Austin Animal Center (Blog #5)

Lately, I have been going to the Austin Animal Shelter a lot. My boyfriend wants to get a dog, so we always go check it out since there are new dogs coming in everyday. The organization says that they don’t euthanize for space, but they still do euthanize for any other problems. Usually when you walk by the cages, you see little notes on it describing the dog’s character. There was a male pitbull that stood out to me because it had a LOT of notes on it. They said “Adopt me please,” “I really don’t like to be caged, and I get angry easily.” I knew this meant he was about to be euthanized. I looked at the day he came in and it had been almost 7 months. They “say” they don’t euthanize for space. Lately this organization has got me thinking a lot. Many appreciate the center, and I do think it’s nice to have a safe place for homeless dogs and cats. Nevertheless, if you look at the dogs, they don’t look happy. I always choose one to walk, and this past dog made me really sad. She literally did not want to go in her cage, she was being so good so I would adopt her. She laid down right outside her cage and just sighed. This makes me wonder whether they’re truly happy at a place like this, or are we imposing on their freedom? I know this doesn’t apply to all the cases; many dogs come into the center and they have wounds and scars, but can we assume this is true for all? In relation to communities and organizations, I realize that it’s hard to satisfy the needs of everyone. Looking at these dogs, and the differences in their reactions allows me to relate it to people. Some dogs are happy, while others are depressed, sad, lonely, or hyperactive. All the different personalities caged under one roof. There needs to be an implementation to attempt to satisfy the needs of everyone, little by little. For example, to address the lonely dogs, the workers could place them with other dogs. For dogs that are hyperactive, the staff should give them additional attention and walk them more often. Little things like this keep the general population satisfied; the mood of one can influence the others. I can always tell because if one dog starts barking, they all begin to bark in unison.

Observation: During training, a student began yelling at other students for not holding their squats down at 90 degrees. He yelled “Everyone is doing it!” Except for him.