Another Heartbreaking Trip to a Humane Society

The first thing you notice when you drive up to the Central Missouri Humane Society (the closest humane society to us now that we've moved), are dogs. These are the lucky dogs- the get both a tiny indoor room and a tiny outdoor run. Very small dogs and younger puppies only have an indoor place room- the rooms are the same size for dogs of any size. This is evened out by dogs like the Great Dane having a room to themselves and keeping litters of small puppies together.

Several Chihuahuas undergoing "temperament testing" lived in tiny cages, as do the rabbits. Even tinier cages held a rat and a guinea pig. There was also a ferret. There was a sign on his cage saying "vet staff" either it belonged to the vet staff as a pet, or was being treated.

The worst part was the cats! A tiny cage about the size of a medium sized bird cage held a mother cat and three kittens.

Ever sadder was the behavior of the animals! A rabbit was chewing on the newspaper lining in its cage out of sheer boredom.

An adorable black and white cat (a tuxedo cat, explained a volunteer, "all dressed up- now he just needs a place to go.") was sticking its paws through the cage bars, just wanting to be petted. How I wished that I could give it that place!

A litter of lab mix puppies were whining like crazy in front of the cage door. A couple dogs were barking and trying to knock out their "room" doors. Four Rottweiler mix pups, large, tough looking dogs, were making a pathetic squeaking noise.

I wish that I could foster some of these animals. This is a "low killing" shelter. They will euthanize animals if the shelter is getting crowded, unless someone fosters them. for a time they were killing all bulldogs, pitbulls, and bull terriers as soon as they got them. It was only until recently that they became adoptable.

I wish that I would be able to help some of these poor animals.

A Trip to the Humane Society of Missouri

When we first entered the Humane Society, it seemed like a nice place. Kittens climbed around in a spacious cage. A dog was exploring the lobby. Then we went into a small room. Two gerbils hid themselves. Some guinea pigs walked around in their cage. There were about a dozen dogs and cats in small cages. There was a 10-year- old Yorkie with some grey fur. A kitten pawed at the bars of its cage. A tiny chihuahua mix whimpered and shivered.

We then went into a room marked "dogs". The first thing we noticed was the noise! All the dogs were barking at once. The second thing we noticed was the smell. A beautiful husky mix jumped at the bars of his cage. Many of the cages were very dirty. We left that room quickly. We went into another dog room. It was quieter, but smellier than the first.

The "Cats and Critters" room housed a lot of cats. A large cage contained a large litter of black and white kittens. The rest of the cat cages were tiny. A movie about squirrels played on a t.v. in the room and many cats were watching it closely.  Three cages held rabbits. A cage smaller then the one I use for Kiki had three cockatiels in it.

In the hallway, a bulletin board was covered in papers about lost animals and animals that were being sold. A worker dragged "An aggressive dog" to the "Aggressive Dog Room". Outside a crying lady and her husband led a large dog up to the door.

After we left, my mom, (who is not an animal lover) remarked how the Humane Society made even her feel sad. This experience has made me a  lot more likely to rescue an animal from a shelter.

This link is to the Humane Society of Missouri's website.
 http://www.hsmo.org/