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Ashton ❄
#5636 • 1294 views
Posted: 2011-02-27 22:58:06
#6757
SPCA; good or bad?
I have been thinking about something quite a bit lately... And that is whether or not the SPCA is really as good as it would like people to believe.
Now I am sure the SPCA has done some wonderful things for animals in the years it has existed - I am definitely not denying this.
My point is, a lot of people seem to think that the SPCA is always about doing what's best for the animals, when in reality I know from experience that this is not always the case.
Some SPCA shelters send hundreds of dogs with 'irreversible' aggression issues to kill shelters where they are euthanized without a second chance. Such aggression issues are usually very easily trained out of a dog... I know of a friend who wanted to adopt a dog from the SPCA and was told that his aggression issues were irreversible when all that was wrong was the dog had mild resource guarding issues. (These can easily be trained out of a dog in 99% of cases - this dog was never properly given a chance.)
This friend was a dog trainer with a couple years of experience under her belt already, and she was denied the chance to give this dog a home and a new lease on life.
Isn't that what the SPCA is all about? Giving animals homes, and a new lease on life? That's what they would like you to believe, with their fancy commercials...
Also, I volunteered at the SPCA for about 6 months in the summer of 2007, and in that time I was asked to euthanize several dogs and cats. I am in no way certified to perform a euthanasia (I was only 13 at the time), however the vet overseeing this particular shelter not only encouraged me to do it, but told me that I had to. (This vet later lost his job and his veterinary license, if you were wondering.)
I think that while the SPCA does some good for animals in general, there are things that go on there behind closed doors that the general public doesn't see, or really think about...
While I may have had some bad experiences with the SPCA, I still think they are a crucial part of the stray dog/cat population control, and while they may not always do what is best, they do encourage people to adopt, which is a crucial part of encouraging responsible pet ownership.
What are your thoughts on the SPCA? Are they overrated, and why do you feel the way you do?
Looking forward to hearing your opinions. :)
Replies
Horseman
#52769 • 2011-08-12 13:34:37
#52769
I think it's hit-and-miss when it comes to SPCA's. The one by my house does an amazing job at homing its dogs and has a clean facility. The one dog we adopted from there years ago had very mild dominance agression and near-crippling hip pain, yet they gave him a second chance with us. And instead of being euthanized, he ended up in a loving home where he was properly trained and given joint supplements that almost completely alleviated his pain. That dog lived a long, happy life. We went there again years later and the facility had grown massively. It looked a lot nicer and they were having a big adoption drive, so they had found a home for almost all their dogs by the time we got there.<br /> <br /> But then there's also an SPCA where a certain pair of dogs were sent. The original owner passed away and the friend who promised to continue to care for the dogs put them in their local SPCA. My friend and her mom knew these two people and were trying to adopt the dogs from the SPCA (which was a kill shelter) so they wouldn't die. But instead of allowing the dogs to immediately find a very loving home, the SPCA flat out refused to adopt them out. One of the two dogs went kennel crazy and attacked the other(the two were kept together in the same kennel :\ ) and they never told my friends anything after that event. I have a feeling both were euthanized.<br /> <br /> So, the good ones do a great job of finding homes for good, sound animals and thus rehome most strays and unwanted pets that come through their doors. But the bad ones pretty much euthanize most pets that come into their facility, regardless of their soundness or desirability by prospective owners. I think we should only adopt pets from the ones that are more willing to adopt out instead of euthanize so the good ones can become more effective at what they do.
PitBull (OTEK BCs MAIN Breeding and Training- SmSK Training)
#52667 • 2011-08-11 20:22:54
#52667
We got my Hue from the shelter and they lied about him. They said he would attack if someone touched his paws, but he practically put his paws in our hands. He reaches up and puts them in our hands. :P And there was an aussie there and they said it didn't like kids, but it was licking me all over my face, along with the littlee kids that walked by its' cage. Her name was Candace. They put her down. >:P
Larthan
#49828 • 2011-07-29 22:02:39
#49828
Kat - I tried to volunteer my time at my SPCA - and they rejected me. They stated that they don't accept volunteer trainers because they don't trust them to do what's right - if they wanted a dog trained they'd send it to a rescue group.<br /> <br /> So no - it's not different that way.<br /> <br /> I got around it by doing normal volunteer work and spending one on one time with the dogs and doing basics only - things that the staff wouldn't recognize as actual training. Most of the dogs I handled and trained were adopted within a week of me starting to work with them - because they learned the basics so very easily (and some already knew simple things like sit-stays - I was so proud!).<br /> <br /> Basically, they turned me down because it'd be a liability to claim the dogs were trained, when the trainer was a volunteer and not an employee. And they can't afford to pay for a trainer.<br /> <br /> Not to mention everyone and his sister's baby-daddy can claim to be a trainer, since you don't need any schooling to claim to be one (see: Cesar Milan - no training, no schooling, just some old outdated books on wolves and force-training military dogs, and having lived on a farm. Yeah. People with less expertise than him can start their own training business).
Mrs.Kat-Clause
#49788 • 2011-07-29 21:25:01
#49788
The thing is, the SPCA is non-profit, most and/or all care costs and medical costs comes from both donations and adoption fees. Good trainers cost a lot of money, I'm sure if some kind of trainer would volunteer their time then it would be a different story. <br /> <br /> <br /> (note: I haven't read the rest of this post)
Bronze River Corgi Rescue
#48308 • 2011-07-25 05:59:27
#48308
I went to an animal shelter where there was a chocolate lab (I'm pretty sure that's what it was, anyway.) which was agressive towards every person who walked past its kennel. it tried to bite tons of people while i was there, which was only about thirty minutes. We had to leave because they were going to take the dog out to 'see if it was adoptable.' or at least that's what they told me when I asked what they were going to do. I know that they most likely killed it, though, even though I think it could have been trained. Everyone had to leave the building because the dog was too agressive, but I had walked past it earlier and noticed scars all over its back. It had to have been agressive because of something people had done to it in the past. I'm not sure if this was an SPCA shelter or not, though. <br /> <br /> The SPCA is not helping if they're just going to send dogs who are agressive to kill shelters to be killed. If they want to give dogs a second chance, then they can't be killing them for every agressive thing they do. <br /> <br /> I live with three dogs, two of them used to be very agressive, but we trained them, and they are fine now. THAT's what the SPCA should be doing.
Dr Meredith Grey
#45954 • 2011-07-10 06:51:39
#45954
i didn't your post im sorry my post was in response to the first lol. but <br /> <br /> "He has never been aggressive towards another dog, he has never been aggressive towards people and he has a loving home where he is well taken care of and safe. If the SPCA can't respect that, how can I respect them? :c"<br /> <br /> respect aspca or their cause but don't respect how they do their businness or don't respect corperate businnesses at all because that's what they do.
Ashton ❄
#45888 • 2011-07-09 12:33:06
#45888
Edited my post, Meredith. :P
Dr Meredith Grey
#45882 • 2011-07-09 10:39:04
#45882
spca, is practically the largest and most well known animal rescue globally. frankly they have a Crap load of pressure on them, dealing with the majority of animal situations across the us. it costs a lot of money, doesn't pay much, Way more dogs are coming in then going out, having to feed and bathe and ect for All of them i can understand the fact that they have no choice but to cut corners. maybe one day, every family in america will have whole bunch of pets so aspca has less stress and work on its hands that it won't be forced to cut moral corners. i seriously hope that they just get more money and donations and volunteers and workers and more people will want pets. until then, it's a cruel world we live in, isn't it? that's all i have to say about that,
Ashton ❄
#45853 • 2011-07-09 03:42:21
#45853
Kayla, I can't help but raise my eyebrow a little at your comment about the euthanasias I was asked to perform being a sign that my shelter was "organized".<br /> <br /> That was completely illegal for me to do. If you mean organized crime, then maybe. :P<br /> <br /> I think everyone here has made some good points, and I will say that I feel the SPCA generally does more GOOD than BAD**. (Edited. Oops! xD) My bad experiences all happened in the same general area, and I can't vouch for places outside my province/state...<br /> <br /> I will add that I completely disapprove of their attitudes toward any dog that contains wolf that ends up in their care... If my dog runs away, and the SPCA picks him up, chances are he'll be euthanized on the spot. <br /> <br /> He has never been aggressive towards another dog, he has never been aggressive towards people and he has a loving home where he is well taken care of and safe. If the SPCA can't respect that, how can I respect them? :c
I honestly believe that the SPCA does do good things for animals. Their message is clear and it's true that they wouldn't want to be in that organization if they didn't love animals. With that story of the vet making you euthanize that animal, Fyrella, it just goes to show how well organized they are. I love the SPCA and I respect what they do for animals, but there are only so many things that very few people can control all at once. If you think about it, there are so many SPCAs around the country, for one, and even the president of the SPCA wouldn't know what their doing. If you have a very broad organization with people helping you, even though they're 2,000 miles away, there is a slight chance that they could be doing whatever they want. The main reason shelters euthanize aggressive dogs, from what I've heard, is because the dog has probably bit someone and the staff needs to check for rabies. It's sad that those dogs that are healthy never had the chance to be rehabilitated before having to go through such extremes, but yet again, who ever said we had a perfect society. For all we know, the only corrupt people are the ones that can hide in plain sight. It's sad for all those animals.
