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He put them in the gas chamber, and was ready to flip the switch... |
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Hi Linda - My name is Kimberly H.G.,and I have been working with several wonderful people who have been facilitating rescues from some of the High Kill Shelters in that still use the gas chamber. Two of these women with whom I think you may be familiar are Patti Marino and Phoebe Hemenway. I think you may also have some familiarity with the shelter I am writing about today, because I believe that Phoebe facilitated the rescue of a black lab named Shiloh from the Spalding Shelter back in the late winter/early spring. I have heard many good things about you from both Patti and Phoebe, one of those things being that, at any given time, you are certain to have many, many dogs under the protective umbrella of your care. And under normal circumstances, I would hesitate to contact you about taking on any more because of the load that you are already carrying. But what happened at Spalding last Friday was anything BUT normal (and in my book, qualifies as a minor miracle.) I will try to tell the story as briefly as possible: Spalding County Animal Shelter is a High Kill shelter that still uses the gas chamber. In their own way and on their own terms, they have been somewhat receptive to rescue, but the bottom line has always been that the ACO in charge at this facility is one of the MOST "by-the-book" type of administrators we have ever worked with. If rescue can accomplish what needs to be done within the confines of the hard and fast rules that have been laid down, that is fine, but he has NEVER been one to bend the rules ONE IOTA. Then came Friday, June 30, 2006. Seven dogs were due to die. Someone faxed in "paperwork" (which is the procedure at Spalding) in order to save four of the seven. However, the ACO would NOT accept paperwork on the other three because he did not consider them to be adoptable. He said that they did not appear to be "friendly." A person who lives locally (with respect the shelter) said she had been in earlier in the week to check out the dogs, and that those three dogs were basically scared out of their wits. However, after taking time to interact with them, she said that they were very, very sweet. Terrified, but very sweet. Regardless, the ACO in charge was not going to accept paperwork. He put them in the gas chamber, and was ready to flip the switch. At this point, here is where the miracle comes in. For some unknown reason (other than the fact that many people were praying for those Spalding dogs at that very moment), he did NOT flip the switch. He held off, and then went back out to the chamber, removed the dogs and returned them to their cages. He then announced that he would give these dogs until Wednesday to find a rescue. This is something that he has NEVER, EVER even come close to doing before. It totally defies explanation. Because of that, the reason I am contacting you is this: I am painfully aware that there are dogs dying all across the country, every day. Sadly, the people I am working with cannot begin to help them all, and with all you are doing, neither can you. However, I have very strong feelings about the occurrence of this miracle. I have this overwhelming feeling that it would be a violation of trust, with relation to both the Higher Power that brought it about, and the ACO whose heart appears to be softening, not to respond to this opportunity we have been given. After what happened on Friday, I just feel that it would be so wrong for those dogs to have to go BACK into the gas chamber - even more wrong than it would have been had they been "gassed” the first time around. It is almost like the situations (few and far between) when animals have survived the gas chamber - how can you put them back in, having received such a clear mandate that they should live? Perhaps because of your name, you are the first person/group I thought of. I have the feeling, from what I have heard of you, that the name you chose for your group was not selected at random - it would seem to represent the essence of who you are and what you hope to accomplish. (In this case, with these poor dogs in the chamber with the door shut and the gas about ready to start seeping in, they could actually even qualify as a "Twelfth Hour Rescue" -- there were only seconds, and precious few seconds at that, between these dogs and death!) And although we truly believe, from the reports we have received, that these will be perfectly happy dogs once they are free from the sense of death and foreboding that hangs in the air all about them at the Kill Shelter, from what I have heard, you and the group of dedicated folks with whom you work would be just the people to work with injured souls who so desperately need to learn to trust again in the event that they DON'T "automatically" snap out of it once they leave the shelter. I would love to hear your thoughts on this unique situation, what you think can be done, and how best to go about it. Thank you so much for your kind attention to this e-mail that turned out to be so much longer than I had intended! Kim
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