10/17/2024
Please read this!!! This is reality in the world that we live in. Backyard breeders please stop. Perfectly good dogs are dying everyday. Pet owners please get your pets fixed. Would you be brave enough to be part of this story below. Thousands of pets are being euthanized because there are not enough good homes. People need to do better.
Trigger warning: euthanasia.
A fellow volunteer, Randy Abbott, wrote this post. I too am part of the group of volunteers called the Rainbow Bridge Volunteers who are with dogs at our county shelter when they are euthanized. Randy wrote a beautiful tribute. This is not a gruesome or morbid task. It is to honor these lives lost because humans failed them. Do not blame the shelter staff. They didn't go to work in animal welfare to kill dogs. This is a community problem. Spay and neuter your pets, don't support backyard breeders, and for the love of all you hold holy, keep your pets, even when times get tough.
"Trigger warning. This post may make some readers sad.
Meet Zanzibar. I met Zanzibar this morning after signing up for the DeKalb County Animal Services "Bridge" group. Unlike my regular visits to the shelter to socialize with and walk the dogs, I was hoping I didn't have to go today. I was notified of the need to go late last night but I waited until 9am to commit to going. I hoped someone else would go in my place or better yet, I hoped the need for anyone to go at all would cease.
Before meeting Zanzibar, I picked up some cheeseburgers, fries, nuggets and a milkshake. The day started off cold but the Sun eventually came out and it turned out to be a beautiful fall day.
Not surprisingly, since there are over 600 dogs at the shelter, I had never met Zanzibar since he arrived in June. As a result, I didn't know what to expect. Considering the need for me to spend time with him this morning, I assumed and even hoped Zanzibar would be mean to me. I hoped he would bark and snarl at me. I hoped I would be afraid to let him out of his kennel. I hoped when we spent time together in the play yard and on our walk, he would not be sweet and affectionate. I hoped he would be aggressive towards other dogs. I assumed he would bite my fingers off when I gave him all the treats I brought him.
Unfortunately for my feelings, none of that happened.
Zanzibar was sweet and attentive and gentle. He enjoyed the hour that I spent with him walking and playing and just hanging out with the Sun on our backs. I suspect Zanzibar had never been out of his kennel for an hour before and certainly had never received so many tasty treats. I learned (see the video) that he doesn't like pickles. Other than the pickles, Zanzibar was having his best day at the shelter, if not the best day of his life.
After the hour was over, I heard Zanzibar's name called. A young lady in a soft voice called into our play yard and said "we are ready for Zanzibar". Zanzibar and I walked into the building, entered a small room and I said goodbye to him. He stood up on me wagging his tail and I hugged him. I held him tightly and told him he was a good boy. Zanzibar was surrounded by staff who loved him and had cared for him for over 4 months. Nobody in the room wanted to be in that room except Zanzibar who was receiving hugs and adoration. Zanzibar first received a sedative and once that took affect I picked him up off the floor and onto a table where he received a final injection.
Zanzibar was a good dog. He was only 4 years old. I have been involved in animal rescue for 7 years and I always assumed the dogs who don't make it out of the shelter are unadoptable. I used to tell myself that the dogs that don't make it out are damaged beyond repair or they require too much work to rehabilitate. I am now reminded that the worst lies are the lies we tell ourselves.
I am glad I joined the (Rainbow) Bridge group but I am saddened by the need for such a group. I made a difference in Zanzibar's life just as all the volunteers at the shelter have done. I hope to meet him again some day and when I do, I'll remember to hold the pickles.
Please help us by fostering, adopting and spaying/neutering. The shelters are out of room."
