Sophie was brought into the Shelter by the breeder. The breeder said that Sophie had been returned to her by the adoptive family because of extreme aggression. The breeder felt that the family was exaggerating, but if we didn't take Sophie in, she was going to euthanise her. We know that people do sometimes over-exaggerate or under-exaggerate, depending on their reasons for bringing an animal in. We took Sophie in and came to find that the family had not exaggerated.
A family came to look at Sophie and she lunged at the daughter. Then a very nice fellow came in who was looking for a springer spaniel. We explained the whole situation with Sophie - he said he lived on his own - no children and no other pets (although he does have a dog that is living with his elderly father). After deciding to take Sophie home, his niece was over - Sophie attacked her. He took Sophie for walks and she was increasingly aggressive - trying to get at any person or dog to the point that he was very worried what would happen if she managed to get away from him - it was all he could do to hang onto her. He took her to meet his dog who is living with his father. Sophie attacked the dog, who had to be rushed to the vet for staples/stitches to close the wound she had caused on the dog's neck/throat. After that he brought Sophie back to us. Another staff member and I spoke with him for well over an hour, and suggested he talk to a trainer. He came back later in the day saying it was not good news from the trainer and that he had to return her to us. This whole experience with Sophie was extremely upsetting and emotional for him. He was also concerned for the staff dealing with her and wanted to be sure that the staff was aware of how aggressive she was.
I don't know if Sophie had Springer Rage Syndrome or not, but I do know that she could not safely be adopted or put into rescue or foster care. There was no question of something terrible happening. I made the very sad decision to euthanise Sophie.
Euthanising any animal is absolutely the worst part of this job - it is a very, very, very difficult decision to make. Unbelievably difficult. But it is a decision that sometimes has to be made for the safety of children, adults and other animals living in the community. Unfortunatly, not every animal that comes into us can be rehomed - just as is the case with any other animal rescue group. I know that if Sophie had been a rotti or a pitbull, we almost certainly would not be getting all of these very hurtful comments.
Last year we had 363 dogs come into our Shelter and we found loving, forever homes for all but 17 of those dogs. Some of those 17 dogs were euthanised for medical reasons and some for extreme aggression. I have worked at the Nanaimo SPCA for 9 years, and for the last 8 years I have been responsible for making the terrible decision of euthanasia as kennelmaster for 3 years and manager for the past 5 years. Over 3,500 dogs have passed through the Shelter during that time.
It is extremely hurtful, upsetting and demoralizing to have people attack me and/or the staff about these very hard decisions. Not only do we have to deal with the grief of ending an animal's life, but now we are attacked by people who don't know the facts and circumstances, but feel they have the right to attack my character just the same.
The staff working at the Shelter are almost all long-time employees working here at low wages because they love and care so deeply about the animals. Many, many tears are shed - not only for animals euthanised but for the cruelty we witness, the total lack of regard for animals' lives we see - I could go on and on. But we all keep coming in every day because we love the animals so much. We had to cut staff by two and a half people per day last November because of financial constraints, so now these dedicated staff members are working even harder - coming in early, staying late, missing lunch, fostering animals and taking home animals at night to comfort them. The hurt from the cruel remarks that are made cuts very deeply with all of us. We are struggling with very little money and resources, but all we have is put into the animals.
No animal is ever euthanised because we have too many or because they have been here too long. We have had dogs and cats here for months and, very occasionally, even years - but that doesn't matter because every animal's life is precious to us. We give them lots of love and attention, hugs and kisses, blankets, toys, exercise time twice a day for the dogs as well as daily walks in the park with our dog walkers. We always have dogs living up front in our staff room and my office always has 8 to 10 cats living here with me. The cats are in communal rooms with outdoor cat runs, blankets, toys and lots of shelves and hidey-holes for them to have their own space. If we are full, as we usually are, we double up the dogs in the kennels and we ask for people to foster. Our Shelter has run on that philosophy for many years.
People attacking me/the staff/the SPCA might want to try to imagine themselves sitting in my chair and what decisions they would make - and be very honest with themselves when they do that.