Why the pound?

Why even have a pound if all they do is kill the poor guys? Why not just let the free ones run free?

No pound kills them all. They make real efforts to adopt as many as possible, but when there are MILLIONS of unwanted cats, dogs, rabbits, ferrets, etc, dumped on the city pounds every year, they have no choice but to euthanize. And don't let the "no kills" fool you - they can remain no kill by routinely turning away sick, older, or otherwise hard-to-place animals, and by charging relinquishing owners (or even a poor soul who found a stray they can't keep) hefty "donations" that must be paid upon surrender of the animal. I'm not saying that the no-kill shelters are a bad thing, I just want everyone clear on why not every shelter can be no kill.

The rest can't be let loose to run free. Think of what the world would be like if these millions of animals were roaming free. First of all, it would then be BILLIONS because many of them would not be spayed or neutered. There is also the problem of vicious dogs (and cats) being let loose on an unsuspecting, unprotected public. There is also the fact that most animals that are "let loose" as opposed to surrendered to a shelter die anyway, of disease, starvation, exposure, as coyote prey, being shot, being run over, etc. There are no humane people who would condsider this an acceptable alternative to euthanasia. Lastly, roaming pets are a nuisance - getting into the garbage, killing small livestock (in rural areas), spraying, etc. are problems we all occasionally encounter. These would be multiplied many fold if there were no pounds.

And, lastly, like Spencer mentioned, there are dangerous diseases that stray animals are prone to that can be communicated to man.

As distasteful as they are, until man himself learns to take responsibility, pounds and shelters will be necessary.

How did I know you two would chime in.

Your posts are so long, where do you find the time and patience to write all that. I'll have to read them later, as I am at work now.

Ben...I have to laugh. Already you know who the "experts" on this board are although they would both claim that they aren't. Yes, you will get the most thorough and complete answers to your questions from Spencer and 4 Feline House every time. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif Maybe they should charge a fee for their answers. NOT! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

P.S. Almost forgot Carrie!! Love your replies too Carrie! In fact, everyone is wonderful! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Pam (edited April 11, 2001).]

Come on now, wouldn't you love to have hundreds of cats running around? Just kidding. All good points were made.

thanks,
ben

Beautifully put!

Okey, I stuck up for you in the other post about this subject but now Im starting to wonder if I should have.

You can't have cats running around free, its just not safe for them. These cats will breed and before you know it you have an over population of cats, they starve, get hit by cars, are food for other wild animals and I read a story about what they do when they find a pack of ferrel cats (spelling?) I think they call them they shoot them, or trap them. These cats are hard to catch and are not easy to adopt out.

I hope you will never or have never let any cats go.

sooooooo, that's what i'm saying. leave em alone. let em run free. don't go out and kill the whole pride. anyway, i understand that we can't have em running around like that. I wouldn't put it past em to take over a neighborhood. especially with some of the cats posted here leading them around. lol.

Pam said it, Spencer, "beautifully put"! I had to add one of my pet peeves to your distracted driving list. I know this is totally off the subject, but I have an excruciatingly annoying commute (1hr drive time on a good day), so I see dumb things all the time (it still amazes me how trucks can flip over and stuff...when the traffic is going 5 miles an hour...). For me, in a perfect world...people would be considerate of others (including animals). Oh, the most annoying thing I see besides people talking on the phone and swerving all over the place,(Virginia has it right...it's against the law to talk and drive there I believe...), not to mention tailgaters, is women putting on their makeup and doing their hair and swerving all over the place!!! I mean, come on! Either get your lazy bones up early and do it at home, or wait till you get to work. I always get nervous when someone like that is behind me...ugh! Today, I had someone reading a newspaper...Yikes! Sorry, I had to vent....
I love the idea of making it necessary via enforcing laws, to fix your pets. Really...it's a good idea! Everyone and their brother shouldn't be breeding animals because "muffy is the best dog/cat I've ever had"...
I am happy that there is an organization that takes part in the TNR program down where I live. It's much better to do that, then try to take time and make the animal sociable or euthanize it. That way the organization can take the time to socialize feral kittens and dumped pets, but keep the unsocializable ferals from breeding. It's great! We do sometimes relocate ferals to country barns and such if they are in a dangerous area to begin with, however. Most of the time we release them back to where we found them and put up a feed station.
Spencer, I agree that I have an attitude as well. I was miffed when I was talking to my old boss one day about how people shouldn't adopt an animal and then dump it later down the road. She actually thought it was ok!!! I couldn't believe it!!! Personally, I think a person should seriously think about all the situations they might be in in the next 10-15 even 20 years!! If someone knows they want to have kids...take that into consideration. I think some people (that definitely is NOBODY on this site--everyone here is wonderful and loves their babies!! Me included! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif) are careless when it comes to the idea of adopting a pet. They treat them as objects just to be dismissed like an old towel or piece of furniture that they don't need anymore. I've seen quite a few situations, however, where the person did everything they could to keep the pet, but didn't have it work out. That's a different story. I know these people truely care, but had to do what's best for the animal, and that means sometimes giving them up. Ok, I know I'm rambling...so please forgive me! I hope I don't upset anyone reading this post! I do not intend to. Sometimes words can be confusing as opposed to real conversation. I remember when I was in junior high, and I found out that a friend of mine's dad dumped their beautiful friendly calico cat out in the country because they got a puppy. I couldn't believe it!! There's definitely no excuse for that behavior. Now, if the two didn't get along...why did he get the puppy in the first place? Or why didn't he try and socialize them, or adopt the cat out to a loving home before bringing the puppy home? I just can't fathom people's actions sometimes.... http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/rolleyes.gif
I agree that "My dream world would be to make such idiotic behavior be as embarrasing as making a racial slur in a crowd of the offended background". Very well put!

sorry wolflady, my feeble mind won't allow me to read your long post. I'm sure it has some valid points.