Amy Mallory walked down the aisle a mere two weeks ago. Now she and her husband, David are expecting their first addition to their new family. Her name would be Chelsea and she would weigh less that five pounds. Their new “baby?”
This was Amy’s wedding gift from David. The newlyweds walked straight into the Humane Society adoption center, told the receptionist they wanted to adopt, and were taken back to a room full of cages with dogs inside. One small black terrier stood out. The terrier was handed to Amy, who promptly refused to hold her, scared that she may hurt the small dog. The night they brought Chelsea home, though, it was Amy who convinced her husband that the new puppy could not possibly sleep in the pen next to the bed, but must sleep on the bed with them. They had that dog for 18 years. This is one happy story, but not all of them end up so.
The Humane Society takes in about 25,000 animals each year, but only a few hundred get adopted, leaving around 70% to be euthanized due to overpopulation. Amy provided a home for one that day.
The Fort Worth Chapter was founded in 1907 with the purpose of helping and taking in animals in need. According to Peggy Brown, Shelter Manager for the Fort Worth Humane Society, the concept of helping animals originated – and later created - to make water troughs for horses, but they soon found that there are many other animals in need.
When I walked in to the grey concrete building on East Lancaster, my ears were bombarded with the sounds of dogs barking and people’s feet shuffling about on the concrete floor as they moved from the front desk to behind the swinging doors. There were 5 or 6 people, young and old, standing about holding dogs the size of their palms, and cats curled up in the corner of a carrier. Some were leaving; many were arriving.
Pet overpopulation is a serious problem. According to the Humane Society website, overpopulation alone is responsible for the death of millions of animals annually. Overpopulation is a problem because the kennels of America’s animal shelters are filled to capacity with these abandoned, lost and unwanted animals. New strays arrive continuously, yet there is not nearly enough space for them all. The shelters have no other option than to wait a short period of time to be reclaimed by their guardians or adopted into new homes; a short period of time that ends in euthanasia for those not lucky enough to secure a home.
Brown told me the ultimate accomplishment for the Humane Society would be to go out of business. That would mean that every lost, abandoned, or hurt animal would have a home. Unfortunately, every year the gap between the number of animals taken in and the number adopted keeps getting bigger and bigger.
And if the animals don’t get adopted? Euthanizing is an option, an awful one, but sometimes the only one. “It’s better to euthanize the animals than to have them being left on the street,” Brown told me. “It’s the hardest thing to do, but if we don’t, then animals get left on the streets and die a worse death.”
There are five different means of euthanasia: intravenous anesthetic, inhalant (gas) anesthetic, cervical dislocation, intracardiac injection, and shooting. The most common form used for domestic animals, and the one used at the Humane Society, is intravenous anesthetic, which is typically a high dose of a barbiturate. This substance causes unconsciousness, respiratory arrest, and then cardiac arrest, all happening within thirty seconds of injection.
Thankfully, not all animals have to face that fate. As long as the animals remain mentally and physically healthy, they stay up for adoption for as long as the Humane Society can keep them. However, there are animals that have no other destiny beyond euthanasia, for instance, those animals that are sick, mentally deteriorating, or have the potential to cause harm to a person or another animal. According to the Humane Society website, the animal shelters “strive to ensure that the animals remain healthy and are given every opportunity to find new homes. If an animal becomes sick, stressed, or exhibits challenging behavior, the shelter should take steps to treat these conditions. However, if efforts to treat the illness or behavioral problem fail and the animal is not showing signs of recovery” the Humane Society must euthanatize them.
In this world, though, there’s more to worry about than dangerous animals…dangerous people. The Humane Society works with the sheriff department to do cruelty investigation. They get calls from the deliveryman, a neighbor, or a passerby who suspects harm to an animal. The team will then go to the place and investigate. Last summer, 237 livestock, 600 pet store pets, and 476 kennels from a puppy mill were brought in as a result of cruelty charges. The Humane investigations department receives thousands of calls for service each year, the majority of which involve lack of food, water and shelter. However, larger, more complex cases are conducted resulting in on-site investigations, animal seizure and prosecuting offenders.
In 2007, NFL player Michael Vick was charged with alleged animal cruelty when he participated in an enterprise that trained pit bulls for death matches. According to CNN, if these animals were not strong enough, they were put to death by various methods such as “shooting, drowning, hanging and electrocution.” Vick served 18 months of a 23-month sentence.
The people at the Humane Society are working toward a solution to this problem. Brown explained about the education department at the Humane Society, an establishment that is considered the most important way of community outreach.
The Humane Society offers classes in feline/kitten education, canine education and senior pet education. For the cat lovers, feline education includes classes on multi-cat household, neutering, house soiling, crate training and travel, introduction to a new home, using the litter box, and home education. If you’re more of a dog person, there are classes on canine crate training, destructive chewing, neutering, getting started off right and basic training. For those family-favorite pets that have been around forever and are starting to show signs of aging: the senior pet education explains the occurrences that go on in older pets and how to best deal with your aging pet. These classes can be taken at the Humane Society, but can also be accessed online.
“If we educate the people, then we get to help the animals. Educating animals won’t do anything because they can’t help themselves.”
Beyond education, the Humane Society has a list of services they perform to help the animal population stay safe and under control. There is the adoption agency, where hundreds of animals that have suffered abuse or abandonment have found new homes, and foster homes, where someone can take an animal in until they can find a home. Most families take on domestic pets such as dogs and cats.
The humane investigations department offer services seven days a week, sending officers to respond to reports of abuse and neglect. It’s these investigators who bring relief to the animals in need, relief like food, water, and veterinary care. If the owners can’t or refuse to be educated, then the animals are legally seized and taken to the Humane Society kennels.
Preventing the births of unwanted puppies and kittens is one of the most important programs. All animals that are to be adopted are required to be spayed or neutered, but pet owners who want to have the surgery and can’t afford it will not be turned down. The Humane Society offers a Spay/Neuter Assistance Program that helps low-income and senior citizen pet owners.
The Humane Society is doing all it can to help these animals in need, but alone, it’s not enough.
“We never have enough money to do what needs to be done,” Brown told me. She explained that most of the procedures (spaying, neutering, or any other veterinarian operation that is needed) done at the Humane Society would cost around $200 per each animal. They do it for approximately $67. “We do the most with the least amount of money.”
The Humane Society is a non-profit organization and therefore does not receive any money from the government, but relies mainly on the donations of the community and the help from volunteers. “We are supported solely by tax deductible donations and do not receive funding from county, state or federal entities, nor are we subsidized by any other organization,” Brown said. “We are completely supported by donations.”
How can you help? Volunteer.
“We are always in need of volunteers,” Brown said. “The process is simple: go online and fill out an application.”
Because there is a range of different animals and temperaments, volunteers have to go through training for safe handling. Jobs include some cleaning of cages, exercising the animals, and helping in the adoption center. Anyone beginning at the age of 18 is welcome to help, even if it’s just for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon at Petsmart. “We go out to adopt out dogs and usually only two employees go, but there is always a lot more people to handle,” Brown told me.
"Volunteering is how I became involved in the Humane Society,” Brown said. “I would show dogs, so I had a pretty good knowledge of the different breeds of dogs and what dog would be good for what household. People would come in and say what they wanted and I could take them directly to the pet they needed. I’ve been working here for six years now.”
As I was leaving the Humane Society, I witnessed two college-aged people, a girl and her boyfriend, crying to the receptionist at the front desk. They were a young couple that just bought their first dog together. A few days earlier, that dog went missing. The day I was there was the very same day they went in to pick up the lost dog that had been brought in. They were crying tears of joy. The Humane Society does more than provide a place for someone to drop off unwanted animals. It bridges the gap between humans and the animals in their lives.
