Lake Los Angeles, CA – A staggering number of dogs were discovered at a Lake Los Angeles home after being abandoned; of those dogs, 21 did not survive. As reported by ABC 7 News, the 60 surviving dogs and puppies were malnourished, sickly, and living in squalor.
Kathy Schroeder, a registered veterinary technician, told the news agency:
“Some of them are emaciated. Some of them had recent litters of puppies, so they are very emaciated.”
The dogs were abandoned after their owner’s house caught fire. The news agency explains that the property owner moved away, leaving the dogs behind. The dogs wandered to a woman’s nearby property and she became overwhelmed because there were so many.
But now the rescued dogs face an uncertain future because the animal shelters in the area are overrun with homeless pets and there is no room to house them all. Teri Austin, president of the Amanda Foundation, said, “They are bursting at the seams.”
Adding:
“There are cages in the hall. They are out of cage space. They have temporary cages in the hallways, just to house the number of animals they have. I have never seen it like this.”
The shelter crisis means that healthy, adoptable cats and dogs are being killed – simply because there is nowhere to put them.
Austin said, “The harsh reality is that some of those animals are going to be euthanized, and they are healthy and young, but there just aren’t enough homes.”
Continue reading: ‘Crunchy, Old, Grumpy Dog’ Finds The Best Home
No animal should be killed because of “space” or lack thereof — reach out to no-kill shelters, especially in the north and in the east. I volunteered at a no-kill shelter and we always made room! Find fosters, utilized social networks and local media. No one said it was easy but do not give up — lives depend upon it!
And the scum responsible for this must have been backyard breeders. They are criminals and must be held accountable for the immense suffering. ADOPT DON’T SHOP!
Christina is right! People are begging for dogs in the Northeast and Northwest states. It’s sheer laziness on the part of “shelter” managers that any dogs die because of “space.”
I transport dogs to the Northeast every weekend with rescue transports. The latest one will have 41 drivers each doing 80 to 100 miles and then handing off to the next driver. All volunteer their time, auto and gas. It just takes a little (or not so little) time to research and find a rescue that is desperately looking for animals. This is how it works when you have great spay and neuter laws.
Our society is morbidly ill and mentally extremely sick. The true values that have meant survival for all of history have been abandoned. This kind of crime happens every day across the country and it will continue to happen until enough people wake up and do something about it. “Doing something” means spending time with your kids and teaching them the compassion and empathy are the first and most important attributes in any healthy society. It means supervising them and ensuring they do not hurt others; and if and when they do, out of ignorance, peer pressure or exposure to very negative media which pervades our society, stopping them and reinforcing the lessons of empathy and compassion. It also means prioritizing actual sheltering in our animal shelters instead of killing, for space or any other reason except true euthanasia, which is the termination of life in the presence of irremediable suffering. Our tax dollars fund these shelters, which need to be accountable to us; but WE have a personal and collective responsibility as well, to ensure that every animal adopted from them is neutered and to screen much more carefully to ensure that emotionally/mentally unfit people are not allowed to adopt or have animals. The harshest punitive action needs to be taken against any and all that abuse/neglect animals, without exception.
Blame this shithole country and idiots who don’t put any laws in making it mandatory to spay or neuter your pets. Just saw a disgusting POS selling puppies in a parking lot here in Texas in the sweltering heat when you see God Damn strays or dogs and cats as roadkill DAILY and the shelters have no room. Someone dumped two purebred Great Danes a mom and daughter that go for thousands in our neighborhood like trash. It is overwhelming.
The important thing is to adopt from shelters and not buy pets from petstores.
The news media needs to blast this out so people and rescues can help take them.
And I was under the impresion America is avrich country! How come there is no fund for shelters with a good space for animals where they can bevtaken care of until they find a new home. In the poor country og Greece Takis shelter is a good example of what can be done!
What is done in Greece ??
Every state in the USA should have mandatory spay & neuter laws until this epidemic calms down. I know, most of us would gladly register our pets & provide vet records. But until the government mandates it, it won’t get any better. Not to mention, most people out there still believe animals are property, not family. It’s truely sad, we live in a society that still doesn’t force people to be accountable for their pets.
There should be mandatory laws that force all dog and cat owners to fix their animals and all shelters should be fixing the animals they adopt out, no exception. They are cities that have now banned pet stores and people that want to adopt have to go to a nearby shelter. That’s how it should be across america. No more backyard breeders, puppy or kitten mills. We are responsible for pets dying in shelters because of the lack of spay/neuter. Anybody that purposely breeds a animal to make money by selling the offspring should be arrested and throw in jail. Nobody should have the right to breed period.
Sent som if these dogs to other shelters so you want have to kill them unacceptable work hard to find home’s just don’t sit on your butt