Heads up... rant time. Fellow friends involved in animal rescue will fully understand. If you do not-- I hope this may open your eyes.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Alachua County Animal Services in Gainesville, Florida is FULL. They're at least 50% over capacity, and while striving to be a "no-kill" shelter, they face some major issues once they physically run out of space. Every double run kennel in the facility is full, every single kennel in the back, in quarantine, in UB, and in the vet area is also full, some even doubled up if multiple dogs are compatible with each other. Cat rooms are full, litters of kittens are cramped in cages, and countless volunteers have additional underaged litters at home. Then there's the overflow room where small dogs and puppies fill at least a dozen crates, and day by day more and more animals are brought in either found as strays or dumped by their owners.
Working behind the scenes as a volunteer not only breaks my heart, but fuels my passion to do something about it. FOSTER, ADOPT, DONATE, VOLUNTEER. Instead of wining on social media (after all, sharing posts on Facebook is extremely helpful, but comments that people write saying "oh I wish I could do something but I can't" virtually do nothing for these animals or the limited staff that can barely keep up.) Oh yeah.. and DO NOT BASH MY SHELTER. Or any shelter... until you're personally worked or volunteered in one yourself.. and not for an hour or even for a day, but for weeks, months, and years of blood, sweat and tears trying to endlessly save and help the animals that irresponsible and heartless people overbreed, abuse, dump, and neglect. Nothing angers me more than every useless and ignorant comment that negatively portrays the shelter. Calling shelter workers "monsters"... is truly ironic. The shelter workers have bigger hearts than anyone else.. they give neglected and unloved animals the first kind touch they may have never received. The first fresh meal they may have ever been fed. The first clean kennel, the first warm blanket, the first bit of KINDNESS many animals may have ever experienced, after being overbred, abandoned, physically abused or given up because their human parents that once considered them "their baby" now have a human baby to tend to. Oh, or they're moving and for some reason can't bring their four legged family member with them so dump them at the shelter instead. Or they're too cowardly to come up with an excuse or too dirt cheap to pay the surrender fee for their pet so they just dump them on the side of the road somewhere. Basically, animals wind up at a shelter because a human that once made the decision to commit to a living and breathing animal for the entirety of its life, suddenly decides to break their promise because keeping it is no longer convenient. (Yes, I do know there are extreme circumstances that are not justified of judgement, ie- owner death, major unliveable allergies, owner winds up in hospital long term, etc etc. but overall most people made the conscious decision to give up their pet when they could have made some changes in their life to make it work, get resources to non-profits to help them afford it, find a pet-friendly living situation, sign up for a training class, etc. OR their pet goes missing and becomes a stray but they never care enough to go out looking or contact the shelter to see if they have their pet). Oh, and there's the people who breed their dogs, then dump the used up mother and puppies that don't turn out the way they wanted them to. Or for all the puppies that found new homes from these litters but after a few months the people that bought or took them for free realize what a mistake they made. Many of these dogs wind up at the shelter, and each of them takes up a "space" in the shelter system that means another one has to be pushed out--- either to foster, adoption, rescue, ..... OR... euthanasia. Shelter workers dedicate their lives to helping each and every one of these animals, so when people call them monsters or say negative things about them.... YOU my friend are really part of the problem here. And a majority of these judgmental people have never stepped foot in an animal shelter to help out or even consider adopting while they fill their homes with puppy mill puppies and purebred expensive designer breeds.
We all have to band together at this time to help out the shelter and the animals that are currently living in a less than ideal situation. In 2 weeks there's a huge "Summer Lovin'" event that the UF Vet students organize and put together-- one of the biggest events of the year it promotes free adoptions and the goal is to clear out the kennels at ACAS by sending dogs and cats home with loving families. Each year this event significantly helps the shelter.. but is never a permanent solution as the week after, and even during the event, people continue to surrender their pets, refilling the kennels as quickly as they are emptied.
THERE IS NO BETTER TIME THAN NOW.... to adopt, foster, volunteer and HELP. Don't just complain or judge. Get out there and walk a dog, temporarily bring a dog or cat into your home, foster a litter. ANYTHING. Support your local rescues as they are the ones that pull animals from overcrowded shelters. But most importantly, please don't be ignorant. Don't make judgements or portray shelters, workers and volunteers in a negative way if you haven't even offered to help yourself.
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