Humane Society of Greenwood - The World Isn't Flat

It was still dark and a little chilly when I arrived at the shelter. Spay and neuter surgeries had been performed the previous day and soon people would be arriving to pick up their pets. I was in a rush to get inside because the animals needed to be fed and watered before their owners arrived.

As I approached the gate of our clinic, I saw a very small carrier on the ground and resting on top was a note. I assumed that someone had borrowed the carrier and was now returning it. I grabbed the envelope and stooped to pick up the empty carrier. As soon as I lifted it up, I realized it was not empty. Cries suddenly began echoing from inside and in an instant I knew what I was dealing with.

I scrambled to unlock the gate, took the carrier inside, and turned on the lights. Looking through the small door, I saw a mother cat and her five tiny kittens. By that point the babies were screaming and clamoring over each other to get out of their tiny cell. The stench was awful. Cat feces coated the interior of the carrier, the mother cat, and the kittens. I wondered how long they had been trapped inside.

Annie, our Kennel Manager, soon arrived and offered to take care of the abandoned cats. That allowed me to tend to the 20-plus “patients” staring at me from within their cages. Annie’s parting words as she lifted up the carrier were, “I sure hope this isn’t an indication of how the rest of our day will be ...”

A little while later a man came to reclaim his dog. The energetic Lab had strayed away and was picked up by Animal Control. The dog’s owner made the comment that the dog was costing him a lot of money. Evidently this wasn’t the first time he had run away, and he also had a penchant for chewing up family belongings.

The dog had not been neutered, so I offered the surgery as a solution for managing the dog’s misbehavior. I informed him that a male dog can smell an in-heat female up to ten miles away. Male dogs will do just about anything to get to the females. I even went so far as to suggest that the owner put himself in his dog’s place and try to imagine that frustration. He gave me a surprised look and said, “No! I’m not getting him neutered! I want to find a female and get a puppy out of him first.” I cautioned him that while the dog remained unneutered, he probably will cost him more money to “bail him out of jail.” He quickly responded, “Oh, he won’t get away again. I’m taking him straight home and chaining him up.” He continued, “In fact, if he breaks the chain, I’ll just lock him up in a kennel.” I helplessly watched as the unsuspecting dog was riding away in the back of his owner’s truck.

Within moments a call came in that a dead skunk had been found in someone’s yard. Animal Control was contacted and the skunk’s body sent to a lab to be tested for rabies. The results came back–the skunk was indeed rabid. The gravity of the situation escalated because none of their pets had ever received rabies vaccinations.

There was a total of eighteen dogs and cats living on the premises. (Only eight were old enough to have received the rabies vaccination.) Since it was unknown whether or not any of them had contact with the skunk, all had to be tested for rabies. That test requires a sample of brain tissue … which requires that the animal be killed and beheaded. The only other option was to quarantine the animals for five months in double-lined fenced-in areas, which would have been an insurmountable undertaking. One of the two options had to be chosen to avoid having the family endure the painful rabies treatment.

The cost for euthanizing all eighteen and removing their heads was $225. (The normal price would have been upwards to $500, but we were able to offer assistance to reduce the owners’ expense.) Sadly, the cost to have had the eight adult animals vaccinated against rabies, as required by law, would have only been $48. However, in my opinion, the highest price was paid by the dogs and the cats—their lives. It may sound trite, but the adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is epitomized by this tragic situation.

Shortly afterwards a young mother and her child came by to look at our cats. They picked out a kitten they wanted to adopt. One of our employees explained the adoption process and informed her that she would be able to pick up the young cat after it had been spayed. "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." -- Derek Bok

The woman responded, “Oh no! I don’t want her spayed! We want her to have kittens.” Our employee calmly explained that, first of all, it is the state law that all adopted animals be spayed or neutered; and secondly, she should spend some time at our receiving office and see how many unwanted kittens are turned in every day. The lady left without adopting the kitten.

The past year has been full of days like the one just described. But there have also been glorious moments of triumph that have carried us through those days of discouragement. The support from the community has many times brought me to tears. When we were out of pet food, the people rallied and overwhelmed us with supplies. At the last moment, when whether or not we would have enough money for payroll, a donation check arrived in the mail. A cat that had been difficult to adopt was given one more week, and the next day a family came in and fell in love with her. Local organizations have pitched in and stunned us with their generosity. The media coverage by the Index-Journal and local radio stations has provided the community with desperately needed awareness.

I am often awestruck by the strength of our staff. What they endure day-in and day-out is inspiring. Just last week three Pit Bulls were going to be put to sleep. Although they were gentle with us, their previous owners had used them for fighting and they had become unpredictable around other animals. Right before the three were euthanized, one of our employees asked if she could spend time with each … to say “good-bye.” From a distance I watched her kneel down next to the first dog. Offering the only comfort she could, she tenderly stroked his head and said, “I’m sorry.” I had to turn away and leave because the tears were beginning to well up in my eyes. It’s the “good-byes” that make you feel like your heart is slowly being pulled from your chest.

When we are judged as being cold-hearted because we are not a “no-kill” shelter, I want to pull those accusers to the back and ask what their answers are. When there are no empty cages and people are standing outside with boxes of puppies and kittens, what do you do? What do you do?

As I’ve said before, finding homes for these animals is only a short-term fix. Teaching people to act responsibly with the animals they own in order to prevent them from coming to the shelter in the first place is the long-term solution.

People often ask what we need. Greater than our need for supplies or donations, I would say, is the need for people to be teachable—to be willing to unlearn the outdated and the irrelevant. What a tremendous leap forward we could make if old-time belief systems about animals and how to care for them were exorcised from people’s minds. As each of us increase in awareness, and we share this newfound understanding with others, we can be assured that we are on our way to success!

Karen Pettay

“Why should society feel responsible only for the education of children, and not for the education of all adults of every age?” – Erich Fromm