THE CRISIS OF OUR PUBLIC SHELTERS

Thousands of cats (and dogs) are killed by the public shelters in Alaska every year. Many, perhaps most, of those animals didn’t have to die. A more open relationship with the public and a more humane living situation for the animals could prevent these deaths.

The dream in the creation of public animal ‘shelter’s was to provide a place where lost and abandoned animals would have a refuge and care until they could go back to their homes or find new ones. But in Alaska, as in much of the country, the reality for an animal, particularly a cat, entering a ‘shelter’ means that they have a good chance of not coming out alive. This is not because of some defect or failing of the animals, but the breakdown of our shelter system.

Over the years, Clear Creek Cat Rescue has rescued cats from most of the shelters in southcentral and the Kenai Peninsula—Houston shelter, Mat-Su shelter, Anchorage shelter, Seward shelter, Kenai shelter, Soldotna shelter, Homer shelter—as  well as taking cats from Dutch Harbor and other outlying areas. And what we’ve learned is that the system is broken. In almost every case, any criticism of the public shelter, no matter how careful and helpful, will result in being blacklisted. This applies to adopters as well as to rescues.

This situation unfortunately is not unusual in the world of shelters. All across the country, rescue groups have faced the terrible dilemma of either silently watching ill treatment and unnecessary killing of animals in order to be allowed to save a few, or speak up for change and be denied the right to rescue any. Most rescue groups feel they have no choice. The fear of having more animals killed because the rescue is no longer allowed to rescue has crippled rescuers from even speaking up. They continued to operate in that place of fear, controlled by the whims and desires of managers who held the power of life and death in their hands.

But at last, some rescue groups have said ‘enough is enough’ and are fighting back.  All across the country rescue groups are starting to speak up, to call for change, and to file suit against shelters that deny the rescue groups the right to rescue because rescuers speak up about the conditions of the shelters. In some states, laws promoted by rescue groups have been passed that require that notice be given to rescue groups of any animal is slated to be killed at a shelter. And that the animal cannot be killed if there is a rescue group willing to take it. This has saved thousands of unnecessary deaths. This should be the policy of every shelter. Why would it not be? Why would a shelter prefer to kill an animal rather than allow a rescue group to save it? That is a question for every one of our local shelters to answer.

The animals who end up at the shelters are victims of humans’ neglect and disregard. They need help from rescue groups and all people who care about their survival. Please be an advocate of positive change in our public shelter system. If we don’t speak up about the problems in our shelters, about the unnecessary killing, who will?

It’s time for a change.