I just don’t know what to say. Six more dogs arrived at the SPA today. We just cannot go on. One of them was a puppy when he was homed by us back in February. He is now back and by all accounts in a terrible state. Did we let him down when we let him leave with his new family in February? In a way yes. The family looked so convincing and whereas it would be nice to have enough volunteers to carry out a follow up of every adoption, this is just not possible, bearing in mind the number of dogs we home each year.
So who let him down? Well, obviously the people who adopted him, who signed a contract in which they promised to care from him, or in extremis, to contact the SPA. But someone else who let him down was the person who bred an unwanted litter. The root of the entire dog (and cat) overpopulation comes down to people not wanting to castrate or sterilise. Anyone who tells themselves otherwise is just in denial.
I am in despair, as are all the other volunteers and employees at the SPA.
We hold onto crumbs of comfort, like today’s two adoptions. First to leave was Jacqui, the little jadg terrier who arrived recently and was such a hit at the open day. Then we said farewell to Ratus, who, like Jacqui, has been with us so short a time that neither had been walked yet. The reason we have “out of kennel” photos of Jacqui is that someone with a camera was there when she arrived!
So another dreadful day and with no sign of this deluge of arrivals ceasing. We need another weekend like the last one, except this time with no arrivals at all.
Please, please, please sterilise your animals and stop inflicting this misery on all the unwanted dogs and cats, and on all the people who do their best to look after and rehome them. And please, if you are thinking of adopting make sure you really want to, and then go to a refuge and do not buy from backyard breeders. This just encourages them to have more litters and makes our lives even harder.
Jacqui – ADOPTED
Ratus – ADOPTED
And the sad reality of an unwanted litter. STERILISE and CASTRATE.