Off The Cuff

Some People Simply Have No Clue! What’s Your Opinion?

Posted by: From Arkansas in Are You Kidding Me?, What's Your Opinion? on Jun 14 2008

Welcome back!

I used to work at an animal rescue league in a southern state. It was a great job. I was able to give love in the form of pets to people who chose to adopt the most cuddly and cute animals! It was great…until a guy who simply should not have been working there came to work as the director. I have no idea how the board missed this. He was an animal lover all right. Loved the hounds he raised. No other dog or cats were any good to him. He proved how unsuitable he was when he threw dead dog bodies into a dumpster instead of the procedure we had at the rescue league.

Today, I read that there was another person who seems to not have a clue about animals and what they can do. I read an article about a mayor of a town in Arkansas who believes that dogs are better off being released into a forest instead of being killed. Hmmm, not sure what’s going on there but I can tell you that this guy does not get it at all. You can read the story for yourself here.

My two cents will likely not help the situation either. I believe that there are too many strays out there and there needs to be a way to control them. BUT, I also believe that they can be helped by adoption rather than killing them. Shelters today are hard pressed for money. Nothing has changed there. So, some animals do have to be put down. That’s reality. But the shelter can help by adopting out as many as possible. And yet, there will still be too many. There always are.

But here’s the kicker on this guy releasing dogs into the forest. He has no clue what they will do. Some will likely not make it because they were unable to adapt to the environment. Some will likely get into packs and roam the forest thus making it dangerous for people to be there. Oh, he did help them. He fed them before he released them. Yep, that buys a few days before they do something worse than eat what’s available. You know, not all dogs can adapt and kill for themselves. Predators will kill them because they get weak and hungry. Is that actually better than a drug that puts them to sleep when they don’t know it? I don’t like the idea of putting animals to sleep either but it would be far better than a dog that starves nearly to death only to be eaten by a predator that isn’t weak.

Maybe this guy meant well but he can not have thought it out at all. The bottom line? We need shelters that can handle the load and are funded enough to adopt out all but the few that are unacceptable at all. What is your take on all this? I would really like to hear from the readers on this one.

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