We Could Only Wish To Be So Lucky…

July 16, 2014

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As some of you may know, I was asked by the Priceless Pets Pittie Crew to head on down to the Orange County Animal Shelter to evaluate a pit mix named Mozart. Mozart was an owner surrender and had been at the pound for over a month. Yesterday was his day. I literally got there minutes before he was set to be euthanized. And even though I didn’t have an appointment, there was no way I was leaving there without at least giving this dog a chance. Mozart passed and he was pulled. Thanks to our awesome fosters and the Pittie Crew, he’s in a foster home!

However, as I was waiting almost 2 hours for someone to help me, I found myself sitting on a bench right in front of the intake center. I’ve seen it before but I’ve always been so distracted that I’ve never paid much attention and with good reason. Today was different, I found myself just sitting there with nothing to do. I found myself staring with judging eyes and had to look away because something dumb would have come out of my mouth. I pulled out my phone and started writing…

I hear people say going to the pound and seeing all the dogs there is too much to handle and I can understand that. But NOTHING is worse than having to watch the line of people TURNING IN their dogs to the pound. The look of fear and uncertainty on the dog far outweighs the tears in the human’s eyes. And it makes me wonder, are they crying because they didn’t try hard enough? Or are they crying because it’s an emotion they’re feeling RIGHT NOW, like the exact opposite feeling they had when they just had to get that same dog RIGHT THEN. I know they care now but I wonder if they will tomorrow. I wonder if they know their dog is probably going to die in there. I’m so glad I have my sunglasses on because I hate crying in public. Some people say dogs don’t have feelings like humans and they’re right. We could only wish to be so lucky…

Every day I get at least one message or a picture saying, “URGENT! Dog will be destroyed tomorrow if nobody steps up to foster or rescue.” And if I don’t get it, someone else in the Pittie Crew or Priceless Pets is getting it. Trust me, we want to save them all just like you do. However, I get the feeling that once we pull a dog from a high kill shelter, the sense of urgency is gone when it really shouldn’t be. The poor pup is still homeless. Priceless Pets is a fraction of the size these high kill shelters are and there are only so many fosters to go around. Although we all love what we do, it doesn’t make it easy. It literally breaks our heart to not be able to save a dog. Just because Priceless Pets is a no-kill rescue it doesn’t mean the dogs don’t get depressed or stressed out. I’ve seen dogs literally just shut down and stop eating. We pull dogs from high kill shelters to find them a home not to stay with us! I guess what I’m asking is help us network and share those photos. Do you have a friend thinking about surrendering their dog? Maybe talk them into keeping their dog. You have a friend who has an unaltered dog? Tell them about Priceless Pets’ FREE spay/neuter clinics. Priceless Pets is a HUGE asset to the community but without the help from the community, Priceless Pets doesn’t exist. Bottom line, if we don’t adopt out the dogs we save, we can’t save more dogs. Individually we can do very little but when we all work together, we can accomplish the unthinkable!