Hidden Dangers at the Animal Shelter (or why I almost got a fourth dog yesterday)

This is not one of those upsetting posts about serious animal neglect or anything like that, so don’t worry. Yesterday, I visited the local animal shelter to pick up paperwork for Julius’ scheduled alteration later this week (more on that as the situation develops), and I swung through the dog kennel on my way out to check for black pugs since I harbor not-so-secret fantasies of adopting a pug brother for Pickles. And while I was there, I met this guy.

He’s a 5-month-old mostly white male Chihuahua who was found with no collar and no microchip, and I very nearly broke down the door of his holding pen and stuffed him into my coat in a dramatic rescue operation. You see, this shelter is not a no-kill shelter, and they have been innundated with animals lately. I didn’t know how long he’d been there or what his story was, but I couldn’t stop thinking about him. He looked so scared, with this air of please-protect-me-from-the-world-because-my-mommy-and-daddy-abandoned-me about him.

This morning, right when they opened, I called the shelter to find out how much time he had if he wasn’t adopted. The patient woman who answered the phone informed me that he goes up for adoption on Thursday, the same day I take Julius in for his surgery, and that she’s quite certain someone will take him home. "Euthanasia is definitely not a concern for him. I can guarantee that someone will be here for him on Thursday." When pressed, she confessed that she was not aware of any specific person who was planning to adopt the dog, but that the little dogs generally don’t have a problem getting placed in a home.

I’m dropping Julius off at 8:30 Thursday morning, and the adoptions start at 10:30. I am going to try to coerce the shelter staff to call me if the dog is still there at the end of the day. I can’t bear the thought of this tiny puppy being put down because his original owners were too selfish to care for him. Forunately, he’s small, so we’ll have no problem finding room for him. Now to figure out how to house the other 20 dogs I fell in love with while I was there…

Tags: meow bark blog, adopting a dog, animal shelters, euthanasia, dog rescue, Chihuahua