“It is better to light a candle than to curse the
darkness.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
For years I’ve visited
Barrow County Animal Control, almost weekly, in pursuit of Pets of the Week
photos for the newspaper. I’ve done this for three papers, so I can say I’ve spent
a good bit of time with the poor souls who end up at the shelter.
Some are dumped;
others are brought in as strays. Sometimes pets are given up because of things
they do – like escape from the yard or pee on the carpet or bark too much.
Other times they are surrendered because their people have fallen on hard times,
ended up in assisted living or died. Pregnant animals, sick animals, animals
about to pass get given up because their people don’t know how or lack the
funds to cope…So many sad stories…so many sad eyes.
For all the ways
dogs, cats, puppies and kittens find their way into the shelter, there are only
three ways out – adoption, rescue or euthanasia. Barrow’s adoption and rescue
numbers are getting better, but the sad reality is that most of the animals are
euthanized.
This is no one and
everyone’s fault. The animal control staff does the best they can with the
resources they have, but those resources are limited. There is simply no time
in their day to provide more than the bare essentials. And so, the animals at
the shelter spend what’s left of their time on cold concrete floors, in loud
kennels with no access to the outside, listening to each other bark, howl, yowl
and meow. Some watch the passersby with hope; others give up, curl up and wait
to die.
A bit of hope
began floating in the air at the shelter last summer when a volunteer group was
organized. (Before then volunteers weren’t allowed, but thankfully that changed
and Boy! did they go to work…) Within weeks there were new water bowls in every
kennel – previously there was watering system that many dogs couldn’t figure
out so dehydration was a risk. Then came rolling buckets, compete with new mops
and squeegies for each room, to help clean the kennels…
Up went a
website and a Facebook page featuring photos and information about each
available pet. Then came an Amazon.com wish list and calls for donations of cleaning
supplies, beds, blankets and towels to make the animals more comfortable. Other
welcome donations include treats, chews and unopened, unexpired bags of food. There’s
a certain kind of leash that’s easy to slip on and hard to get out of – that’s
on the wish list, as are Nyla bones as something for bored dogs to do.
The volunteers take
the dogs outside to walk them, rub their bellies, and assess how socialized
they are. Is this dog friendly? Can it walk on a leash? Does it know “Sit!” How
does it do with other dogs? Often that hyper, timid or shy edge goes away once
that pup is outside, away from the nervousness and noise.
Some of the
volunteers have experience with rescue organizations, so they spend their time
finding the next stop and transport for lucky future pets. Others know about
dog behavior or specialize in cats, so they are able to tell potential adopters
what they are getting (and how great that will be...) Several volunteers with
kids do “kid testing” with dogs and cats. There are volunteers who solicit
pledges for foster care and treatment of sick animals. And, there are
volunteers who want to help, but get too sad at seeing the animals, so they wash
food bowls, do laundry and help maintain the shelter landscaping.
Basically, the volunteers
do things the staff doesn’t have time to do. They understand many of the
animals will die, but they want to maximize their chances of making it out of
the shelter while making their time there more comfortable.
Recently, I
started volunteering at the shelter. The training program requires that I spend
time with an already trained volunteer before I have access to the animals, so
currently, when alone, I wash food and water bowls, fill water dishes and do
laundry. When I’m with a trained volunteer, we scoop poop, hand out towels,
blankets and beds, spend time with the cats and take dogs outside.
One thing I can
do now is hand out treats and that’s just wonderful. Some of the dogs are super
friendly and enthusiastic, eager to greet and gobble the treat. Others are
scared, too scared to trust, if even only long enough to take a treat. Some
have just shut down and are curled up, not willing to even make eye contact. The
cats are the same – some climb on the bars of their cages to scream how great
they are, others are unable to respond.
Over time, and
it’s a very limited time, most of the animals become less suspicious and more trusting.
They’ve learned it’s okay to take a treat and listen to a few kind words from a
human passing by.
My goal as a
volunteer is to become trained enough to spend time with dogs outside and cats
inside. I have a soft heart and cry easily, so I’m not sure how this will work out.
My heart might get too broken, too quickly to continue on…One thing I ponder,
as I wash bowls and fold laundry, is why do something that will make me sad for
animals, many of whom won’t make it out of the shelter alive?
What I’ve come
up with is that all creatures need something to dream about. Even on a cold,
hard, concrete kennel floor a sleeping dog dreams, so maybe the good I can do
by giving that dog a belly rub or short walk, or by giving that cat some loving,
is to give them something to dream about - something warm and pleasant and nice
- a few moments when they felt loved and like things are going to turn out
alright.
Last week there was
a small, old, blind, deaf, badly matted and obviously confused dog circling its
kennel, trying to figure out where it was. A volunteer brought the old dog a
nice, soft, little bed, coaxed him into it and there he settled, almost
instantly, into a deep sleep…
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