If an owner dies, and there is no one to take her dog, which do you think is better: 1. Putting the dog in a no kill shelter where he will stay in a cage for years and years 2. Putting the dog to sleep Which do you think is the kindest choice?
I think it's inhumane either way. Death isn't humane. It's killing because people are inconvenienced. The only reason an animal should be put down is if it is going to die anyway, from illness or injury. I would post it's story online with some pictures and pull on people's heart strings. Free animals go rather quickly.
Why would the dog stay in the no kill shelter in a cage for years and years? Find a decent no-kill shelter where they don't do that. Good no-kill shelters will network dogs and if the dog is in the shelter too long will send the dog to a foster home where he or she can get a break. The job of the no-kill shelter is to find homes for animals, not to keep them in cages. This is a good example of why one should leave written instructions for their pets in their will, though. No one has any business killing an animal (it's not sleeping. it's dead) just because an owner has died.
Dogs never should be killed just because their owner died. Neither should they be kept in some cage for an indefinite period of time. I think it's much better for one of the dead owner's relatives or friends who is an animal lover to take 'adopt' the dog and care for it. Pets normally are like part of the owner's family. When that person dies do his/her kids get sent straight to an orphanage?
Sadly, this is the reasons why free dogs go so well on Craigslist: I think it's inhumane either way. Death isn't humane. It's killing because people are inconvenienced. The only reason an animal should be put down is if it is going to die anyway, from illness or injury. I would post it's story online with some pictures and pull on people's heart strings. Free animals go rather quickly. Log In
I think the best thing to do is to find the dog a loving home through their relatives first, and only consider giving them to a shelter when no one would take them. The only reason a dog stays in the shelter is because no one adopts it, so it should be made adoptable as much as possible.
No-kill shelters don't keep animals in cages for years upon years, the people that work their actively try to find them homes. I would much rather have them have a chance at life than to be put to sleep simply because no one wants to take them in. Neither of those choices are humane, but one of them isn't the way you think. The shelters try to find them homes.
I think I'd agree with kwriter that it's probably best to just get them into shelters so they would at least have a chance to find new owners and get to live out the rest of their lives. If it were up to me I'd just put them into a home for elders so they would at least have some company that wants hem and would pay attention to them and they would also get to have some entertainment and affection in return as well.
A dog should not be put down for fear of crazy people. You risk that no matter how they obtain the pet. People who pay hundreds or even thousands for a pet have abused or killed them as well. Many live in neglectful or abusive homes. The story of a pet surrendered to a shelter is just as depressing in my opinion.. if they don't get adopted, their short lives there are terrifying and sad. I'd rather take my chances finding it a loving home myself.
