"Unadoptable"
The title is in quotation marks because it is a label. It is a label that in my opinion shows your ignorance as much as any racial/ethnic/religious/sexual-orientation slur. There is NO such thing as an "unadoptable" domesticated animal.
This post is inspired by Winkie. Winkie is on Death Row because he has been labeled "unadoptable" by somebody who has never been in cage and thus does not understand that this sort of situation would make most terrified and unruly. Winkie will die in three days if the email campaign to save him fails, simply because his reaction to being caged is FEAR. A rescue group has offered to take responsibility for him, but the shelter director will not release him, she would rather destroy a healthy animal...because SHE has labeled him "unadoptable".
Cesar Millan believes there are no bad dogs, just stupid people. I agree with that. You are dealing with an ANIMAL. Animals do not think the same way people do. Heck, we have trouble understanding the opposite sex in our Own Species, it's not a surprise that many people can't adjust to understanding a totally different mental outlook than what humans use. Millan is known for rehabilitating dogs--even ones abused to the point that they were....Unadoptable.
Our Shelby lived in a puppy mill the first 8-10 years of her life. She was abused.--she came to us missing an eye, missing half her tail (which was obviously crushed and then left until the end died and fell off), with a club foot, semi-potty trained and pretty unsocial. After about a decade of neglect and abuse, she was going to be put down knowing nothing else because, "who would want her?". ARRF stepped in and said that she WAS adoptable...and obviously they were right because she has lived in our home for almost seven years now. However, I will say that even after seven YEARS with nothing but kindness she is still skittish, still not affectionate and still only semi-house-trained. We accept this...doesn't mean we LIKE it, but it is what it is.
Darling was six months old when we finally were able to capture her. She was part of a feral litter born on the property of the place we used to work. It was our HOPE to tame her. Her brother (Joey) and sister (Queen Nova) are two of our most loving cats. However, she never tamed. Darling lived with us 11 years and we couldn't touch her. We touched her once when we moved. Charlie was wearing leather welding gloves that went up to his shoulder. SHE was smart enough to know she couldn't "get" him that way, so she went for his face. Our former landlords had wires hanging all over and she got caught in them and that is how we caught her to bring her to the new house...where we saw her maybe 3 to four times per week because she was feral and wanted NOTHING to do with us and we were Okay with it. If she had been in a shelter or pound she would have been destroyed as unadoptable. It's not like she gnawed on us as we slept. She used the box and scratch post like she was supposed to and in return we fed her and kept her dry & safe. She wasn't a pet, EVER, she was a wild animal that shared our home. We accepted this. We didn't like it, but, it was what it was.
Then there is the "ugly dog" in the United Kingdom that found a home. The poor guy looked like Quasimodo, but somebody found him Adorable and now he has a loving family. To be frank, I have several gal pals in the UK and they have all told me they treat euthanasia and "unadoptable" a whole lot different there...it's not as mundane-everyday as it is HERE.
Annie, Tiffany, Mimi, Woody, Kitty, Willow were all "unadoptable" for various reasons ranging from age to Special Needs. They all found a HOME here. WE loved them. We miss the ones that are no longer with us. They WERE adoptable, they just needed to find US.
Not everything/everyone is beautiful. NOBODY is perfect. Everyone is looking for the right person that loves them despite the imperfections--we all have at least one somebody who Truly LOVES us. To say that every cat/dog does not have such a person in existence and to deny them the *chance* at finding that person, is to deny that love and hope exist. Or, even worse, it is an effort to snuff that flame of hope and joy for others.
If you do not have Facebook and cannot view Winkie's story:
WINKIE NEEDS OUR HELP... We are trying to save the life of a cat, Winkie, who was turned in to the Howard County, Maryland, Animal Control shelter by a local resident named Chrissy who didn't realize they would kill him and is desparately trying to get him out before his kill date of March 3rd.
Chrissy emailed a local animal rescue group, Companion Animal Rescue Alliance, about a friendly cat she'd found at her apartment complex, which doesn't allow pets, but the rescue group contact person was preparing for a board meeting and didn't get back to her for 2 days, and by then Chrissy had taken Winkie to the shelter.
The shelter director insists that Winkie is aggressive (he's not; he's just scared; Chrissy has pictures of him in her apartment cuddling with her daughter) and won't release him to any rescue groups or Chrissy (a relative of Chrissy who lives nearby in a house wants to adopt him, so he has a place to go). She has said she will kill him on March 3, 10 days after he was turned in.
What NKR fans can do to help Winkie get out of the shelter and off of death row:
Send an email requesting that Winki not be killed but released to Companion Animal Rescue Alliance. Please communicate that it is not ethical to kill Winkie who has a rescue group willing to take responsiblility for him, rehabilitate him if needed and find a loving home for him. Also, ask them to respond to your mail and tell what they have decided to do about Winkie.
dbaracco@howardcountymd.go
This post is inspired by Winkie. Winkie is on Death Row because he has been labeled "unadoptable" by somebody who has never been in cage and thus does not understand that this sort of situation would make most terrified and unruly. Winkie will die in three days if the email campaign to save him fails, simply because his reaction to being caged is FEAR. A rescue group has offered to take responsibility for him, but the shelter director will not release him, she would rather destroy a healthy animal...because SHE has labeled him "unadoptable".
Cesar Millan believes there are no bad dogs, just stupid people. I agree with that. You are dealing with an ANIMAL. Animals do not think the same way people do. Heck, we have trouble understanding the opposite sex in our Own Species, it's not a surprise that many people can't adjust to understanding a totally different mental outlook than what humans use. Millan is known for rehabilitating dogs--even ones abused to the point that they were....Unadoptable.
Our Shelby lived in a puppy mill the first 8-10 years of her life. She was abused.--she came to us missing an eye, missing half her tail (which was obviously crushed and then left until the end died and fell off), with a club foot, semi-potty trained and pretty unsocial. After about a decade of neglect and abuse, she was going to be put down knowing nothing else because, "who would want her?". ARRF stepped in and said that she WAS adoptable...and obviously they were right because she has lived in our home for almost seven years now. However, I will say that even after seven YEARS with nothing but kindness she is still skittish, still not affectionate and still only semi-house-trained. We accept this...doesn't mean we LIKE it, but it is what it is.
Darling was six months old when we finally were able to capture her. She was part of a feral litter born on the property of the place we used to work. It was our HOPE to tame her. Her brother (Joey) and sister (Queen Nova) are two of our most loving cats. However, she never tamed. Darling lived with us 11 years and we couldn't touch her. We touched her once when we moved. Charlie was wearing leather welding gloves that went up to his shoulder. SHE was smart enough to know she couldn't "get" him that way, so she went for his face. Our former landlords had wires hanging all over and she got caught in them and that is how we caught her to bring her to the new house...where we saw her maybe 3 to four times per week because she was feral and wanted NOTHING to do with us and we were Okay with it. If she had been in a shelter or pound she would have been destroyed as unadoptable. It's not like she gnawed on us as we slept. She used the box and scratch post like she was supposed to and in return we fed her and kept her dry & safe. She wasn't a pet, EVER, she was a wild animal that shared our home. We accepted this. We didn't like it, but, it was what it was.
Then there is the "ugly dog" in the United Kingdom that found a home. The poor guy looked like Quasimodo, but somebody found him Adorable and now he has a loving family. To be frank, I have several gal pals in the UK and they have all told me they treat euthanasia and "unadoptable" a whole lot different there...it's not as mundane-everyday as it is HERE.
Annie, Tiffany, Mimi, Woody, Kitty, Willow were all "unadoptable" for various reasons ranging from age to Special Needs. They all found a HOME here. WE loved them. We miss the ones that are no longer with us. They WERE adoptable, they just needed to find US.
Not everything/everyone is beautiful. NOBODY is perfect. Everyone is looking for the right person that loves them despite the imperfections--we all have at least one somebody who Truly LOVES us. To say that every cat/dog does not have such a person in existence and to deny them the *chance* at finding that person, is to deny that love and hope exist. Or, even worse, it is an effort to snuff that flame of hope and joy for others.
If you do not have Facebook and cannot view Winkie's story:
WINKIE NEEDS OUR HELP... We are trying to save the life of a cat, Winkie, who was turned in to the Howard County, Maryland, Animal Control shelter by a local resident named Chrissy who didn't realize they would kill him and is desparately trying to get him out before his kill date of March 3rd.
Chrissy emailed a local animal rescue group, Companion Animal Rescue Alliance, about a friendly cat she'd found at her apartment complex, which doesn't allow pets, but the rescue group contact person was preparing for a board meeting and didn't get back to her for 2 days, and by then Chrissy had taken Winkie to the shelter.
The shelter director insists that Winkie is aggressive (he's not; he's just scared; Chrissy has pictures of him in her apartment cuddling with her daughter) and won't release him to any rescue groups or Chrissy (a relative of Chrissy who lives nearby in a house wants to adopt him, so he has a place to go). She has said she will kill him on March 3, 10 days after he was turned in.
What NKR fans can do to help Winkie get out of the shelter and off of death row:
Send an email requesting that Winki not be killed but released to Companion Animal Rescue Alliance. Please communicate that it is not ethical to kill Winkie who has a rescue group willing to take responsiblility for him, rehabilitate him if needed and find a loving home for him. Also, ask them to respond to your mail and tell what they have decided to do about Winkie.
dbaracco@howardcountymd.go