A No-Kill Shelter Just Killed 120 Cats
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There are a number of reasons that animal shelters will euthanize animals. For example, an animal might have some kind of terminal illness that causes terrible pain, meaning that it would be kinder to euthanize it than to prolong its life for as long as possible. Likewise, an animal might have some kind of illness that is both very dangerous and very infectious, meaning that it needs to be euthanized before it can spread that problem to the other inhabitants at the animal shelter. On top of this, it should be mentioned that there are some animals that are just too aggressive, which can lead to them being euthanized in extreme cases.
With that said, the single most pressing issue is that of overpopulation. In short, animal shelters have limited resources with which to provide food and medical care to animals, meaning that past a certain number, their standard of care starts falling below acceptable levels. As a result, animal shelters can’t go past a certain number of animals, meaning that they need to do something about the excess. Certainly, most animal shelters will do their best to encourage interested individuals to adopt the animals, but in the end, the chances are good that their efforts won’t be enough, meaning that they will need to make an unfortunate decision to euthanize the excess animals so that they can continue taking care of the rest. Otherwise, the outcome is that all of their animals will suffer, meaning that these animal shelters are faced with unfortunate consequences no matter what they do.
No-kill shelters are animal shelters that won’t kill their animals under normal circumstances. However, while their principles are noble, they are not quite as good as they sound on initial consideration. Simply put, while other animal shelters are willing to take in a wide range of animals that include those that are too sick, too aggressive, or otherwise too problematic to be adopted, no-kill shelters have to be much choosier in this regard. Moreover, no-kill shelter face the same resource problems as their standard counterparts, meaning that if their resources are reaching the breaking point, they will stop accepting further animals altogether because they will no choice in the matter. Never mind the no-kill shelters that follow a laxer meaning of the term because there is no such thing as a universal standard by which such matters are judged.
Why Did a No-Kill Shelter in Jackson, MI Kill 120 Cats?
Very recently, it came out that a no-kill shelter called Community Animal Rescue and Adoption in Jackson, MI killed 120 cats, which came as shocking news to a lot of people living in the region. The news came out when one of the six caregivers who were let go after they learned about the plan – Kelli Ware – spoke out about the issue because she felt a sense of responsibility to speak out for the well-being of the animals. Something that has prompted a fair amount of discussion over what happened as well as why it happened.
Apparently, some of the cats at the no-kill shelter were diagnosed with a respiratory disease called Calicivirus. Ware stated that she understands that it is a terrible disease, but she made sure to point out that not all of the cats at the no-kill shelter were tasted for it. Moreover, not all of the cats that were tested for it came back with positive results. As a result, she and a lot of people feel that the leadership at the no-kill shelter were excessive in their response, particularly since they didn’t seem to have tried anything else but instead went immediately for the most drastic solution there is. In the wider community, this has prompted serious criticism from at least one local veterinarian, who pointed out that Calicivirus isn’t just treatable but also something that can be vaccinated against. Something that has prompted further questions about whether the leadership at the no-kill shelter had screwed up at some point along the line.
Having said this, Ware has been careful to note that she isn’t trying to cause damage to the no-kill shelter, not least because that would have a detrimental effect on the animals that are still in their care. Instead, she stressed the need for interested individuals to adopt animals as well as donate to help them because the need is that great.
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