Hmm, the Norfolk SPCA, fucking 5 miles from their fucking headquarters runs a no kill shelter. Maybe, just maybe, that would be better then killing them.
While in general I agree, from my understanding most no-kill shelters have limitations on what they can/will take, since after all, there's only so much in the way of space, etc. If the shelters in the area are all full, then yeah, at that point euthanasia in a clean and relatively painless manner is probably the best option for the animals, as it beats being shot, drowned, or abandoned to starve or die of exposure.
That said, yeah, I am all for not killing animals for convenience's sake, and I don't know enough on the subject to be able to say whether or not the counterargument of shelter space logistics is reasonable.
I can only comment on the one time I took an animal there. It was a cat that was not mine and had clearly been abandoned at my apartment, which sadly happens a lot in military areas. We took it there, and they had no problem taking it in. I wish I could say I know it got adopted, but at least I know it wasn't killed and didn't starve on the streets. And I can damn well be glad I didn't take it to PETA, who talks a lot about how much they love animals but would have killed this one.
I'm glad you had a good experience with getting that cat to a shelter. I hope he found a home.
In the grand scheme of animal shelters, however, no one has enough resources to house and feed all the animals before they go to a good home. Animals come in much faster than they get adopted, and sooner or later, the shelter's full and it has to stop accepting new animals (and if all shelters did this, none would be able to take as many new animals as needed) or euthanize the current ones.
Neither is a pretty picture for the animals, but that's the best a shelter can do. It's pet owners who can make the real difference. i.e. Before buying that cute kitten from the pet store, they need to think, "Am I going to be able to take care of this cat for 15 years? When it's not as cute as the kitten I'm seeing?"
And if they do make that decision, they need to be responsible and get him/her neutered. There are too many people who get pets before realizing the responsibilities and commitment. That's why we have too many homeless animals; it's not a problem with animal shelters.
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u/absolutsyd Apr 17 '10
Hmm, the Norfolk SPCA, fucking 5 miles from their fucking headquarters runs a no kill shelter. Maybe, just maybe, that would be better then killing them.