#NerdsUnite: The secret life of a veterinary technician

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Lindsay. She and I met ... well, somewhere in the social space. I think we might have started talking through this site directly, then through facebook - maybe ... I'm not sure. But she's awesome. I talk to her on twitter almost every day, and she's really rad and TOTALLY a big huge animal lover. Like crazy huge!! In these series of posts she will be talking about her life and random adventures with sometimes more than two legged creatures. I guess there's only one more thing left to say ... HIT IT LINDSAY!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @TheCraftafarian

Today's post is another serious type post. This didn't happen to me but this is one of the things No Kill Advocacy is working against. My boyfriend works as a server at a local Italian family restaurant and one of his fellow servers (we can call her M) told him about this, which of course he told me. (He thinks I'm an activist, I mean I call myself an advocate but whatever.) Her little dog-which was no bigger than a miniature schnauzer--got loose in their neighborhood. The little guy was picked up by our local animal control...which would be Orange County Animal Services in FL (the very group I have been working with all month). As soon as the lady heard about her dog getting out and being taken she went to the county shelter. This was not even 24 hours since he went missing. She gets to the shelter only to find out that they have euthanized ... no... they have killed her dog. As far as I am aware the dog was not aggressive and was not injured.

I am completely outraged!!! I have been working with this fucking group all month to adopt pets out and they don't even give the owner a fucking chance to find their beloved pet! I don't know if she was contacted by the county or if the dog had a collar with tags or a microchip. But if that was a lost pet they should at least give the owner a chance to find them before just killing the dog. Most county shelters require a minimum of a three day hold on stray dogs. Seminole County (nearby county and honestly I believe they have always had a far superior shelter system) holds their strays for 5 days. M would have been reunited with her dog if she lived in Seminole County. (http://www.seminolecountyfl.gov/dps/ansrvs/lostpets.aspx) I will be looking in to this. I work with several important people involved in the no kill movement and if these standards were in place that dog would have never been killed. Only the most severe behavioral (unable to be rehabilitated) or sick animals are put to sleep. All adoptable animals get every chance to find homes. This is what standards should be in place at our local shelters. Think about what your tax dollars are paying for. I am not paying taxes so they can kill dogs and cats within 24 hours of going missing. In my mind there was no reason to put this dog to death, he was a small dog so no threat to people, he wasn't injured, and god dammit you fuckers gave him less then 24 hours!! The owner of the dog does wish to get involved in this advocacy movement as a means of closure and also to see if anything can be done to prevent this from happening to anyone ever again. Can you imagine going to pick up your beloved pup or kitty that went missing only to find out the people who are paid to and expected to protect these animals have betrayed them and put them to death? Bullshit. I call bullshit. And we are going to see what we can do about this. I'll let you all know how it goes. 

www.nokilladvocacycenter.org

http://www.nathanwinograd.com

PS- Just to be safe always always ALWAYS have collar with tags for your pets (breakaway collars for cats) and microchipping is a permanent means of ID, safe, and its only a bit of a bigger pinch then a vaccine. I recommend any and all means of identification for your pets. 

Peace. Love. Pawprints.

-Lindsay @thecraftafarian

#nerdsunite