We made an addition to our pack. Her name is Shady, a black labrador retriever, she is 5 years old.
On Friday we were filling in for a YHS dog photographer who is away. It was a black lab day, 4 of the 5 dogs needing photos were black labs or black lab mixes. When Shady came in for her photos, she was calm in a difficult environment and very friendly to people she just met. Gary and I decided to adopt her.
She was an owner surrender to the shelter. She was brought in because she was ill and needed surgery. She had a large uterine tumor which was bulging from her abdomen. YHS vets operated on her to remove it. When I heard her backstory, I was sorry that her family could not afford to give her proper veterinary care. Then one of the volunteers who was there when Shady was surrendered said the previous owner was a real a**hole, he brought her in because neighbors called animal control and reported him when they saw the tumor on Shady’s belly and her owner did nothing about it. Gary said another way to think about this is the old owner saved her life by bringing her to the shelter. He could have had her euthanized.
Many shelters would have euthanized a dog in Shady’s condition. She had a significant – read that as “not inexpensive to treat” – medical condition. The Yavapai Humane Society practices a no-kill ethic, which means applying the same criteria to determining a homeless pets’ fate that a pet owner or conscientious veterinarian would apply to a beloved family pet. That is, healthy and treatable animals are not euthanized (killed) simply because of a lack of resources. Gary and I feel this is the way a humane society should act, and that’s why we are volunteers there.
Lot’s more about Shady will be posted here. Gary is going to take some studio photos of her today or tomorrow.
