Story on NPR now on animal rescue right now....
They are quoting an animal control officer entering hoarding situations. The dogs (JR Terriers) are emaciated and clearly diseased. "The stench is nearly overwhelming..."
The hoarder is saying he thinks of the dogs as family. He has chosen to give them up "hoping they will get a new home." HSUS says hoarding is only the most graphic symbol over the overall animal overpopulation problem...
HSUS: "Healthy and adoptable animals are euthanized for space (in shelters) because they have run out of options..."
They discuss the growing movement of foster homes (Susan: Yes! Push those foster homes! Reach people and convince them to foster!)...."Most important is that the animals get socialized to people..." The fosterer already owns six cats herself, but fosters for the local shelter.
Narrator: "In parts of the country spay and neuter programs have cut the euthanasia rate in shelters in half."
HSUS: The next step is to convince people to adopt from shelters rather than purchase from pets stores.
The problem with cats is trickier, because stray cats form feral populations that are too wild for adoption... (Susan: Not even a mention of spay/neuter to control some of those populations).
Back to the dogs taken from the hoarder...
"These dogs are being eaten alive from the inside from parasites..."
Because the dogs are Jack Russells they are very adoptable, so have a good possibility of finding a new permanent home.
The officer smokes a cigar in his truck: "It helps to kill the stink" of some of the situations he encounters.
At night, he says, "I can't sleep because I haven't been able to get the animals out of the situation they are in."
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