June 4th, I received the Euth list from the ACC. The list was full of beautiful, friendly, adoptable dogs that only landed on the dreaded list because of space or because they had come down a cold. Yes, a simple cold can land a dog on the euth list these days. This was the reason that Lacey, a beautiful chocolate brown pit mix was to be euthanized the next day. She was only 30 lbs. From her photo she looks very underweight. I could see her ribs. Her tail was tucked so far underneath her body, you culd barely tell she had a tail at all. An animal control volunteer wrote she was friendly with people, other animals, no aggression noted… However our shelter was full. I had a waiting list a mile long of dogs that needed to come in. Where was I going to put Lacey?
I tried to put her out of my mind… but sometimes there are dogs that just won’t leave. They haunt me. There was another dog named Lucy that I had wanted to save off the euth list awhile back but I had already pulled another dog… and I had no space, yet something about Lucy just grabbed me. “You can’t save them all,” I told myself as I went to sleep with an uneasy feeling in my chest… I never forgot Lucy. For some reason she stands out in my mind. I know if we don’t have space and I can’t find a foster there isn’t much I can do. I had already pulled another dog that I really didn’t have room for and was going to foster myself… Yet I felt personally responsible for her death even though I had nothing to do with Lucy being in Animal Control in the first place. Once you make that connection, its hard to forget. This is just one example of what goes on for many rescuers in our city. This nightly heartbreak that the euth list brings… It hurt to know Lacey would join Lucy and the rest of the dead that live on in the back of my mind…
Then on June 6th we had a very successful adoption event. Two dogs ended up going home and we had some great applications for some others. In addition to that, another dog went to foster in the morning. In my mind I am always trying to figure out a way to “make room” at the shelter and once I had mentally filled the empty cages and potentially empty cages with the waiting list dogs it looked like there still may be room. I had a beautiful Rottweiler that had been thrown out on the street by his owner coming in on Monday ( a kind neighbor was holding the dog for us) and two pit bulls abandoned by their owners coming in later in the week. By miracle another dog on the intake list had been reunited with his owner… It looked like there may be some room now… some pressure was lifting…
I am hardly ever delighted to see an animal on the Euth list but that night on June 6th when I saw Lacey back on the list, I was ecstatic. For some reason or another, they hadn’t euthanized her two nights ago but here she was again. I immediately picked up the phone to call the hotline to pull her off the list. In my message I told them I would pick her up Monday morning.
I hung up the phone and looked at my own dog, Horatio who was lying in bed looking at me. Horatio was also on the Euth list twice before I was able to save him. The first time, a volunteer pulled him off in hopes that rescue would take him. No one did and he ended up back on the list a couple of days later. He was only six months old at the time. We just had a dog adopted that day and I was able to pull him. It was the best decision I ever made.
Horatio was staring at me with his dark eyes. “This one was for you,” I told him. I can’t imagine my life without Horatio. He brings me so much happiness everyday. He is loyal, devoted and affectionate. He is so full of life, loves to run and play and inspires me everyday. I knew that Lacey could also bring this to someone’s life. Its easy to just say, “Oh another pit bull on the list” but if you know a dog that has survived the euth list… know their personalities and look into their eyes… you can’t imagine that they almost lost their lives because they are so beautiful, so alive, and you can’t imagine that there are ones just like them about to be put to sleep right now… yet tragically, there are. Beautiful dogs that could be someone’s pet, someone’s best friend are being put to sleep everyday in NYC.
I felt ecstatic that I was able to save Lacey. I love the feeling of picking the dogs up from Animal Control and telling them they are safe now. I love when they hop into the car and stick their noses out the window and sniff the fresh air… Its a wonderful feeling to be able to rescue a dog!
Then I open my email the next night… and as there is everynight, there a euth list there, full of dogs waiting for rescuers to come get them… and my heart sinks as I look at the photos… where can I make room…? Where can I make room? If only I had a huge shelter or a waiting list of foster homes just waiting to help rescue a dog off the euth list… or even an extra room in this apartment… All of these things swirl through my mind…
While I am grateful they give us a chance to save these dogs, I can’t wait for the day when there are no euth lists. It will take more than rescues pulling dogs for this to happen (spay/neuter, humane education, the closing of puppy mills etc) but we can’t stop pulling the dogs, rescuing them one at time. It may not seem to make a dent but for the ones who survive it means everything.
Here is Lacey’s ACC photo.
For more information of adopting and fostering please visit our website www.bobbiandthestrays.org
