who only think they can get bunnies from a pet store or from a farmers’ market or a breeder.
The bunnies at the ARL get very special care and love. We have the very best volunteer named Juanita who dearly loves all of the critters. She really is the Critter Lady! Every day, rain or shine or snow and ice, Juanita spends more than 4 hours each day cleaning everything in the critter room. She buys them special treats like carrots and kale and other necessities. Each animal gets time out of the cage to run around the room for exercise and definitely to get kisses and love from Juanita. Constant handling of small pets is very important to ensure that are comfortable with getting petted and to ensure they won’t bite. Juanita even hugs and kisses the chickens if we have them! And you should see how every animal stands at the front of the cage when they know it’s time for Juanita to arrive. They know they are loved. You won’t get that kind of attention from a pet store or a farmers’ market!
How can we let the public know that we need adopters for our bunnies? If you have any good ideas, please let us know! Leave a comment here or email Chris at cshaughness@berksarl.org. We need your help and recognize that we can’t do it alone. Bunnies need homes too!
Pennsylvania once was known as the Puppy Mill Capital of the East. Then along came Governor Rendell and the many animal advocates who pushed for better laws to protect the animals. We advocates cheered and believed that things would get better. And they did for a while. But now, it seems that all around the state, animals are in trouble again. Shelters are closing or are going “no-kill” or “limited admission” and are no longer renewing their contracts with municipalities for animal control. And some municipalities can no longer afford to pay for animal control services such as the bankrupt Harrisburg. So where do the animals go? In a December 5 memo in Harrisburg, police officers were directed to either “offer the dogs for adoption to the person who called to report a stray, adopt the animals themselves, take them to an area where it would be safe to release them, or kill them.” What’s happening here?! What’s to become of the animals?
Little does the public know but the ARL takes in animals from other counties when their shelters turn them away. Some areas in Lancaster County do not have animal control contracts so the dogs come here. And speaking of Harrisburg, last week the ARL received a dog from there. He had nowhere to go. Who knows how many more may turn up at our doorstep in the future.
The ARL is bursting at the seams with stray animals. We are full just about every day. And it’s continuing to get worse, because of the issues noted above. The ARL is not a no-kill shelter, as some people have asked us. We are open admission, meaning that we take in any needy domesticated animal. We do not publicize that we are full – but the public needs to know it. We are always full and that means animals must die. We do not like it but where else are the animals to go if all of the other shelters turn them away? We also do not publicize that certain animals only have 24 hours to live. There are no set time limits for animals at the ARL. If they are healthy, well-behaved and we have space, they stay. But sadly, the pets who are there for a long time and nobody has considered adopting them, then they are considered to be unadoptable. Senior pets often fall into this category as do Pit Bulls. Luckily, we have the Grey Muzzle Foster Program for senior and special needs pets, and we’re working on ways to promote Pit Bull adoptions.
This sad state of affairs in Pennsylvania cannot continue. As animal lovers, we must tell the government to take action. And we also must ask the shelters that turn away animals to reconsider. Open your doors to any needy pet. The ARL cannot bear the burden alone. If you know of shelters in Berks and surrounding areas that turn away strays, talk to them. Tell them that you want them to reconsider their policies. If you know people who donate to shelters that are not accepting strays, ask them instead to bring their support to the ARL where the money is needed the most – because we help the most animals. And most of all, please spread the word that the ARL is usually filled to capacity. Come here for your next pet! The animals will thank you!
It’s the end of December and the end of another year, a time when most of us take a look at our lives and decide what we would like to change. Businesses are no different. Most businesses draft strategic plans that will carry them through the coming months and years. These plans contain the goals of the business which are similar to resolutions.
The ARL has a few resolutions for 2012:
1. Better customer service: As of January 1, we are changing our hours to give you better customer service. In previous years, we had only been open one night a week. Now we will be open two nights, Tuesdays and Thursdays. And we will be opening an hour later in the morning. Why would we do that? For better customer service, that’s why! Presently, we open at 10:00am and the staff is still cleaning the kennels. When customers come through, they are tripping over hoses and walking through puddles. If a customer has a question or wants to take a dog out for a walk, the staff needs to stop cleaning and help the customer. That delays the cleaning process even more and may make the customer feel that they are interrupting the staff member. The later opening time of 11:00am will allow the staff to complete their cleaning procedures.
2. Accommodate more animals: Effective in January, the ARL will no longer be offering boarding services for dogs and cats. We will now be using the extra space to accommodate more dogs. The old boarding area will be used as an intake and holding area for incoming dogs. Boarding will be available still for anyone with emergencies such as weather events or urgent personal situations.
3. Staff training: The ARL has plans to rotate the kennel staff so that everyone knows each others’ jobs. Previously, kennel techs were either in the dog area or cat area. Now they will be trained in all areas.
4. Spay and neuter: The ARL has plans to spay and neuter as many pets as possible before they are adopted. This will help with the overpopulation issue, will reduce the need for our staff to follow up with adopters to ensure that they keep their spay or neuter appointments, and of course, will eliminate the need for customers to bring their pets back to the shelter to be spayed or neutered.
These are just a few of our resolutions for 2012. Now, how about you? Do you have any resolutions to help your pets and to prevent pets from becoming homeless? May we give some suggestions?
1. Be a foster home: The ARL’s Grey Muzzle Foster Program has helped over 300 pets find permanent homes. We are always looking for more foster homes.
2. Microchip and ID your pets: Sadly, many pets are lost and end up in shelters because their owners neglected to get them microchipped and place an ID tag on their collars.
3. License: All dogs must be licensed per Pennsylvania law, but more than that, a license is yet another way to identify your dog and help him find his way home should he get lost.
4. Spay and neuter: Do we need to say any more? All pets must be spayed and neutered so that they are not producing more pets that may end up in shelters.
5. Current on vaccines: Are your pets up-to-date on their vaccines? All dogs and inside cats must be vaccinated against rabies, per PA law and for theirs and your safety.
6. Address behavior issues now before they become a problem: So many dogs and cats are turned into shelters for behavior problems that could have been resolved if help was obtained before the problem became too unmanagable. The ARL has lists of trainers that you can call for help. And all adopters are entitled to attend the BARC dog training classes offered at the ARL for a low cost.
7. Donate to the ARL: Your time or money or items from the wish list all help us in our mission to help as many animals as possible.
Happy New Year to everyone. Thank you for all you do to help the ARL and the animals.
The Animal Rescue League is not just a collection of buildings that house homeless animals. It’s a staff of caring people (paid and volunteer) who are a part of the community – your community of Berks County and surrounding areas. We work very hard to develop and sustain relationships with you, the residents who we serve and your pets, the officials of the municipalities and the business owners. Building and maintaining these relationships takes hard work and the ARL staff strives to do just that by reaching out to you in many ways.
In addition to providing the invaluable services of animal control, cruelty investigations and adoptions, the ARL strives to touch you through other avenues. Facebook has become a necessary way for the ARL to not only inform you of the happenings at the ARL but a way to share our lives. You see what’s going on with us and you tell us what’s up in with you and your pets! We invest a great deal of time and effort in the relationships we’ve made through Facebook. If you haven’t liked us on Facebook, please do so! And don’t look now but Twitter may be coming soon too!
Fundraising is another way that the ARL builds relationships with the community. We can’t adequately express our gratitude to the many people who pitch in and hold events for us or who attend and staff our events. Others who see the dedication are inspired by the team spirit, which is contagious and encourages people to join in or plan their own activities to help the animals.
Our greatest joy comes from witnessing the unselfish efforts of children to help the ARL and the animals. From the groups of school kids who do donation drives, to the individual child who foregoes birthday presents so that donations can be sent to the ARL, we cherish these relationships and are always looking to find ways to reach out to the children. They are the community of the future who will take the ARL forward one day.
Of course, anyone who stops into the ARL immediately becomes part of our community, and we hope to nourish those relationships too. We are working to do all that we can to ensure your experience at the ARL is a positive one. But like all relationships, there can be bumps in the road and unfortunately when the staff is faced with the stress of dealing with large numbers of unwanted or abused pets, that stress can impact their relationships with our customers. We hope that you understand and know that we are aware of how our actions can impact the relationships with you.
Lastly, the ARL wants to build relationships with the pets in our community. By encouraging spay and neuter, offering low-cost vaccine clinics, dog training classes, advice through this blog, and other information, we hope to keep your pets happy, safe and healthy with their homes.
Relationships take time, commitment and patience and we at the ARL believe that our involvement with the community is the best relationship for helping the animals.
It’s oh-so-tempting to purchase a cute little puppy, kitten or even an adult pet for someone for a holiday gift. The movies and TV glamorize the magic of opening a wrapped present that is mewing, crying or moving and then, voila! It’s a pet! In reality, giving someone a pet as a gift is not a good idea. In order for it to be an appropriate gift, you must know if the person really wants a pet, can properly take care of it and is allowed to have one if they rent their home. And the choice of pets is such a personal thing. While you may prefer cats, that person may be partial to dogs or even bunnies or guinea pigs. While you may love long-haired cats, your friend may have always wanted a little mutt who resembles the dog he or she had as a child. I’m willing to bet that my friends and family have no idea that I’d love to have a guinea pig! (But I can’t have one right now because my dog would not like it, so no gifts please!)
Instead of the gift of a pet, how about giving a gift certificate to an animal shelter with a note that you will accompany the “giftee” to pick out a pet of their choice? Or if your friend cannot have a pet, how about sending a donation to the ARL in honor of your friend? We will publish their name on our web site!
If you really want a pet for yourself and your family at holiday time, remember that your pet will need time to become acclimated to you and your home. It isn’t fair to bring a new pet home and then have you leave to attend holiday parties and other holiday activities. Even worse, if your household is crazy-busy, a new pet will be overwhelmed and may not be on his best behavior. A new pet requires time and patience – they do not automatically know how to live in your home. They will require guidance and training.
When you decide to get a new pet, it’s best to be prepared. First, get your house pet-ready, that is, keep valuables out of reach, ensure that your doors, windows and fencing are secure so that your new friend cannot escape, and make sure that potentially poisonous items such as cleaning supplies are put away. Then you will want to buy supplies for your pet – good food and treats, bedding, collars/leashes, and gates in the case that you need to block your new pet in certain rooms.
We at the ARL would love to see all of the pets have a home for Christmas! But only if they are going to homes that will properly care for them and pay attention to their needs. Happy holidays, everyone!
Have you ever found a stray? Most of us in our lifetime will come upon a dog who doesn’t seem to have a home. It used to be common that when a stray dog followed you home, you would keep it. Simple as that. The movie “Old Yeller” is a good example as well as so many anecdotes about dogs following little boys home. Instead of turning the dog into a shelter that is already overcrowded, would you be tempted to keep a dog if you found one? Before you do, consider the possibilities.
First of all, the dog’s owner may be looking for him (we hope). Check the dog for identification. If it has a collar and ID tag, then you are obligated to call the owner. If there is no ID tag but the dog has a rabies tag, then you can call the veterinarian’s office and find the owner. This happened to me once and I was quickly able to track down the dog’s owner.
If the dog is not wearing a collar, he could be microchipped. The only way to determine this is to take the dog to a veterinarian or the nearest shelter to have them scan for the chip. If the dog has a microchip, then you must surrender the dog to the shelter. His owner could be looking for him. If you really would like to keep the dog, tell the shelter to call you once the holding period is up and the owner has not claimed him. Make sure that you call the shelter immediately to ensure that the dog does not get euthanized due to lack of space.
If you cannot find any identification for the dog, the kind thing to do is to try to find the owner. File a lost dog report with all nearby shelters and rescue groups. You can also place flyers around the neighborhood and even put a listing on Craigslist and post on Facebook. You can also look in the newspapers and on Craigslist for lost dog reports.
If no owner turns up, then you are faced with the decision to try to find the dog a home yourself or keep him. Yes, it can be work to try to place a dog in a home but it’s well worth the effort and who knows, you may start your own mini-rescue group!
No matter if you keep the dog, find its owner, or find the dog a new home, you are saving this dog’s life and maybe another dog’s life who doesn’t have to be euthanized due to overcrowding. If everyone could take the time and effort to help our strays, the burden will be lessened for the shelters.
The animal lovers in this country were stunned this week to learn that President Obama signed a law, HR 2112, that may change the lives of unwanted horses in the U.S. Also known as the Spending Bill, HR 2112 allocates funding in 2012 for several federal departments and agencies, including the Department of Agriculture (USDA). Also in this bill, the ban on U.S. slaughterhouses was lifted. In 2006, Congress "prohibited the use of federal funds to inspect horses destined for food, effectively prohibiting domestic slaughter" according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). So now that the ban on slaughterhouses has been lifted, the USDA will be responsible for finding funding to inspect any slaughterhouses that will now pop up – but no funding was specifically allocated in HR 2112 to this function.
The subject of horse slaughter in the U.S. is highly controversial, with the two top animal welfare organizations holding opposing views. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is solidly against U.S. slaughterhouses, and much of the money donated to them was used to lobby for the closing of slaughterhouses beginning in 2007. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), on the other hand, are not opposed to U.S. slaughterhouses. They contend that when the U.S. closed their slaughterhouses, the horses didn’t stop being slaughtered. Instead, the horses are packed into trailers and hauled for days to Canada or Mexico where horse slaughter is legal. The horses are denied food and water and suffer terribly on these treks. These are known facts. Regardless of our personal opinions about either the HSUS or PETA, both organizations have valid points.
One Congressman supported the lift on the ban by saying that by bringing the slaughterhouses back to the U.S., the USDA will be able to ensure humane conditions. Reportedly, Mexican slaughterhouses are horrific and often butcher the animals before they are dead. Personally, if the USDA oversees the slaughterhouses like they do the puppy mills, the horses will not be ensured humane treatment.
But the bottom line is this: where can unwanted horses go? The thoroughbred racing industry breeds a tremendous number of horses to find only a few champions that will make them money. The rest are discarded. The lucky few go to rescue groups and the rest go to slaughter. And working horses used by Amish and other farming communities suffer a similar fate. They are auctioned off, killed by their owners or sold to slaughter.
Money is a huge issue. Currently, horses are not worth too much for slaughter due to the costs to ship them to Canada or Mexico. But if slaughterhouses reopen in the U.S., the horses will probably command more because the profit margin will be higher. As a result, when horses go to auction, the people buying them for slaughter will certainly be able to outbid the rescue groups.
This problem is bigger than our community – it’s a nationwide issue. And it’s not just about horses. It’s about the way that we value (or don’t value) all animals. We do have a voice, however. Let our elected officials know how we feel about legislation that affects the animals.
Please tune in to the ARL's BCTV show tonight at 7:00pm to see Bernie, the miracle dog! Yes, he's the one who was left on a rooftop in July for over 10 hours and had the pads of his paws burned off. Bernie's veterinarian, Dr. Boyd Wagner, will be on the show to talk about the groundbreaking treatment that he administered to get Bernie's pads to regrow using stem cells. Bernie is still waiting for somone to adopt him. Barrie Pease, President of the ARL Board, will be with Bernie and will talk about the kind of home we are hoping to find for Bernie.
If you cannot watch or cannot get BCTV, you can go to their web site and watch it live: www.BCTV.org.
Very recently, I met two people who had tried to adopt a dog from different rescue groups and both were turned down. One was rejected because she didn’t have a fenced in yard and the other was denied because her children were too young. Not to be deterred, both of these people bought dogs – one from a pet store and one from a puppy mill. And now guess what? Both dogs have health issues. Because they both came from disreputable breeders. These dogs aren’t even 1-year-old and they already are costing their owners thousands of dollars in vet bills for surgery and medications. Who knows if these dogs will live long lives and just how much more money they will cost to keep them healthy?
I’ve heard these same stories so many times in the past. As we try and try to convince people not to buy dogs from pet stores or from shady breeders, people still do it. And it’s not always because they don’t know any better. It’s because they are being thwarted from getting a dog somewhere else.
If we truly want to encourage adoption instead of buying and stop the staggeringly high numbers of animals killed in shelters, we need to do a better job of loosening the restrictions on adoption. While the case can be made for many of the rules, there should be exceptions. Both of the people discussed above had a history of successful adoption over the years. They would have made wonderful adopters. But the door was closed in their faces based on one criterion alone. Had they been given a chance to show themselves as “worthy,” they would have been approved.
Here at the ARL, we don’t have the luxury of too many rules. We need to get the animals out of here! Yes, we have some rules but not too many. We do the very best we can with matching dogs with people’s lifestyle and family situation. For example, we try to discourage families with small children from getting Chihuahuas or we do our best to ensure that very active dogs such as Huskies, Labs and Border Collies find homes that will give them plenty of time and exercise. Do we have dogs returned to the shelter because they didn’t fit in with their families? Yes, we do, but the majority of dogs stay in the homes.
There are no guarantees that the “perfect” home exists for all pets. Can any of us stand up to that kind of scrutiny? What’s important is to find good, caring homes.
Is it me, or are we all having more and more trouble getting along? The stressful state of our economy and general upheaval in our country seems to be taking a toll on our civility. We should take a lesson from the animal kingdom and just be friends. Most of us animal lovers have seen pictures of big dogs snuggling with little kittens, Coko the ape loving on his own kitten, a tortoise and a hippo, a dog and a deer. Even here at the ARL, we have unlikely friendships formed. Recently, Mr. Rooster, a Leghorn chicken, befriended three bunnies. The bunnies loved to run around the critter room with him, nudging him with their noses to get him to play. He loved those bunnies! And who could forget Snyckers the llama and Betty the goat? And then there was Tarra the elephant and Bella the dog. They lived at the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee and were the very best of friends. Tarra was very gentle with her much-smaller buddy and they were inseparable. Sadly, Bella was found dead last week. Given the nature of her injuries, the theory is that she was killed by a coyote. They also believe that Tarra found her dead body and carried it back to the barn area because some of Bella’s blood was found on Tarra’s trunk. Tarra is mourning the loss of her best friend, no different than a human.
Why can’t people co-exist like these animal examples? The animals have so much to teach us if we’d only pay attention and learn.
Happy Halloween, everyone! I know we’ve covered this topic on this blog before but it really bears repeating. Halloween may not be happy for your pets! All of the activity in the neighborhood and the constant doorbell ringing can make your dog or cat very nervous. Next to the 4th of July, Halloween is the time of year when shelters see a rise in strays due to pets trying to escape from the scary stuff going on. Here are a few tips to help your pets tonight:
- Unless your dog or cat really enjoys greeting trick or treaters at the door and you know they won’t escape, keep pets in a securely closed room safely away from the door. Play the TV or a radio to try to mask the sounds going on around the house.
- Give your dog a Kong stuffed with treats and peanut butter to keep him distracted and happy.
- Close the blinds, shades or curtains so the dog is less likely to be watching out the windows and likely to get more excited.
- If your dog really goes nuts when the doorbell rings, pre-empt the doorbell from ringing by staying close to the door and greet trick or treaters as they come up to your house.
- By all means, keep your pets inside on Halloween night. You know they will be safer there. And besides, you wouldn’t want to scare away the trick or treaters with a barking dog!
- If your dog usually enjoys greeting visitors, Halloween may be a different story. The increased level of activity may stress your dog without you noticing. Be very careful with your dog and children who come to your door. Remember that some kids may be fearful of dogs too.
- Keep candy out of reach of your pets, especially dark chocolate. Large amounts of dark chocolate can be fatal to dogs.
- If you have a candlelit Jack-o-lantern, keep pets away from that to avoid singed fur or burns.
If you are out with your child, avoid yards with dogs who are outside. If you come to a house where a dog is at the door with the owner, wait for them to come to you instead of approaching them.
Of course, please be sure that your pets are wearing identification and/or are microchipped in the event that your pet does run away. You stand a much better chance of getting them returned safely to you.
Have a fun night!
By now, you have surely heard about the issue last week in Ohio where dozens of exotic and rare animals were set loose and then killed. The incident and photos of the dead animals shocked and horrified animal lovers. How could someone be allowed to keep nearly 50 wild animals? The laws in Ohio and most other states are not strict enough to prevent just anyone from having exotics. And even if there were stricter laws, enforcement of those laws would probably be difficult because of the staff required to enforce them. We’ve seen that particular problem here in Pennsylvania with the changes to the dog laws, hoping to reduce the number of puppy mills. Are there enough inspectors to enforce these changes here as well?
When someone owns exotic animals, they are doing a disservice to the animal and endangering the public, as we saw in Ohio last week. And who can forget the woman who had her face and hands torn off by her friend’s pet chimpanzee? These kinds of animals belong in their natural environments or in a zoo that knows how to care for the animals and give them the enrichment they require to live happily and safely.
Certain reptiles can be considered exotics too. The ARL has received unwanted alligators because they grew too large, and snakes and iguanas for the same reason or the animals took sick because they were not getting the proper care.
Farm animals are no different. They need to live on farms, not in someone’s home. A few weeks ago, the ARL received a call about a stray pot bellied pig. We knew this pig, having picked it up a couple other times. The owner was finally tired of him escaping so she surrendered him to the ARL. The pig was actually a cross of pot bellied pig and farm pig, and he was not neutered. The pig had gotten too large to live in the house, so he was living in the yard and constantly escaping (because he was not neutered!). You can imagine that he must have been the cutest little piglet when he was a baby and so irresistible. But babies grow up and aren’t as cute anymore – especially when they weigh over 100 pounds and are still growing. Also, pigs are very social and intelligent animals. Living alone in the yard must have been so lonely for him.
The message to everyone is: Consider the animal before purchasing or adopting it. What are its needs and can you fulfill them? How big will it get, can you accommodate that size and afford to feed it? Will this animal endanger the community should it escape? These questions also apply to domesticated animals. The ARL frequently sees dogs surrendered because the owner didn’t think about how big it would be full grown.
The problem of shelter overcrowding is multi-faceted and this issue is just another contributor.
Temperament testing is a process that some animal shelters and rescue groups utilize to assess the behavior of incoming dogs. There is controversy around this topic with people who work in shelters. Many shelter workers believe in using some type of formal assessment process while others don’t believe in doing it at all.
Those who are for some type of temperament testing feel that the more information you get about a dog, the better equipped the shelter will be in finding a suitable match for adoption. For example, if a dog has a tendency to guard resources, then going to a family with small children would not be advisable. Those people who are against temperament testing feel that doing any kind of assessment on a dog who is stressed in the shelter is not fair and will not provide accurate results. Depending on the way it is implemented, temperament testing can be used to help dogs find the right homes or it can be used as reasons to label dogs as unadoptable.
Why is any kind of assessment necessary? Shelters get dogs of all kinds with a spectrum of behaviors from completely perfect and adoptable to the stereotypical Cujo-like killer. Some dogs are obviously aggressive – they will try to attack when you come near them. A temperament test is obviously not a necessity to learn about this dog’s behavior! Others may seem angelic – until you try to take a toy away or when you approach their food. Skilled shelter workers should be able to discover these behaviors just by their day-to-day interactions with the dogs.
To do temperament testing correctly, the tester must be schooled in how to perform the tests and most importantly, how to accurately read dog body language. Without these skills, temperament testing is sure to be unfair to the dogs. Without good knowledge of dog language, the test results can be misunderstood. For example, some dogs like to lean on people. They may be scared or lack confidence. However, some novices may misinterpret this behavior as “dominance” and a perfectly nice dog may get euthanized. (Dominance is a whole other topic that is misunderstood!) Without a good understanding of dog-to-dog communications when testing for dog reactivity, the tester may “fail” a dog for barking and acting excited when he sees another dog which may not necessarily be signs of aggression and miss the important signs such as freezing and staring.
So the bottom line really is: It’s not temperament testing that is controversial, it’s how the information is gathered and results are interpreted, and how that information is used. Will dogs be getting a chance for a better home because of temperament testing or not?
Working with animals is work, not play. In fact, it’s really hard work. I often hear so many people say how they would love to work with animals. They think that it’s an opportunity to play with animals. When you work for a shelter or a rescue group, there’s so much to do that you rarely if ever have time to play with the animals. In reality, working with animals is all about working with people, people with a lot of varying opinions and attitudes. Just because they all love animals doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone gets along. It’s actually quite the opposite. Personality clashes abound.
Most people who work in shelters and for rescue groups have a common intention – to help the animals. But being human, other factors enter in. People are motivated by different things. Some people have the need to be valued which can cause them to try to take control of everything in hopes of getting that recognition. Some people need their egos stroked and feel that working with animals will give them that boost (yes, our society looks favorably upon people who dedicate their lives to help animals). And some have political motivations which may cloud their judgment in hopes of getting community recognition and a bigger, more important job. We are only human and these issues are consistent in many animal organizations.
Why are people problems so pandemic in animal organizations? Working with animals is an emotionally charged environment. When the strong desire to help is met by forces that thwart those good intentions, frustration and compassion fatigue often follow. We take our frustrations out on our fellow workers who may not share our views, on people in the community who mistreat their animals and on other area shelters who we perceive as not pulling their weight with helping the animals.
Competition between shelters and rescue groups is common. Is it because we fear that there is a finite number of benefactors? Does that create the competition? It shouldn’t. When the mission to help as many animals as possible is clear to the public, the benefactors will never go away. And if the community sees shelters and rescue groups working together, people are more likely to donate their money and time to such altruistic organizations. Happily, the ARL has excellent relationships with rescue groups such as Delaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue, Brookline Labrador Retriever Rescue and many others. We are grateful for their cooperative spirit.
To truly help the animals, we need to put our egos and personal aspirations aside. Then we can all get along and make a bigger difference for the animals.
A large contributing factor in overcrowding in an open admission shelter such as the Animal Rescue League is stray pets. We take in a huge number. By lessening the number of strays that come into the shelter, we can better focus on caring for and finding homes for the animals who really are homeless. Controlling the stray population and effectively reconnecting lost pets with their owners is just one part of attaining the ARL’s goal of reducing the numbers of animals coming in our shelter and reducing the numbers that needs to be euthanized due to lack of space.
Lost pets require a great deal of staff time. We need to check the animal for ID – on the collar or microchip – and if the pet has an ID, we must try to track down the owner. If we cannot connect with the owner, our animal control officers take over and try to find them. We also call other shelters if the animal is microchipped to that shelter. And, of course, we check the lost pet reports that come into the shelter. All of this takes a lot of time.
Some of the stray pets who come into the ARL have health issues and behavior problems. These animals must be treated and attended to, and that costs money and takes up space in the kennels. If we cannot find their owners (or, quite often, we do find the owners but they don’t come for the pet), we are required by law to hold dogs for 48 hours. These dogs may not be adoptable due to the health or behavior issues yet we still must do what we can for them. The sad reality is that if we are full, we cannot euthanize a stray before the 48 hours, therefore, a nice, adoptable dog must be sacrificed. I have seen all too often an obviously aggressive and dangerous dog being held because we could not find the owner and we are under obligation by law to hold the dog. Sitting in the kennel right next to this dog is a really, really nice dog – maybe an older dog or a Pit Bull or a large black dog – who has been at the shelter for a while and nobody has shown interest in the dog. That nice dog needs to be killed because of space issues – mainly due to so many strays.
We need, as a community, to make better strides to ensure that pets are not allowed to run loose and are licensed and wearing identification. Fewer strays means less animals coming into the shelter which means fewer animals that need to be sacrificed. And if lost pets are wearing IDs or are microchipped, we can get them back to their owners much quicker.
Other things that you can do to ensure your pet does not get lost:
- Ensure that your dog’s collar is fitted properly. Many dogs get lost because they slipped out of their collars.
- If you have a fence, be sure that there are no places that your dog can escape. And be sure that the gate is locked securely whenever your dog is outside.
- If you have an electric fence, check the batteries in your dog’s collar frequently. Some dogs will cross the invisible line if they do not get the warning tone or shock.
- If your dog has been known to flee out the door, set up a system whereby your dog cannot get close to the door when it’s opened. Use baby gates or other barricades to ensure your dog can’t escape.
Shelters are often told that they should be giving animals away for free or to charge a very low adoption fee just to get the animals out of the shelters due to overcrowding. But is this a good idea? While on the surface, it may sound appealing. After all, who doesn’t like something for free? However, experience and studies have shown that it’s not in the pets’ best interest to give them away for free or to charge a very low adoption fee.
First and most importantly, we live in a very value-driven society. People are naturally attracted to a bargain and impulse acquisitions are more likely to occur. When we pay money for something, we tend to value it and take better care of it. A free or low-cost pet is more likely to be a disposable pet. In reality, if someone cannot afford to pay an adoption fee, then they will not be able to afford the everyday expenses that come with a pet: Food, toys, grooming, vaccinations, and veterinary care. And of course, there are emergency health issues that cannot be anticipated. Free or low-cost pets are less likely to receive adequate care when health issues occur. The pet gets destroyed or returned to the shelter if care cannot be afforded. The value of the pet often mirrors the price paid for it.
Adoption fees also discourage people who acquire free/low-cost pets and then sell them to laboratories for research (yes, this happens a lot). Some of them “bunch” dogs, that is, they collect them then sell them as a group to the labs or dealers. An adoption fee of at least $25 is recommended because labs typically don’t pay more than $20 per dog.
People who “collect” animals, also known as hoarders, can be deterred from adopting if a fee is charged to adopt a pet. Free/low-cost animals are more likely to play on the sympathies of hoarders who have the compulsion to save as many animals as possible. If they have to spend money for them, hoarders are often not able to pay to adopt the animals.
The sport of dog fighting thrives on dogs used as bait dogs to train the fighting dogs. Free/low-cost dogs are a good target for people involved in this illegal sport. These animals have little value and no investment so they can easily be destroyed in this hideous practice.
And finally, shelters simply cannot afford to give away pets. They have invested money in the care of the pets and adoption fees are necessary to help cover some of the expenses. The Animal Rescue League only receives a small fee for the animal control contract, not nearly enough to cover our expenses. Adoption fees help.
As with anything, there are always exceptions. Many people will adopt a free/low-cost pet and cherish it and care for it forever. However, an adoption fee is just another way that shelters can try to get the best homes for their pets.
A couple of years ago, the issue of puppy mills gained national attention and Pennsylvania enacted laws that hoped to stop the mass numbers of breeders who kept dogs in horrific conditions and sold inferior puppies to the public. While the laws have helped to shut down many breeding operations, we still have a lot of work to do. Many breeders go undetected and what’s worse, so many people still don’t know that it’s not good to buy a puppy from a pet store or at a farm. Pet stores get puppies from puppy mills and farms usually are inhuman breeding operations.
One issue that has not been legislated and remains huge – the selling of puppies over the Internet. Do a search and you’re able to find any kind of puppy imaginable, pure breeds and crosses of breeds that you could never possibly dream up. They’re there. And it’s legal. Unfortunately, I know of several people who have purchased dogs from the Internet. And they paid huge sums of money not just for the dog but for shipping the dogs to them, and the dogs had major health and behavior problems. The web sites make the breeders look very reputable, showing the parents of the pups and giving the impression that the dogs are bred in the very best of conditions. Wrong! An Internet site can hide everything. What’s often behind that slick web site and appealing imagery are puppy mills. And despite the impression that Amish do not use technology, that is also incorrect. They frequently advertise their puppies on web sites and on sites like eBay and affiliates.
For a couple of years, bills have been introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives that would give federal oversight of large breeding operations and they did not pass. Last year, PA Congressman Jim Gerlach co-sponsored a bill called the Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety Act (PUPS Act). This act is still pending and Congressman Gerlach is working to ensure that it will pass this time. The bill proposes to close the loophole that breeders can sell puppies over the Internet as well as other issues including mandating regular exercise for dogs in breeding operations.
The Animal Rescue League is honored to have Congressman Gerlach on our BCTV show on Monday, September 19 at 7:00pm to discuss the PUPS Act and explain what all of us can do to help get the bill passed. To learn more about Congressman Gerlach and the PUPS Act, go to his web site: Gerlach reintroduces measure to protect pet owners, crack down on puppy mills
If you do not get the BCTV channel, the show will stream on the Internet live at BCTV.org or you can view it at this web site a few days later in the archives.
The dogs need us to speak up for them. Please watch this important show. Thank you!
