As much a I love dogs, do you think it would be kinder on the dogs unlikely to be rehomed to be put to sleep

[Lardlizard]

Rather than live the rest of their lives cooped up in a shelter
I’m just not sure it the best for the dogs letting them live for years and and years in shelters
And I do say this because I do love dogs

Depends on the shelter and how good the care is, but assuming they have human interaction and walks, a comfortable space and good food, I can't agree being out to sleep would be better.

Also depends on why they are unlikely to be removed- an aggressive dog is different to one with medical issues, which is different again to one who's maybe just a bit older or uglier. There's not a one size fits all answer for this issue.

I did some voluntary work in a local independent type of dig shelter once and I’m afraid my over riding feeling that some of the long term residents would be better off put to sleep. It was a miserable existence. Concrete kennels, piss and shit everywhere, freezing cold and no real time to be given fuss and walks. Hours on end alone in a kennel with constant barking and dogs jumping up against the metal doors. Heartbreaking.

Depends on the shelter. The large rural one I volunteered at there were a couple who were long termers for no apparent reason. They got walks every day in the woods across the road ( huge pool of volunteers so never a shortage of walkers)& play sessions with staff every other day. And were on reception every other day to get attention off the public .Plus staff took them home for the weekend to give them some life outside kennels.

I think that unwanted dogs should be put down. I love animals, I love dogs. However, I absolutely believe that a mostly caged existence is no sort of existence at all, I don't care how often they are taken for walks. I think this is true for all animals.

We keep unwanted pets alive for our consciences, it's for our welfare not theirs.

I agree during this pandemic. A friend is a volunteer at a local shelter.
They have had no visits since March.
The ddogs have had no walks or interaction since March expect basic feeding /kennel cleans.
Awful, just awful.
Hardly going to be easily rehomed when /if the time comes.

I'd say it depends on the shelter. If they don't have time or funds to meet the long-term residents' physical, mental and emotional needs then yes, I'd say it's kinder to PTS rather than keeping them alive in a miserable existence to avoid offending human sensibilities.

@Sunnydaysstillhere

I agree during this pandemic. A friend is a volunteer at a local shelter. They have had no visits since March. The ddogs have had no walks or interaction since March expect basic feeding /kennel cleans. Awful, just awful. Hardly going to be easily rehomed when /if the time comes.

That's just cruel. Unbelievable.

I know. I used to look at the ddogs online but had to stop. My friend has mh issues as it is and this hasn't helped.
Can't see how it's legal for them to be so neglected.

Depends on the shelter; my local greyhound one had 2 old boys (aged 10+) in for the long haul, they put them in together in the end, with a huge supply of duvets and blankets. They were walked and fussed.

1 of them got re-homed during June! Really sad they didn't take the other though.

Depends on their quality of life but on the whole I agree with you. Life in some of the kennels described below are not fair to animals.

I also can’t understand the ethos of keeping animals alive if they are in pain with no quick hope of improvement either. I cringe when watching supervet as he seems to specialise in fleecing rich people into spending more and more in lost causes and experimental treatments with scant regard to the animals involved.

It seems utterly pointless, rather cruel and done for the owners benefit rather than the animal.

I suppose it depends on the shelter but in the main it seems that many dogs in shelters long term are just being subject to a lifetime's prison sentence.

For some dogs, the very old or infirm, it does make me wonder what's the point of keeping them in those conditions and who they are being kept alive for.

It's all about the quality of life for a dog, locking it up for hours on end with no end in sight gives a dog no quality of life imo.

I think my dog would go mad locked up on her own in a concrete cage for months on end with just the occasion walk and not much interaction with humans during the course of the day.

@BadDucks

I did some voluntary work in a local independent type of dig shelter once and I’m afraid my over riding feeling that some of the long term residents would be better off put to sleep. It was a miserable existence. Concrete kennels, piss and shit everywhere, freezing cold and no real time to be given fuss and walks. Hours on end alone in a kennel with constant barking and dogs jumping up against the metal doors. Heartbreaking.

This comes way too close to describing my experience in a nursing and rehab center. The smell, the lack of visitors, the cold, the smell, the tasteless food dumped on a tray beside the bed and the only interaction was with the "pill nurse" who stood by with a cup of water and watched you take medication. I was "rescued and returned home" but there were at least 40 residents there who were only getting out when the coroner came for them. If I had been in the "lifers" ward, I would have preferred being put to sleep.

@wink1970

Depends on the shelter; my local greyhound one had 2 old boys (aged 10+) in for the long haul, they put them in together in the end, with a huge supply of duvets and blankets. They were walked and fussed.

1 of them got re-homed during June! Really sad they didn't take the other though.

I'm not sure they should have separated them like that! Poor dogs.

@Enb76 So if an unwanted pet is unwanted it should just put down straight away

Thousands and thousands of dogs/cats etc are rehomed every year and they go on to have very happy lives with their new family. Dogs in shelters probably get more attention and stimulus than dogs who are left at home all day while their owner's work in some cases. You think a few weeks/months in a pen (not a cage) isn't worth it for the years and years they could have with a loving family?

As for dogs that have been there years, it does depend on the reason why they haven't been adopted. And as other people have said, some shelters do give these dogs lots of attention. Look at it from the shelter's view, they put a healthy dog down for no reason, and then the next day, someone with an ideal home turns up inquiring about whether it is still available. Sounds unlikely, but not impossible. I heard about one woman in US who turned up at a kill shelter and took a dog who was about 45 minutes away from being put down. So I think it should always be a last resort.

I don't know much about this organization, but I follow Dogs 4 Rescue on Facebook (and occasionally donate to them). They have a kennel-free approach which is quite radical and not similar to what's been described. I don't really know how they do it to be honest. I also have a friend who fosters dogs as an alternative, some of them are quite hard to rehome though and there's always the possibility of being stuck with them!

@Purpledaisychain if a home can't be found within 2 months then yes, if in caged conditions. There are alternatives to cages such as fostering etc... I feel better about those.

No. Put the previous owners to sleep instead.

I think you're being massively unreasonable as it totally depends on the quality of the shelter.

Our local shelter are absolutely fantastic - they have lots of land, the dogs get regular walks (at least twice a day) and get plenty of attention. I dare say they get more human company than dogs that are left home alone 8-10 hours a day, five days a week, and more exercise than lots of other dogs too.

I know of owners who never walk their dogs, who let them toilet in the house or garden and never clear up. If dogs are left in cages 23 hours a day, then there are bigger problems that need to be addressed. Regulations around animal welfare need to be hugely tightened up in this country - that goes for owners, fosters and shelters.

But no, the dogs shouldn't be put to sleep because it's taken more than a certain length of time to be re-homed - that's a really shocking suggestion imo.

'But no, the dogs shouldn't be put to sleep because it's taken more than a certain length of time to be re-homed - that's a really shocking suggestion imo.'

Who are you keeping them alive for? The dogs have no idea, they don't think about future. You keep them alive for you - I think it's really selfish

@Enb76

'But no, the dogs shouldn't be put to sleep because it's taken more than a certain length of time to be re-homed - that's a really shocking suggestion imo.'

Who are you keeping them alive for? The dogs have no idea, they don't think about future. You keep them alive for you - I think it's really selfish

For another chance? I mean, how do you decide on a cut-off? What if a dog needs rehab due to an injury? Do you just say "nah, fuck it, we'll put it to sleep anyway"?

Lots of dogs have great lives in kennels. If the shelter is so bad that being PTS is genuinely a better option, then the shelter needs looking at. Surely the solution is improve the kennel conditions, not just kill off the dogs?

The thing is a walk a day and play time one every other day is not something a rescue would let a dog go to a home too like it so why is it acceptable for long term rescue places.

When people are rejected because they are our for 6 hours in a day yet rescues have their dogs locked up for 20hours of a day the dogs are prisoners who could have a much much better life in the home where it’s only locked away 6hours a day but rescues believe they are some sanctuary which they are not.

A dog on solitary confinement for the rest of its life is no life and a rescue willing to do that is not a humane one with the dogs true interests at heart. There comes a point when either the rescue is being far to strict to look good or the dog should be put down because it’s no life.

You can claim to love dogs all you want but if you would let one live in a rescue for years and years you no real dog lover just virtue signalling about how great it is that these dogs get a second chance when they are not at all.

I had a collie that had been passed around then spent majority of his life inside a house where he was never walked. He had every issue going. Spent a bomb on behaviourists. After several biting issues we made the choice to Pts I couldn't imagine anyone else being crazy enough to take this dog on and a life in the kennels meant one less space for a dog who could be rehomed . Hardest thing I ever did.

Sometimes I think that would be best.

There are shelters where the dogs have a very reasonable existence. I don't think what a dog wants out of life is necessarily what people want. I think a dog in the right environment with other dogs, for example, can be happy without a whole lot of human interaction. And some shelters are a lot like a home environment.

However, there are dogs where I really wonder about the wisdom and it seems to have more to do with making people feel virtuous and a lot of anthropomorphising. Particularly in cases where a dog has problems that are preventing successful rehoming - be it anxiety based behaviours, aggression, some medical problems.

We have few dogs in shelters here local to me now, other than some with problems like these. One is a young dog with a serious malformation who needs a special diet and feeding. I think he's in a foster situation which is fine, he is probably fine to stay there, but I really wonder about his comfort, about who could take him on, the money spent, and the decision to do the lifesaving surgery when he was born.

I think there is a certain amount of this attitude that is common among rescue people now which on the one hand isn't that realistic about the animals happiness but at the same time won't let them go to families who have somewhat less romantic views about pets.

As much as it might be. I dont believe humans should have the right to end any life without that beings decision. You cant choose to kill your grandad because he has dementia, or your child because they have cancer. Why should we get to choose to end the life of anyone just because they're no longer what we want. It's one thing putting them to sleep because they're in pain and they cant tell us when they want it to stop, were doing our best to think of what they would want. But to end their life because they're not fun anymore, or because we're moving house and the new one doesn't allow pets?. It's dangerous for humans to have the right to give and take life so casually, we cant be trusted with that power.

I've often wondered this.

It would be absolutely brilliant if idiots would stop buying sick puppies from farms and then handing them.over when they cant afford the bills.

It would be brilliant of people researched their dog breed ajd whether ot was compatible with their lifestyle before taking a fashionable dog on.

It would be amazing of people realises the sheer about if work required in socialising their dog, house training their dog, teaching more than just a basic sit and half hearted recall and having an all round well trained obedient well socialised dog

It would be great if owners realised they need mental stimulation and have mental needs as much as rhey have physical ones of eating and walks

I know there are plenty who have had ti give up their pets tbrough illness disability and unavoidable circumstances and my heart goes out to them. I'm sure most those dogs are probably fairly easily rehomable

But ther are so many idiots. And instead of berating a shelter for putting them down we should be angy at the owners who made them so unrehomable and caused so many issues that the poor things need months of work and a rare specialist home .

So I do think jts just torturing the poor things tbh . Uts probably kinder to put them to sleep than have them go through multiple unsuitable homes or sit there hoping that someone who lives in the middle of nowhere, sees no other dogs , has plenty cash for every dog workshop known to man and just happens to be looking fir a three legged, diabetic, food aggressive border collie...

I wish there were harsher punishments fir letting that happen then maybe it wouldn't even be a decision anyone would have to make