Well, I've got to side with the minority here. I agree with Kfamr and Amber. I do NOT agree with this: "I think him being an outside dog is much better than possibly being put to sleep. "
There ARE fates worse than death. I'm not saying, by any means, that Ally Cat's home is a fate worse than death. Don't take it that way. I am simply continually frustrated by statements like, "Anything is better than being put to sleep" or "Well, living outside on a chain is better than being killed." People who say that have never worked in the front lines of the animal businesses.
I have been involved with rescue, shelters, humane societies, etc. for almost two decades now, and I have seen a LOT of things. I have seen thousands and thousands of dogs in every different circumstance possible. And there are most certainly things worse than being put to sleep. It is very naive to assume that a humane death is the worst possible alternative on this earth ... VERY naive indeed.
I do NOT like dogs living outside only, especially one dog living alone outside. Even if someone in the family pays some attention to the dog every day, it is most generally heavy at first, and as the kids grow up or lose interest and the cute puppy grows in to a big dog, it gets less and less. A few minutes, even an hour, a day of attention still leaves 23 hours of solitary confinement. Dogs are pack animals. It is their instinct and nature to never be alone. A wild canid separated from its pack dies, and our domestic dogs have retained that instinct - "alone = dead." It is against every fiber of a dogs being to live alone all day and night. It is the equivelant to you or I spending the rest of our lives in a prison cell, in solitary confinement, with the warden bringing us a bowl of food once a day.
Also, dogs have no concept of "death" ... NONE. They don't comprehend the meaning of life or death. It is NOT the same for the dog as it would be for us ... we would KNOW we were going to die because no one wanted us. Dogs live entirely in the moment - a dog being euthanized will be deliriously happy getting petted and talked to until it falls asleep, and just never wakes up. There is NO fear, trauma or realization in a humane euthansia.
Now ... having said all that, let me add this: I am speaking from an American perspective. I have no idea what life is like for dogs in Bahrain (heck, I don't even know where that is!) or what shelters are like. I know in some countries, there really is no such things as a "humane" shelter. If that's the case in Bahrain, and I sincerely hope it's not, then that might change things somewhat.
"We give dogs the time we can spare, the space we can spare and the love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made" - M. Facklam
"We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers and discoverers - thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses. Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams."- P.S. Beagle
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king." - J.R.R. Tolkien
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