Good Samaritan upset over dog euthanized by Hi-Tor

[s0ad]

RAMAPO - A passer-by who thought the part-Rottweiler she found wandering the roads near Sloatsburg last month was a friendly animal said yesterday that she was devastated the stray was euthanized without anyone calling her.

Full article here (http://www.lohud.com/article/20090818/NEWS03/908180370)

This makes me sad to see.... always why I'm weary of calling animal control when I see a stray and often try to lure him/her to me instead... (okay, probably not always the best idea, but I can't help it). But I've helped a couple of pups this way. (:

I know shelters are packed but I think its kind of unfair to give a dog 1 -2 weeks to "settle in" then test him and when he fails immediately euthanize. I mean the dog is probably scared and confused and who knows about his history? A week or two doesn't seem very long. :(

[Irizary]

A week or two doesn't seem very long. :(

It doesn't. But the reality is that multiple millions are going to be killed for lack of homes. So if it isn't this dog, it's another dog who will be killed. Thanks to all breeders (there are no "good" ones) and irresponsible owners.

The more dogs that come in, the more hair-trigger even "no-kill" shelters get with their animals.

They were very wrong not to call her first though, if she made that request.

If Hi-Tor was a political advocacy group for animals, you could look forward to Hi-TorKillsAnimals.com, in which people who actively harm animals attempt to discredit an animal group, however.

[cheekywhiskers]

Sad to say, but I understand exactly why he was euthanized. Some dogs are very friendly, almost begging for attention when they are scared and don't know someone. Once they start adjusting and getting comfortable with their environment, they start to think they are boss and can just take what they want. It's not just that he showed aggression, it's also how severe it might have been. A dog like him might have been able to be retrained, if he already had a family and wasn't in a shelter, but the more effort and money spent on any given animal, the fewer that can be saved (and the liability of a bite or attack).

[s0ad]

I understand there wasn't a lot of room, but it still is sad.

It also seemed like there was a lady who really liked him, and would have taken him. Even if she didn't outright say I'll take him (which she may have) if she was calling and checking on him, I would have at least asked her.

From reading the comments it also seems as if this particular place has something against rots/pit bulls.

[karenlovessnow]

I don't have any answers, but yes, it is sad. :(

[One]

I got my two dogs from a shelter. My first one, Marley, was in the shelter twice and the owners came and claimed him the first time. But then he escaped again back to the shelter, and the shelter spayed him, so the owners said we don't want him now. So we got called immediately (by a neighbour who worked there) and told us about him and we snapped him up. He's a pure bred, so he easily would have got adopted... BUT he also would have easily got brought back. He was from a puppy farm, and God knows what the owners did to him. He was terrified of men, terrified of wind or a even a breeze, terrified of clapping, terrified of his own shadow, peed in the house constantly... so he's lucky he got us, because I don't think other people would have put up with it.

Then we adopted our second one, a little jack russel/chihuahua called Broccoli... and she ended up having a snapping/growling problem which would have got her put down in the shelter. She had also been in the shelter for so long that she wasn't toilet trained anymore and peed all over the house too! Plus she's deaf, so no one wanted her.

But they turn out to be great dogs with some TLC and they deserve a life. They only have bad habits because of their previous owners, or from being in the shelters too long. I have no idea why people gave my dogs up... I love them sooo much, they're so full of character and so loving.

Adopting is the best... I'll be adopting dogs forever