Originally posted by lute
yea,i dont know what i'm gonna do when a dog that i get attached to gets put to sleep! any advice?
I don't know about other shelters, but at the one that I volunteer at, the dogs that are available for adoption are not generally pts. If they are there for any extended period of time, we try to get them into a foster home or place them with a rescue organization. My guess is that is the only dogs you will be allowed to have any contact with are the ones that have had a behavior evaluation. In the last year, I have only known of one dog that I had actual contact with that ended up euthanized. Unfortunately he developed kennel stress and began to lunge at people. We worked hard with him, but in the end there was no alternative. Most times the dogs that are euthanized are in the isolation wards due to aggression issues or health issues or court cases. Even when a dog is put down, the staff generally do not advertise which dog was euthanized and the reason behind it.

I just try to concentrate on the dogs that are up for adoption and try to give them some attention and training to reduce their stress and increase their liklihood of getting adopted.

One thing I have learned is that you cannot second guess the decisions made by the shelter staff. They have the knowledge and experience working within the system that I could never fully understand. I just try to work with them to help the animals. Let's face it, people in animal care are never in it for the money - the pay sucks.