Oh, no! Not MY kitten! - by Boered (via flickr.com)

Well today was the day…. I called the Humane Society and told the woman who answered that I was going to bring in 4 kittens. You know I was worried about it, so I asked her what was their chance of getting adopted. She said “Very good – we only have 2 kittens in the shelter right now.”

So I loaded up the kittens and off I went. I hated every second of the drive there. The poor little things were crying and crying. I kept telling myself that they would have a better life with someone else. Oh, I’d always make sure they had food and water and a warm place to sleep, but if they stayed with me, they’d essentially just be barn cats, and they wouldn’t get all the attention and affection they need. So I didn’t waiver, and kept on going.

When I walked into the shelter, there was only a man there. He said that the woman had stepped out for a minute, but he could fill out the release form for me to sign, and take the kittens. I don’t know why, but something made me ask “What are the chances that the kittens will be put to sleep?” and without hesitating, he replied “100%”.

What???!!

“I thought you were the Humane Society!” I said. Then he told me that they are actually just the County Animal Control Shelter…. The Humane Society does not have an office in our county, but they occasionally come in to help out and take a few of the animals that they are certain they can find homes for.

I still couldn’t believe it, so I asked again “You’ll definitely put them to sleep?” and he told me, yes, more than likely, he would. So I scooped up the cat carrier, filled with my little kittens, and told him that I wasn’t going to leave them there then. Call me silly, but I had tears in my eyes while I was telling him this. I couldn’t help it. I could not be that heartless, and just turn the kittens in just to be killed. The man looked at me like I was a bit nuts, and said “Don’t get mad at me, I’m just being honest with you”. I told him that I wasn’t mad at him, I was just surprised because the woman had told me that they’d get adopted, and afterall, all I wanted was for the kittens to find good homes.

The man softened up then, and told me that he doesn’t like his job (he’s actually the one who does the euthanizing), but people are constantly brining in tons of unwanted dogs and cats, and the shelter just does not have the room to keep them all.

And then he told me something that totally depressed me….

He said that last month alone, he had put to sleep over 300 dogs and cats. More than 300!!! In just a month!!! And that’s just in this county, which is probably the smallest county in our state! And of all the people that walked into the shelter last month, he said, only two actually adopted an animal.

So I took my cat carrier, with my little funny kittens, and walked back out of the shelter. On my way, I passed the two kittens in a cage, and then past about 20 dogs, all wagging their tails ferociously and barking at me, as if to say “Please don’t leave me here!” I sat the carrier down and stuck my fingers through the bars of each and every kennel. Every dog kissed my fingers and looked up at me so longingly. Then I said a little prayer, that somehow, someway, each of them would find a good home, rather than becoming one of the 300+ lost this month, and then I took my kittens back home. "