The dogs who made a difference

In the 5 or so years I have been involved in animal welfare, I have met too many dogs and cats to remember them all.

Many crossed my path quickly, only to find a home and never to be seen again. Others became long term residents and after months of trying, found a home. Many, because of their looks, got adopted, came back, got adopted and sometimes came back again and again because of one issue or another until a permanent home was found.

Then there are the ones who made a difference in my life. Duke was the first. I loved him tremendously but could not adopt him and his kennel stress enacted a toll on his mental stability. He was finally euthanized due to aggression because it had to be done. His neon yellow collar hangs on my rearview mirrow to remind me every day why I believe in training. He seemed to be fine in his first home, but subsequent homes proved he possessed a dominate streak that got worse the longer he was in a shelter environment and he became a threat to people.

The dog who impacted my thoughts on training and behavior more so than any other, was named Bubba. It has been almost a year since he lost his life and the thought of how he died, alone, with no one who cared for him around can still bring tears to my eyes.

He entered the shelter as an incorrigible dog. No one would have anything to do with him except another volunteer and myself. We worked for a solid month with him and he blossomed under guidance. He became a star at agility, loved people, was okay with other dogs and cats and we finally thought he was ready to go home.

He did, and the people tied him up to a tree where he promptly crawled under their RV and chewed all the wires so they returned him.

When he came back, he was submissively urinating and cowering in a corner until he saw us. He was not treated well and it showed. Not only was he scared, but was covered in fire ant bites with scabs all over his underside. The look of trust in his eyes, which had always been there, was now guarded, as if he was not sure he could still trust us because of the home he had been put in.

Once again, we went to work and he blossomed and got adopted. He loved his new owner and seemed to be doing fine until a new puppy came along. He was then banished to his crate where he proceeded to destroy everything in the room. He had been displaced by a puppy although he was still a young dog himself. He was bored and unloved.

The people returned him, not to us, but to another shelter. When we found out he had been returned, we searched for him for two days. It was too late. The shelter he was taken to determined he was unadoptable and was he euthanized before we could find him. He died thinking he was all alone.

This can still bring tears to my eyes but I realize this happens every day, all over the country, to many animals. Shelters can be inundated on a daily basis with more animals than they can handle.

These two examples are why I continue to try and educate. They are why I fight for the behavior evaluations to be done in all shelters. Why I believe all shelters should scan each and every dog coming in the door for a microchip to make sure the owner has not lied and shelters have their dogs returned to them.

Ethanasia is the easy way out. Working with the dogs can sometimes be discouraging. But we cannot simply kill those with behavior problems and say they can't be fixed. We have to try.

There will be some who can't be fixed and all the time and money won't change that. Those are hard decisions that must be made for the safety of the public.

Unfortunately, the line is a fine one, and some people are prone to make snap judgements before all the information is gathered. If one more person can become educated and one more dog saved, then maybe Duke and Bubba didn't die for no reason. I sure would like to think so.

These two dogs made a difference in how I feel about the process. There have been many more. Training and behavior programs are a start, but educating shelter staff and volunteers is also an important aspect of saving lives. We all love the animals. Let's see if we can concentrate on saving more.