One thing that the public grills the SPCA over is about euthanizing healthy animals.
Here’s one difference between the other (no-kill) shelters and the SPCA: the SPCA always needs to have space for people to bring in animals – the SPCA is not allowed to refuse an animal because of being ‘full’.
And despite what people may feel and believe – euthanasia is not the worst thing that can happen to an animal.
Another thing to consider:
Most of the time the animals in welfare situations are kept in a kennel, with not a lot of room to express normal behaviour. There’s very little stimulation for the animal and very few of the staff on site have the time to give the animal attention that would be on a sufficient level.
That is no life for an animal to live – and there are very few organizations that actually have sufficient facilities to give the animals the space and attention needed for them to have a decent if not good life. And surely it can be agreed on that it is better for an animal to be put to sleep than to live its life out in a kennel?
Something that needs to be considered:
The life of an animal isn’t the same as a human – an animal can only keep itself occupied with a limited number of things – whereas a person can keep themselves occupied with countless things.
How would you like to live your life (a span of 7 – 8 years) in a space where you have very little to keep yourself occupied with?
Animals can become very stressed out in a kennel situation – especially when it’s of the sort that needs a lot of stimulation. Some can cope better in kennel situations than others – and that also needs to be taken into consideration.
I know that people will have divided opinions on this, but I’ll ask this question anyways:
Would you rather have your animal alive and living in a kennel situation for the rest of its life – because you don’t want to put the animal out – or would you rather put it out knowing that it will live a better ‘eternity’ in animal heaven.
If you have an animal that needs a lot of stimulation and are in a situation where you need to give it up and are not able to get a home for it – consider putting the animal out, as much as it might hurt. The animal’s wellbeing should come first – and if it is difficult for you to consider euthanasia, think about the question I posed above: how would you like to live your life in a kennel with very little to keep you occupied with. If that thought is something that would drive you up the wall, consider doing kind thing and putting your animal out.
One last note to those who oppose euthanasia:
Giving the impression that an animal in a shelter is about to be euthanized and urging the public to adopt said animal is emotional blackmail – adopting just to avoid euthanasia is irresponsible, because the likelihood of that animal coming back to the shelter is a lot higher.
This blog post is part of the SPCA Duties Series. Please always be sure to practice responsible pet ownership.
Blog Post By Your Pet Caring Friend,
Carmen Harris.