The following article has been adapted with permission from German Shepherd Rescue (apologies for the horrific and graphic images, but they do get the point across) ...................
NOBODY'S DOG
Today
is the death day of nobody's dog
Nothing will mark it but a note in the log
I'm faceless and nameless and no tears will fall
For I know in your world I have no worth at all
To
you, my sweet someone, I'm a friend and a dear
We ran the wind daily and you held me so near
But the gate was left open - I chanced a walk on my own
I'd have cowered in fear if only I'd known
I
know how you cried on the night that I strayed
I know how you searched, I know how you prayed
But I went to a pound far far from our home
Where I crouched in despair in my kennel alone
I
know that you phoned for I heard your dear voice
And I hoped you would hear me so I barked myself hoarse
Although I'm a Lab cross with stockings all white
On their form I'm a Staff cross - the description's not right
So
they said I'm not here and I sank to my bed
My kennel cough's worse and I can't raise my head
The rescue came yesterday but they hadn't a place
For an un-neutered cross breed with his mucus-streaked face
If
only you'd come to search for me here
You would have known me at once, you would have sensed I was near
You would have sorted my ills, you would have carried me home
And I promise our God no more would I roam
Now
my eyes plead for mercy for my seven days are done
And I am waiting with dread for the final vet run
No arms will caress me as they inject me to death
No words will comfort me as I take my last breath
When
the body man comes, it is fitting I'm found
In a bin bag in the freezer in the depths of the pound
Thrown away like the rubbish - no respect and no shame
Denied even the time to find you again
My
loyalty and devotion they did cruelly betray
Without microchip or nametag, I am just a dispensable stray
Once waggy-tailed, once proud, beloved and free
Oh Dad look with pain at what mankind's done to me!
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It has been estimated that up to 10,000 dogs are put to sleep in UK rescues every year. A small proportion of these are aggressive dogs who do not respond to training. The vast majority are just strays and "hand-ins" for whom homes cannot be found.
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Did you know that at least 150 dogs are killed in the UK every week? How and why? They are destroyed by lethal injection by man because they are surplus to requirements.
The Dog Trust survey reveals that a shocking 105,000 strays are picked up every year with some 300 being abandoned every day. A minimum of 150 dogs are put to sleep every week in the UK.
How sad that we claim to be animal-lovers yet the throwaway mentality is so evident in our treatment of our own pets.
Whether a dog lives or dies is very much a post code lottery and in some areas there the rate of destruction is as high as 35%.
Their crime is being surplus to requirement
There are many council run pounds across the UK that do care about the animals that are brought in and they will work with rescues and do what they can to help rehome dogs.
Unfortunately there are many privately run pounds who care little for the dogs. The pound staff are very cold hearted and the dogs mean nothing to them. They make lots of money from taking in these dogs and it is easier and quicker to kill them than try and find a home for them. They only have to keep them 7 days and then they can kill them to make room for more.
Think puppies don't end up in the pound and get put to sleep? WRONG!
In many pounds the dogs are housed in runs small runs which will have no suitable bedding, usually wet newspaper on cold concrete floors. Often pound workers clean the dog runs with the dogs in them, by turning on the hose and hosing down the faeces, urine etc. So the poor animal will be left doused in water and goodness knows what and left to shiver.
The kennels are often dark and unheated (eats into their profits) so floors stay wet for hours and the poor dogs young or old have no choice but to lie there. Most dogs are are fed on just dry kibble which is often thrown on the floor -saves having to wash dog bowls. Many will go hungry for days simply because if they don't eat then they do not shit. Similarly if they don't drink they don't pee. Less work for the pound workers - no mess to clean up.
What did I do to deserve this?
If a staff member takes a particular dislike to an animal or it shows any sign of aggression it is 'disposed of'. Even good natured dogs find it hard to cope with the types of conditions found in many of the pounds, hence many animals will have little chance of getting out alive, especially if they are a bit timid because they may have been mistreated by their previous uncaring owners etc.
Often members of the public who surrender their dogs are never told that many of these dogs will be killed after 7 days unless they are lucky enough to be rescued. It's like a concentration camps with rows and rows of dogs waiting to go for slaughter.
This is happening every day 365 days a year and Christmas and public/school holidays are the worse times as the numbers of dogs taken in rises.
The killing will be done well away from the public eye with the dogs which are sceduled to die being taken to a building in the back of the pound, where the puplic cannot see. There they await their turn, while they are watching the other dogs die one by one.
Innocent victims of todays society disposable throw away items no longer required. Often the person who euthanises the dogs is not a vet, just a heartless pound worker who gets great pleasure in giving them the lethal injection.
The dogs bodies are than loaded into a freezer to be taken away by truck - who knows where. Some commercial pet food companies are known to use pet carcasses in their products.
Appalled - any caring person would be!!
WHAT HAPPENS IN YOUR COUNCIL?
HOW LONG DO DOGS HAVE BEFORE THEY ARE DESTROYED IF THEY WANDER IN YOUR AREA?
DO YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE TAKEN TO? MOST ARE DRIVEN ABOUT 15 MILES AWAY TO DOG POUNDS . BY THE TIME YOU FIND THEM - THEY COULD BE DEAD, SOLD OR MOVED AROUND THE COUNTRY WHERE YOU WILL NEVER FIND THEM?
WHO DOES THE DESTROYING IN YOUR LOCAL DOG POUND? SOME ARE DONE BY BASIC COUNCIL WORKERS, SOME BY GENERAL UNTRAINED KENNEL STAFF - SOME ARE JUST LEFT TO DIE IN PAIN ON COLD WET FLOORS - LAYING IN THEIR OWN EXCREMENT?
DONT THINK IT DOESN'T HAPPEN - IT DOES
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We at SHWA(UK) are doing all we can to ensure that no Siberian Huskies end up on death row unnecessarily, but we need your help and support, both physical and financial to keep the work going