Is Keeping an Animal Alive the Same as Giving Them Life?

I have a question: Is keeping an animal alive the same as giving them life?

At our 28 shelter visits this year, we met dogs who had spent months, even years at the shelter. We met others who had grown up there. We saw ‘spinner’ dogs who twirled in nonstop circles out of stress, dogs who cowered and hid in the back of their kennels, and dogs who lunged and snarled as we passed.

And, we met dogs who didn’t seem worse for wear, who greeted us happily and came to the front of their kennels for treats and pets. Dogs who happily played in groups, romped in outdoor spaces, and slurped on stuffed kongs.

Some places had no beds for the dogs to keep them off the cement or dirt, and others had no volunteer programs, foster homes, or enrichment efforts. But we also saw shelters where every effort was being made to keep the dogs happy and engaged and exercised. They utilized foster homes and had committed volunteers. But as the numbers have climbed all year, things have gotten harder and harder for everyone.

And what happens when a municipality doesn’t have animal services? Animals suffer, and people suffer, too, but the really frustrating part is that because there are no municipal animal services, the number of animals and people suffering goes up (and up). In 2024 that reality, as the kids say, hit the fan.

But even in places where there are municipal shelters, for too much of the population (human and animal) animal services cannot help them. Holding hard to their ‘no-kill’ status, and with the best of intentions, many shelters have stopped accepting owner surrenders, and many will not take in strays either.

And on many levels that makes sense. With a finite number of kennels, a finite amount of resources, and a requirement (for funding, for public appeal, perhaps according to by-laws) that the shelter not euthanize for space or length of stay, they must say no. When every foster home is full, no one is adopting, and rescues have no slots available, what else are they to do?

There is a vast difference between keeping an animal alive and giving them life. And before you start piling on, I’m not suggesting that we euthanize for space or even length of stay. I’m just asking everyone involved to look at the mental health and the prognosis for the dogs in our shelters. Because too many good dogs are being turned away.

I don’t know a single shelter director who isn’t overwhelmed by all they must do and even more so by all they cannot do.

This past Friday, I picked up three 9-week-old puppies from Mississippi who came from a county that has no animal services. Luckily, there are a handful of rescues who try to pick up the slack – mostly rescuing the vulnerable ones – puppies and sick/injured dogs. But they are always full, and many are forced to say, ‘Sorry we don’t have room.’ (A timely phrase this month.)

My puppies were found on the edge of a forest on a deserted road, abandoned with a blanket and a bowl of water. I don’t know their story – maybe their owners had been evicted, maybe they’d lost a job, maybe they had the mama dog but couldn’t afford a spay or find homes for the puppies.

With no shelter or rescue to take the puppies, they must have felt this was the only option. And if a couple out for a Sunday drive hadn’t spotted a tiny black head poking up from the weeds, they would have had a different ending. They might have been hit, or more likely succumbed to the elements, hunger, sickness, or predators. If they survived, they’d have multiplied.

Instead, they are happily playing in my foster puppy room as we work to rid them of the worms they brought with them, get them fully vaccinated, and find them homes (hopefully in time for Christmas!).

Back to my question – is keeping an animal alive the same as giving them life?

When there is no room at the inn for so many animals, we leave too many with zero options. Owners who abandon them not only leave them to a dangerous fate, they will likely quickly increase our stray population (very few abandoned animals are spayed/neutered).

If we continue to turn animals away at the rate we are now, our stray/feral populations will not just grow, they will skyrocket.

We have to find more solutions. An unprecedented situation calls for an unprecedented solution.

Every shelter (or in lieu of a shelter, a rescue, or an advocacy group) must find a way to engage its community. I’ve heard so many shelter/rescue people complain that their community doesn’t know about their operation or isn’t willing to come help. If that’s true, then you need to go to them. (and even if it’s not, you still need to go to them)

Create educational opportunities (in libraries, schools, churches, community centers, camps), community events (festivals, parades, holiday happenings), dog activities (like the pack walks Animal Harbor does each month, training classes, puppy socialization, dog shows), anything to get you and your dogs in front of the people who have the power to change your situation. Maybe it’s time to leash up your whole shelter population and take them to a county board meeting.

The community is not your problem, they are your solution. Maybe they need to be educated, but they can’t do that themselves. If you care about the dogs in your community and believe in the importance of animal services and humane care, then get involved. NOW.

In my book, Who Will Let the Dogs Out: Stories and Solutions for Shelters and Rescues, you’ll find hundreds of ideas for engaging your community, finding solutions to increase veterinary access, funding your shelter, caring for the animals, and saving lives.

If we want to not just keep animals alive but give them life, we have to do more than put them in a kennel, post their picture online, and hope. We have to act. We have to think beyond what we’ve been doing to what we could do.

Every dog, regardless of where they live or how curly their hair is, deserves a life of love and safety. We need to make room not just in our shelters, but in our hearts. We’ve got to put our energies into finding creative solutions and stop lamenting the problem, or worse yet, exacerbating it. Turning dogs away will only bring them back to you tenfold.

Let’s do more than keep dogs alive, let’s give them life.

If you’d like to get a copy of Who Will Let the Dogs Out: Stories and Solutions for Shelters and Rescues, or gift one (or more) to a shelter, please visit our Indiegogo Campaign for this project.

Click here to learn more.

Who Will Let the Dogs Out: Stories and Solutions for Shelters and Rescues will be published January 28, but you can get an early copy through our Indiegogo Campaign, which is live for only three more days (December 16).

Questions about the book or campaign? Hit me up: cara@wwldo.org.

Until each one has a home,

Cara

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