Before 2022, The Wake County animal center lived in solidarity with the fact that they have nod had to reach such extreme measures such as euthanasia to reduce an animal influx for six years as a swarm of stray and scattered animals drowns, the shelter is calling on the community for help for the third time this year, as the record has been threatened. There has been no choice but for those animals to face their doom if the public chooses not to adopt them.
The cause of this record extension is due to several families choosing to give up their animals to the shelter. Despite this fact, the shelters are still begging the community to try and reassess their pets themselves because shelters are full across the country and too many animals are being placed in an already overburdened system.
Over 200 animals will be affected by this avoidable catastrophe if we don’t act fast. The number of dogs in Wake County animal center is 87 on the floor and 61 in the private room, which is more than the shelves available; it’s caused the center to return to single shelves. The shelter is open-intake, meaning that they will take any animal ill, old, or dying but due to fewer adoptions, they will have to proceed into denying those abandoned animals. December 2022 is the highest intake they’ve seen in years. Because December is the most gift-giving month of the year, many people have been gifted animals. Realizing how much work it is to take care of them, however, people return those old animals to the shelter in exchange for new ones. The year’s inflation problems have been the cause of multiple animals’ termination.
“What upsets me the most is it almost feels as though they have been killing innocent animals to make space for new ones as if they are just trash waiting to be taken out,” said Gracie Brewer, a sophomore who has been an adopted pet owner for four years.
Whether euthanasia is an ethical way of killing animals is debated by animal welfare organizations for many years because of the extremist way some animal shelters decide to put down animals. In some cases, animals are terminated with archaic gas chambers and even gunshots. Although there are still many healthy strays that sit at the Wake County animal shelter, putting down a suffering animal is the kindest action an owner can take for their animal. Keeping them alive would only prolong their suffering.
“While in the best world euthanasia would not exist. For animals with severe health or behavioral problems, euthanasia would still exist. No one likes the idea of killing an animal but without only having responsible breeding we will still have a massive amount of dogs and cats at shelters.” said Ally Gay, freshman.
