Difficult times at the animal shelter

My son and I volunteer at the local animal shelter, which is something we’ve been doing for several years and really enjoy. Unfortunately one of the harsh realities is that some of the animals do get euthanized, which we understand and realize that sometimes there are no other options, but it’s still tough to deal with at times.

The last few months we’ve been spending more time with the quarantined animals, which are the ones not available for adoption due to behavior issues (aggressiveness or bite cases), or medical reasons, or they’re waiting to be evaluated. Sadly, most all pit bulls are not able to be put up for adoption, regardless of their temperament. Sometimes they’re fortunate enough to be sent to an animal rescue, but that doesn’t happen often enough I’ve always been uneasy about pit bulls, given all the reports you hear about unprovoked attacks, etc, but after having spent more time with them I’ve had a change of heart. They are almost always very gentle and sweet dogs, regardless of how much they’ve been abused or neglected, or fought. Most are simply happy to have someone give them some attention and love, and want nothing more than to be have their bellies rubbed or behind their ears scratched, or to be played with. There have been some badly scarred dogs which have obviously been fought and had to endure horrific treatment, yet they still remain loving and gentle. We go into this situation knowing many of the dogs will be euthanized, but we just try to provide as much love and happiness for them as we can in the time they have left. But it’s still difficult when we go back and find an empty kennel where one of the dogs that we’d grown attached to had been, knowing what that means. Sometimes it really bothers my son, which worries me, and I’ve wondered if we should cut back on spending so much time with the quarantined animals and just work with the adoptable ones.

Last night they suddenly ushered us out of the quarantined area because there was a situation with one of the pit bull puppies that my son had grown attached to. They wouldn’t tell us anything, but it was obvious from their actions that it was something pretty bad. My son was pretty upset about this and desperately wanted to know what happened, but they wouldn’t tell him anything. He hasn’t learned yet that sometimes it’s best not to know certain things.

So, it was kind of a rough night for him. We talked about the realities of working with quarantined animals and the fact that we need to accept that many of them will be euthanized, and that maybe it’s time to take a break from that for a while. He doesn’t want to take a break, but I think we need to. Maybe we’ll bring home some kittens to foster.

We came home and made shrimp scampi and then watched Fringe. We were both worn out and went to bed early.

It’s been a long week and I’m feeling down and uncertain about everything. So much uncertainty and doubt about so many things.

Rebecca