PAWS TO PONDER

by Suzyn Barron, President of Warwick Valley Humane Society, Inc. 

Did you know the “no kill” movement is being challenged from an entirely different standpoint?  The term “no kill” actually doesn’t mean no kill ever.  That phrase is reserved for sanctuaries.  As with anything in this world, there are both good and bad.  But that is a topic for another column.  “No kill” for animal shelters means no healthy, adoptable, treatable, medically or behaviorally, animal is euthanized.   In a perfect world, this would be perfect.  But we are certainly not in a perfect world, so the “no kill” movement, too, is both good and bad. 

There is one humane society shelter in our County that claims to be the only “no kill” shelter around, when truth be told, most of us are.  Most of us fall into the definition used for a “no kill shelter”.   For decades, our organization has not euthanized animals for space or age, whether too young or too old, for undesirability as in too dark or unappealing or not house or leash trained.  Euthanasia is reserved only for those beyond medical intervention or behavior modification for aggression.  And even still, that decision is never made easily.  Recently, a 10 week old kitten was found laying in a driveway with flies buzzing around it.  Despite immediate veterinary care, tragically, she succumbed to starvation which had caused her organs to fail.  But we tried to save her at a cost of over $300, meaning euthanasia was not our first choice despite her condition. Dancer is a 4 month old sleek, black female kitten raised by a staff person from infancy along with the rest of her litter.  Two months ago she was diagnosed with megacolon requiring three times a day medication to help regulate her bowel movements.  She’s treatable, but is she considered healthy and adoptable?  Most people today want easy.  They expect a dog to be trained and a cat to be a less intrusive family member.  So we find ourselves at the fork in the road with Dancer either living her life at the shelter or giving her an expensive surgery to correct her colon, thereby eliminating the need for medication.   It wouldn’t be wrong to euthanize her, unless you have met this super friendly, sweet feline that deserves her chance at life. And it is not a matter of keeping the “no kill” designation.    Would ruptured eyes in kittens be considered “untreatable” when the only recourse is surgical removal of the eye or eyes at a cost of nearly $1000 per kitten?  Keenan and Keegan lost both their eyes last year and are amazing cats, although not yet adopted.  Fanchon (Fon-Shon) just had his left eye removed and is recovering while Fleur, Davina and Davey are awaiting their eye surgeries.  The cost is prohibitive if not for our sponsorship and Critical Care Fund supporters.  In other shelters around the Country, saving these animals’ lives would be impossible.  Not because they do not care, but maybe because they do not have the means to care for them.  And so they are designated as a “kill shelter”.  To be continued…

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