March 19, 2007

I will never get used

to putting dogs to sleep, no matter what the conditions are.

We were told few days back to go pick up 2 small pups from a farm cos they had been a nuisance, peeing and pooing everywhere and no one is willing to clean up after them. Being a farm open to the public poses additional inconveniences to customers who visit. There are already a number of adult dogs on the farm.

We went down this morning, prepared with a cage to hold 2 small pups. However, we realised that all along, the farm worker was referring to 2 not so young pups (about 4 months) who had come from another farm across the road. These 2 gals were very friendly but the farm owner had given instructions to remove them from the farm.

So, there we were. Always I realise, the same scenario replays: we go there with the resolve to remove the pups, but each time, upon encountering the pups, when they come up to you to nuzzle and be stroked, the same question arose - what do we do now?

We asked ourselves the same question: What do we do now? (even though we know full well what we came down for) Where should we bring these 2 to? Should we attempt to rehome them? (when we have more awaiting homes) Should we board them at ALL? (how would we support their boarding fees for the rest of their lives?) Should we leave them where they are? (the management has informed few times to remove them).

They have to be put to sleep. I came with that knowledge. But executing it is never easy.

So I procrastinated. We drove them to Dr T, hoping to hear otherwise that our decision could be wrong. On our way there, they made themselves comfortable on my lap, snuggling close. I hated it. It was cruelly ironical.

These 2 were infested with dog lice. They were crawling all over their faces. It is good to know that dog lice post no threat to humans cos quite a few crawled onto my hands. Due to the lice infestation, their fur was very dry and they had dry, bloody scabs all over their bodies. One of them was very thin (probably anaemic from the blood-sucking lice) and the other was diagnosed with severe jaundice. Her gums and eyes were all yellowish. If left untreated, her liver wuld fail and she would eventually die.

If you can put it this way, their bad health condition gave us the courage to do what we came for - to put them to sleep. As Dr T said, when their health is poor, it is better to put them to sleep and concentrate on the healthier ones. Please don't ask me how I could do that. Not unless you can come forward and take full ownership of the many more pups who will need to be put to sleep. It was the choice taken in a sea of homeless dogs waiting their turns to be adopted, and a sea of strays hoping their turn to be culled never comes.

I had wanted to post their photos but that feels so strange right now. Maybe I will in a few days time.

* We really do not wish to do this anymore, and the only way to stop/reduce this is to carry on sterilising as many as we can catch. We need your support to build up our funds to pay for the sterilisation expenses. Pls email us at projectjkteam@yahoo.com.sg on how you can help us. Thank you.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Animal subjectivity -- I don't think I could EVER tackle this as objectively.

kz

Anonymous said...

i am sorry to hear that you had to make the decision to put them to sleep. nobody likes it. your hands are tied, there is only so much you can do.

Anonymous said...

I understand the difficulty and pain you have to go through and totally appreciate your love for the dogs. However, I will strongly urge you to reconsider putting the animals to sleep. They may be ill and frail but I believe they deserve a chance as God has given them life. They have also fought hard to stay alive. We should really try to help each that God has put in our path. I would like to share a real life story of my dog - When the fosterer found her on the street, she was infested with terrible skin condition and cataract. The vet recommended that she be put to sleep as she is old and sick. However, based on the philosophy of saving dogs and giving them a second chance of the Dog's society, the decision was to try to save the dog to the best of their ability. She gradually recovered and was put up for adoptation. I am blessed to be able to adopt her as she is mildest dog and has the sweetest nature. She is toilet trained and undemanding. She has such good nature that even my neighbour praised her. I would not have the opportunity to adopt her if the Dog society had not stood by their philosophy of saving the dog, one at a time. Please reconsider the purpose in saving the dogs.

Anonymous said...

nobody wants to take a life of an animal even more so if they have all the love in the world to give. its sad but at least they are home now are they not?

Anonymous said...

i guess it might be useful to take this objectively and on a macro-scale. where (the presence of) one dog jeopardizes the lives of ten other dogs and euthanizing the dog is the only way out, based on existing resources, wld you rather having 11 dogs down or 1 dog down?

in many areas where animal welfare lacks public and govt. support, where resources are at the barest minimum, it is perhaps imperative to consider the overall population of the dogs, as opposed to the subjectivity of one lone dog. it's never an easy task to put an animal down for all animal lovers and for all with a conscience, but i guess that's the reality in many, many areas of the animal welfare industry, insofar that "animal welfare" is your ultimate objective, dream, desire, ambition.

kz

JK said...

Putting a dog to sleep IS an objective decision. Cos to involve the heart is just too painful. To anonymous who spoke of the Dog society, can you please email us the contact of this society? We need foster families who can come forward in cases like this. We had asked another dog society but they could not help. Where the dogs have to be removed from the area, and there is no other place to relocate them to, we have to think longer than just the next month - with no foster homes, the next choice is a boarding shelter. From whom will the boarding fees come from? And for how many months? With so many dogs waiting for adoption, who will sustain the boarding fees of yet another dog for the rest of his/her life? Boarding for a dog is more than $100/month. Who will sustain this? And for how many dogs? Even if a foster home is available, we can 'save' the dog for only a period. After the foster care period is up or the foster family has to stop for whatever reasons, who will take over a grown up dog with nowhere to go? Will you take the dog in? We had experienced all that. No one wants to put a dog down. I will be so thankful if you could step forward to offer your time and home for foster care, or let us know of anyone who can.

JK said...

Putting a dog to sleep IS an objective decision. Cos to involve the heart is just too painful. To anonymous who spoke of the Dog society, can you please email us the contact of this society? We need foster families who can come forward in cases like this. We had asked another dog society but they could not help. Where the dogs have to be removed from the area, and there is no other place to relocate them to, we have to think longer than just the next month - with no foster homes, the next choice is a boarding shelter. From whom will the boarding fees come from? And for how many months? With so many dogs waiting for adoption, who will sustain the boarding fees of yet another dog for the rest of his/her life? Boarding for a dog is more than $100/month. Who will sustain this? And for how many dogs? Even if a foster home is available, we can 'save' the dog for only a period. After the foster care period is up or the foster family has to stop for whatever reasons, who will take over a grown up dog with nowhere to go? Will you take the dog in? We had experienced all that. No one wants to put a dog down. I will be so thankful if you could step forward to offer your time and home for foster care, or let us know of anyone who can.