The Inside Scoop – From Beginning to End

From Beginning to End:
We All Have a Role in Saving Animals

By Jessica Henry-Johnson

While reading the morning paper last month, I came across a letter to the editor describing a truly unfortunate situation involving a family pet and our local municipal animal shelter. Saddened by what I read, I wrote a response to help people better understand the role shelters play in the outcomes of the animals in our care.

My letter appears below.

On behalf of animal shelters, I feel compelled to respond to Sharon Thompson’s letter published in the Journal Gazette on August 5th. Thompson condemned Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control for euthanizing her daughter’s dog, Lexi – a dog adopted from ACC years earlier. Her daughter had recently had a baby, and the dog “wasn’t good with small children.” Thompson says the shelter assured her they’d do everything possible to find Lexi a new home, so she begrudgingly returned the dog. Four days later, they learned Lexi had been put to sleep. Sad stories like this have been told since the first animal shelter opened in this country.

It’s human nature to blame everyone else for the animal-related predicaments we find ourselves in, because the truth can be a hard pill to swallow.

Ours is like every other community: too many cats and dogs enter our shelters as strays and owner-surrenders. Shelters do everything in their power to reunite lost pets with their families and to help people reconsider surrendering healthy animals they believe they can no longer keep.

From affordable and sometimes free spay/neuter and wellness care, to 24-hour microchip scanners, to behavior counseling, emergency assistance, free pet food, and relocation programs – there is only so much a shelter can do to serve and save the thousands of Allen County animals who enter this system.

At some point, citizens might ask themselves how they can be part of the solution to shelter overcrowding. Responsible pet ownership is everyone’s role, from beginning to end.

Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control is an open-admission municipal shelter. They can legally refuse no animal. Their population consists of strays, animals impounded during owners’ court cases, and animals whose owners – for any reason – can no longer keep them.

Every animal that enters a shelter, however, is at some risk of euthanasia. Why? Physical and behavioral health are paramount in a shelter setting. Some dogs and cats simply don’t adjust. Some become so stressed they injure themselves or other animals. Some bite – more than once. Some need medication just to bear the situation. Shelters are incredibly stressful places, despite efforts that include walks, play groups, enrichment activities, and caring staff and volunteers who sit with the most fearful animals.

But the truth is, you are the only person who can determine your pet’s outcome with absolute certainty. Give your pet away on Facebook, and you don’t know what its future holds. Ask friends to rehome your pet, and you can’t be sure it will see a vet annually or be fed and loved forever. Even when you surrender your pet to a reputable shelter like Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control or Humane Fort Wayne, there is a risk. The key word is surrender. You sign a form relinquishing all rights to the pet, allowing the shelter to make the best decision for it. Most of the time, that means a new family. Sometimes, it means humane euthanasia.

Lexi was a senior, large-breed dog, likely already in the sunset of her life. If the family couldn’t keep her, couldn’t find a way for her and the child to coexist safely, and truly cared about her fate, they might have considered having her euthanized at their own vet – surrounded by her family – rather than entering a shelter at all, especially at her age.

Shelters are stressful for many animals, especially older ones. Most of the time it works, and we find loving families for senior pets. But sometimes the “magic farm” everyone prays their surrendered animal will find doesn’t exist. That’s sad for everyone – the animals, the pet parents, and especially us. I can promise that no one enters this field because they don’t love animals.

In her letter, Thompson warns readers not to support FWACC. I urge the opposite. Support any and all reputable shelters. We are doing the best we can with the resources we have – and the more resources we have, the more we can do.

For guidance on behavior issues, safely rehoming a pet, or making the best decisions for a geriatric or unsafe animal, visit the shelters’ websites or stop in to ask.

One of our jobs is helping animals find new families. Another is helping them stay with families where they are loved, even if it’s at the very end.

Newsflash! Every single animal welfare crisis can be traced back to overpopulation. Even Lexi’s euthanasia was, ultimately, a result of it.

Here’s how.

When pet owners don’t spay or neuter their animals, the world is flooded with kittens and puppies, and many of those animals end up in shelters. According to Shelter Animals Count, a national database, 5.8 million animals enter shelters each year. Some are strays, some are held under court order, and the rest are surrendered by owners for one reason or another. The result: shelters packed with cats and dogs, where every incoming animal is competing for a kennel or cage.

Imagine this scenario:

Your older dog has been acting up, and you’re at your wits’ end. You believe there’s a family out there who could manage him better – maybe they’d have more time than you do. You’re not willing to wait for an opening at a humane society or rescue, and there’s no guarantee they could take him anyway. So you head to the municipal shelter, an open-admission facility that legally cannot turn away any animal.

It’s already full. Very full. Every kennel holds a dog – sometimes two – and every cage holds a cat, or an entire litter of kittens. Every animal in the building is there for a reason: some are part of a criminal case, some are being assessed for adoptability, some are awaiting transport to a humane society or rescue, and some are on a legal stray hold, waiting for their owners to come claim them.

The length of a stray hold varies by municipality – sometimes three days, sometimes longer – and nothing can happen to that animal until the hold expires. Shelters, in short, are busy for countless reasons.

Back to your dog. He was a great fit once, but you can no longer keep him. You sign the surrender form, which legally transfers ownership to the shelter, and drive away. He’s not on a stray hold. He’s not tied to a court case. He’s anxious, pacing, growling – frightened. A decision has to be made.

In our community, thousands of animals enter shelters every year. Staff make decisions thoughtfully, but quickly, because more animals keep arriving. 

And so…your dog is humanely euthanized.

Now imagine a different world – one where every litter is planned, where every pet has a home. Shelters wouldn’t be overcrowded. They’d have the time and resources to work with animals of every age and every medical or behavioral need.

As long as shelters are full, we should be spaying and neutering. That investment pays off by giving every animal a real shot at a forever home.

Reduce shelter euthanasia by nipping – or “snipping” – overpopulation in the bud.

Affordable Spay/Neuter Services at Humane Fort Wayne

Humane Fort Wayne is proud to offer low-cost spay/neuter services to our community for dogs and cats!

Spay/Neuter Surgeries – Appointments can be made online to have your owned cats or dogs sterilized at our High Quality High Volume Spay/Neuter (HQHVSN) Clinic. Our prices are the lowest in the area, in an effort to help pet parents access this important care. And the prices are even lower for residents of certain zip codes.

Financial Assistance – Humane Fort Wayne offers financial assistance for spay/neuter for individuals who qualify. Learn more and submit a financial assistance application below.

Suffice it to say, Humane Fort Wayne is committed to helping keep pets out of shelters and in homes where they are loved. Get your pet spayed/neutered with us today! 

See our detailed services, affordable pricing, and learn more: