It is always sad to think about the number of innocent dogs that are randomly euthanized at overcrowded shelters every day, but when news comes in of owners trying to reclaim their dogs only to find their pets have been euthanized, something must be done.
Most recently, the Blackwell family experienced this after finding someone interested in adopting their beloved dogs, Tux and Bruiser, who they had surrendered to the Aiken County Animal Shelter in South Carolina that afternoon.
A call that was placed to the shelter near closing time reportedly went unanswered.
When family members went to pick up the 8-month-old and 1-year-old dogs in the morning, they were horrified to find out that Tux and Bruiser were killed less than three hours after they arrived.
While some people may question the family’s decision in the first place, we do not know the story behind it.
While lost dogs are allowed five days to two weeks at the shelter before they are put up for adoption or euthanized, surrendered dogs tragically do not. But they should.
THE POINT IS THAT THIS IS BEYOND UNACCEPTABLE AND SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO OCCUR AT ANY ANIMAL SHELTER, ANYWHERE!
Aiken County Animal Shelter specifically categorizes animals as lost with identification, lost unidentified, and surrendered animals. Animals lost with identification cannot be euthanized for at least two weeks, while lost unidentified animals have a five-day wait period. Euthanasia is unfathomably an immediate option for surrendered animals, like Tux and Bruiser.
“The decision to euthanize an animal should not be taken lightly or decided on a whim, no matter how the animal found itself at the shelter,” Care2′s Aarti Kelapure writes in a Care2 petition, that has garnered nearly 100,000 signatures urging the shelter to change its policy on euthanasia. “The life of a surrendered animal should not be given less consideration than the life of a lost animal.”
Aiken County Animal Shelter is one of a number of animal shelters that have made hasty decisions to euthanize surrendered pets this year.
Petersburg Animal Shelter in Virginia put down a pit bull named Patty within an hour after her former owner dropped her off this March.
When owner Vanessa Thomas changed her mind and returned the next day to reclaim Patty, she found out the horrible truth of what happened to her pet.
As a first step to righting this horrifically tragic wrong, please sign the petition demanding that Aiken County Animal Shelter put in place a waiting period before considering euthanasia for surrendered animals, SIGN HERE!
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