By state law, an animal entering an animal shelter as a
stray must be held for a minimum of 7 days before being
offered for adoption or euthanized. Animals released by
their owners do not have a mandatory hold time, and can be
made available for adoption or euthanized immediately.
Euthanasia Policy of
Cumberland County S.P.C.A.
We are
often asked by the public about our euthanasia policy. To
understand our policy, it is first important to understand
that Cumberland County S.P.C.A. is what is called an “open
admission” shelter and, as such, provides a temporary refuge
for homeless and unwanted animals regardless of their age,
condition, or adoptability. We do not discriminate. In
fact, the majority of the animals at our shelter come to us
as strays, some of which might otherwise have died or
suffered from starvation, disease,
poisoning, injuries from traffic accidents, attacks by
wildlife, or severe weather.
Although
our goal is to place in good homes as many of the animals
that come to us as possible, we also realize that, because
we are an open admission shelter, euthanasia of an animal
may sometimes be necessary. The following are examples of
situations where euthanasia may be necessary:
·
An animal exhibits aggressive or other
dangerous behavior such that it poses a threat to the
community.
·
An animal shows signs of severe stress from
the shelter environment such that the animal is suffering an
unacceptably poor quality of life.
·
An animal has a medical condition that is
beyond our resources to treat, or that will likely result in
a poor quality of life for the animal or that, because of
its very contagious nature, would place the rest of the
shelter population at risk of serious illness.
·
At certain times, we simply run out of space
to humanely house every animal that arrives at our doors and
a most difficult choice has to be made.
·
Finally, C.C.S.P.C.A. offers euthanasia
services where an owner requests that a pet be euthanized
because of a serious health or behavioral problem.
We are also often asked whether we set a maximum amount
of time that we will hold an animal. The answer is that we
do not set a maximum amount
of time that we will hold an animal, nor do we have a
maximum age. That is, in general, as long as the animal
remains adoptable, the animal is coping adequately with the
stress of shelter life and there is space to humanely house
the animal, we will continue to provide shelter and care for
the animal and to make every reasonable effort to find the
animal a good home.
It is important to point out that every euthanasia
decision is made on an individual basis for each animal. It
is never taken lightly. Rather, every decision is very
carefully considered by at least three trained and
compassionate staff members and is carried out by the most
modern humane means – a painless injection of sodium
pentobarbital - administered by gentle, caring and trained
shelter personnel.
While, under certain
circumstances, euthanasia will be necessary, C.C.S.P.C.A
will continue to work hard to greatly reduce the need for
euthanasia by, among other things,:
-
using all reasonably available means to promote
adoptions;
-
maintaining a foster care program;
-
sending some of our animals to other approved shelters
and rescue groups;
-
providing ill and injured animals, which are otherwise
adoptable, with veterinary care to the extent our
resources allow; and
-
directly addressing the root of the problem – the
overpopulation of unwanted pets - by providing low–cost
spay/neuter services and microchipping as well as by
humane education.
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| 2. What do I do if
I need to have my pet "put to sleep"? |
For a fee the SPCA can assist you when this time
comes. You would need to make an appointment by calling
the shelter office during business hours. This ensures a
technician is available to perform the procedure. You
may be with your pet when it is put to sleep. The
procedure is painless and done by injection.
The SPCA also offers the option of disposing of your
pets remains, or cremation service. You may call ahead
or inquire at the time of euthanasia.
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| 3. Who gets spayed
and who gets neutered? |
The term spay is used for females only, and
males are neutered. But it gets a little tricky here -
neuter can also be used when referring to a female.
Basically "neuter" covers everyone, and "spay" covers only
females.
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|
4. Why is
the adoption fee so high? |
Our adoption fees are $110.00 for dogs
and $80.00 for cats. We have to purchase for each animal:
microchips, vaccine, heartworm tests (for dogs), dewormer, collars, ID
tags, leashes/carriers, food, and we have to pay the vet who
performs the spay/neuter surgeries on each pet when it gets
adopted. The adoption fees cover only a portion of the cost
of these items, not to mention heat, electric, disinfectant,
water, and the numerous other items the animals need while
they are in our care.
If you think our prices are high, please
contact your local vet. Ask them how much it would cost you
to bring in a cat or dog for all vaccines, dewormer,
heartworm tests (for dogs), and to be spayed/neutered. The
cost will be much greater, and that doesn't include a
collar, tag, leash or carrier.
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|
5. Why
don't you just give them away? |
Lets say you were given a TV set for
free..... if you lost it you wouldn't be too upset
that it's gone, after all, it was free. If something in it
stopped working correctly would you have it fixed properly,
or just throw the TV out since you got it for free? If you
were offered another TV by someone else would you care about
getting rid of your other TV, because after all, you didn't
pay for it?
Many people only place value on something
that they've had to pay something for. There are people out
there that want animals for various reasons (breeding,
fighting, baiting, to sell to labs) where they would take a
free animal because - hey, it's free. But they wouldn't want
to pay a fee for the animal because they would be throwing
money down the drain by using that animal in any of the
above ways. Anyone willing to give a pet a loving home is
willing to pay a fee of some sort for that animal,
especially one that has already been given vaccines,
dewormer, etc.
Another reason a fee of some amount is
necessary people often don't think about. The cost for food,
vet care, and other pet related items (toys, grooming,
bedding, etc) for each animal can be daunting at times.
While we understand that not everyone had a ton of money to
be spent on animals, they need basic things regularly. If
someone cannot afford our adoption fees, chances are they
can't afford the food and vet care bills for an animal.
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