A short while after this picture was taken, the dog was put down. Another statistic in one of the animal shelters in Taiwan. A photographer, Tou Chih-kang, spent two years taking photographs of hundreds of dogs just before they were put down. Now he has put up his work in an exhibition to create awarenes of the tragic fate that awaited the dogs in the animals shelters.
What do you think? Is this the only way to solve the canine over-population problem? Is there no other way?
There are still millions people spend good money to buy dogs, while there are so many dogs available for adoption in the shelters at the same time. There are a few things must be done.
1. To create more awareness for the availability of dogs and other pets in the shelter. So people don't always look at buying as the first option.
2. I think there should be a better pet adoption network, connected internationally with one common linked database of all available pets from all over the world updated real time. So people from all over the world can visit this database first searching for a pet they desire if they want to get a new pet.
It just doesn't make sense to spend lots of money to buy pets while there are also a lot of pets being put down in shelters because no one want them.
As for item number one, I think it should be the duty of everyone who loves dogs to contribute to creating this awareness. We can all do our share by publicising this in our sites, blogs or forums.
With regards to item number two, I think we will have to start off by creating a local database, maybe on a state level. I am sure it can be done. Just as we can make website directories, we can also make directories of animal shelters. All it needs is someone to take the initiative to do it.
08-02-2012, 04:59 PM, (This post was last modified: 08-02-2012, 05:01 PM by Pocs.)
Hats off to Tou Chih-kang, for taking on such a sad, but needed story with his photography. The photos are heart wrenching.
We have a mom and pop type pet store just a few miles away. It's a lovely little store with all sorts of animals except for dogs and cats. When you go back to the kennel area, all the kennels are still there, but with no pets in them. In their place on the front of the cage is a full size color picture of a dog or cat, with information about the animal and what local shelter they are currently being housed at, and details on how to adopt. Plus if you adopt one of the animals in the photos they give you a goodie basket with toys, shampoo, a leash and collar and a savings card for 20% off pet food and snacks for the life of the pet.
It seems to be working well, they have a sign that reads 104 adopted.
Please convey my sincere thanks to the mom and pop pet store in your area. They are doing a fantastic job.
I have a vet who does something similar. Once in a while, someone will bring him an old dog or old cat to put to sleep. He refuses to do that. What he does instead is to take the animal into his care, at his own expense and look after it until it dies of natural causes. The last I heard, he has bought a piece of land and used it as a home for abandoned dogs and cats.
This really breaks my heart, Victor. I've gone to animal shelters to help a relative find a dog. I was almost in tears after each visit. I could have taken any of the dogs home. They pulled at my heartstrings so much.
I think this is a very clever way to get the message out. One can pretend the problem of dog overpopulation does not exist if one does not have to see them. But, when you look into those eyes, you can't help but wonder how you might be able to save the dog yourself.
Our local newspaper covers pets of the week. These are animals at the local animal shelter who are ready for adoption. They tell the dog or cat's story and give information about their personality. I think this helps bring awareness. It gets the photos of the pets in the public eye and maybe a few of them get adopted because of it.
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