October  2000

         Anyone who has read a paper or turned on the news this week has surely heard all about the confiscation of over 200 dogs from a local rescue operation here in the Tulsa area. At the same time, more than 90 dogs and cats were put to death by officers who claimed that they were too sick to even take away.  The survivors of this extermination have been taken mostly to the Owasso animal shelter and to the Tulsa SPCA. In an attempt to prevent the killing of any more animals, the SPCA took over 80 dogs into their shelter, nearly doubling the size of their population within a few hours. Thankfully, many folks have responded generously, donating food, shelter material, money and time to help care for these dogs. It all seems like a tidy little story, doesn't it? Poor dogs, safe at last. 

    So why is it that I have hardly been able to sleep since this incident involved me?

     I became involved because I volunteer my services as a vet to the SPCA, and because Denver is President of the Board. So the day the dogs were brought to the shelter, we were there. I have looked over the dogs, and I have done some investigating of my own. What I have found has disturbed me deeply.

    The officers and vet on site have told their side of the story. They found animals in such pitiful condition they killed 90 right off, and probably half of the over 300 total animals would die. But the dogs they killed were seemingly picked arbitrarily, without proper vet exam and diagnosis of their problems. If they had not rushed to destroy these animals on the spot, they might have found out that all of these animals were under vet care already, and many were recovering   from their diseases. They might have realized that they had just killed a pet of the owner's friend- a dog which was just visiting! 

      There are certain rules to euthanizing animals. There are certain sites that the drug is to be injected, and sites where it is inhumane to inject. Eyewitnesses who are experienced with the process have reported that the drugs were not always given to these animals in humane ways. Several witnesses report seeing dogs' necks being stepped on while they were given the fatal solution. No witnesses saw anyone check to be sure animals were dead before they were tossed into a pile. 

    On examining the survivors of this slaughter, I have found just what you would expect to find in a population of shelter dogs- skin problems, thin dogs (people usually donate cheap food to shelters), fleas. I found things I did not   expect to find, too- dogs which had had their broken bones fixed with pins, dogs which have had surgeries done to correct various congenital and traumatic problems. I performed fecal exams- all dogs in that kind of crowded conditions should have every kind of intestinal parasite known. Wrong- I found only a few hookworms. Someone had been taking remarkably good care of these dogs!

     Reports have gotten through to the press about many of these horrors. There have been a few inquiries, but mostly all the TV stations want to do is take pictures of the skinniest dog they can find, or the one  dog with 3 legs (amputated due to an injury), or the dog with the red cherry eyes ( a genetic defect, not in the least dangerous). Then they can talk about how these dogs were saved and now have a chance to breathe the fresh air of freedom and to live the American Doggy Dream. They just don't want to uncover any story that might suggest that these dogs were doing OK where they were, before the Justice League busted their door down and started shooting.

    It's a harrowing tale, one that has kept me up every night. But there is yet a worse demon keeping me sleepless. It is not a new demon, it is one that visits me often. But this time it won't leave. It starts with knowing  that this tragedy, and all others like it, lead to the punishment of the wrong person. The rescuer who gets in over his head and gets vilified by society for harboring hundreds of animals is not the bad guy. Do you see the real bad guy? I doubt it. Because you, like everyone else, probably never look at the reason why  these people have hundreds of animals. They aren't stealing them, they are taking them in because they are homeless. So the real villain could very well be you.  If you have ever taken an animal to the pound or turned one over to a rescue group because "I don't have time for him" or "he's too hyper, or "he digs," you are the culprit. If you have bred a pet or allowed one to have babies- purebred or not, even if the kids need to see the Miracle of Life - you are the culprit. If you have ever taken an animal out to the country and left it, you are not only the culprit, you are contemptible. If you have done any of these things, you have contributed to the overwhelming population of discarded animals in this world. Like it or not, pets are living things, and no living thing deserves to be treated like last year's fashion.

     We will only become a peaceful and good society when we learn to care about the welfare of everyone,  even animals.

     My demon is the realization that this will never happen.

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