Warning: animal death zomgwtf

[sincere]

This is so horrible.

It was posted to fark.com with a "Sick" tag and everyone disagreed, claiming it was a good idea. If it worked, I think it would be a good idea. But it can't, won't work.

I mean, yes, it's good to spread awareness -- pet shelters can't keep an animal indefinitely, and the animals will be killed if they aren't adopted. Maybe it's even good to let people know how long an animal has to live: does Dog A have six months while Dog B has only two weeks? If you're torn between two animals, this might help to make the humane decision.

But this doesn't really strike me as helping. It strikes me as guilting and horrifying the same people who were already inclined to buy an animal from a shelter. It's not like the people who buy animals at pet shops go to shelters and then say, "This place isn't as clean and elegant as the pet shop. Let's get a pet from there instead."

Instead, you're just making people who were already going to buy them feel horrible about being only to adopt one, or not being able to adopt one that's more at risk. Or worse -- compelling people to adopt when they don't want to, or adopting whatever animal is most at risk instead of an animal that really works for them. And animals that don't work and aren't wanted? They'll wind up back in the shelter.

If you really want people to get animals from animal shelters, stop making it so hard to adopt from them!

Comments

[hauntedreality.livejournal.com]

How hard is it to adopt from them? If they make it too easy other bad things might happen. People getting them for dog fights and such. But I've never tried to adopt an animal. We usually got our pets based on them being dumped and wandering onto our farm.

[kay-willow.livejournal.com]

They're very nitpicky, and won't let you get an animal if you don't have the right living conditions or agree to their ideas -- like, say, in some states you can't adopt from a shelter if you have a fenced-in yard, or if you have children, or if you have other pets, or unless you sign a contract promising to keep your cat indoors or get them declawed or etc. It can be very difficult, and turn off a prospective buyer -- or, hell, a buyer who's already been turned down.

Meanwhile, sometimes pet stores don't even seem to care whether or not your apartment allows pets. :\

[hauntedreality.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is kind of intense. That would annoy me. I'm sure I'd leave. When I was thinking about a cat I was debating between whether I'd get one from a shelter of some kind or if I'd just put the word out that I wanted one and wait until someone mentioned giving away kittens and then just get them from a family.

But I'm back out of the market since I didn't get a house. My apartment allows cats, but I have new furniture and I think this apartment is too small for me and a pet. Mostly because the kitchen is the only place I could put the liter box and...well, gross.

[kay-willow.livejournal.com]

Yeah, our apartment is not what I would call sized for felines either. They're very excited about the stairs, but their litter box goes in the upstairs bathroom under the counter. It, uh, keeps us honest, because you can tell when it needs to be changed. XD

When we got our cats we had to leap through hoops, but we managed. Now I get e-spammed by the shelter constantly. XD

[krillia.livejournal.com]

Two points:

a. Most of the shelters I go to already have the intake date. And if you're smart, you just have to look at the immunization record if it doesn't have them.

b. Shelters don't often KNOW. It's not simply a matter of Dog A came in two months ago, so it's going to be taken out the back door in a body bag. The staff take temperament, future adoptability, and all sorts of things into account. A vicious/extremely shy dog that's only been at the shelter for a month is going to be euthanized before a sweet dog that's been there for 2; a cat who had a skin condition that it's just getting over will be kept for longer than a cat that's perfectly fine that's been there for the same amount of time. Puppies will get to live longer than older dogs.

And, unfortunately, a really nice animal that has some sort of condition (health or physical) is most likely going to be put down before other ones. Even if it's nothing major, or just cosmetic. Because most people don't go for the three-legged, barbed-wire scarred dogs.

I've known people in charge of animal shelters who were responsible for such decisions. Needless to say, it was NOT their favorite part of the job.

[kay-willow.livejournal.com]

It's tragic, but I know that shelters can't rehabilitate/adopt out every animal, and some realistically even maybe should be put to sleep. I don't object to that, and I don't envy the people who have to do it and make those decisions. But I do think it's ridiculous to try and guilt or fear-monger people into making the decision to get a pet. This website isn't helping anyone who wants to adopt: it's just there to shock people. The half a million dollars this guy spent on his website would probably have been better used donating to or publicizing the shelters they "service" instead of putting up this website to horrify people and hoping that horror publicized the shelters for them.

[green-and-warty.livejournal.com]

Ack, something about that ... I mean, they can't, won't get every shelter. And just. I'm not sure how I feel about this.