Give this to anyone who is thinking of breeding his or her dog on a whim.
Author: Chris Benton
After
I was discharged from the Navy, Jim and I moved back to Detroit to use our GI
bill benefits to get some schooling. Jim was going for a degree in Electronics
and I, after much debating decided to get mine in Computer Science. One of the
classes that were a requirement was Speech. Like many people I had no fondness
for getting up in front of people, for any reason, let alone to be the center
of attention as I stuttered my way through some unfamiliar subject. But I
couldn’t get out the requirement, so I found myself in my last semester before
graduation with Speech as one of my classes.
On
the first day of class our professor explained to us that he was going to leave
the subject matter of our talks up to us, but he was going to provide the
motivation of the speech. We would be responsible for six speeches, each with a
different motivation. For instance, our first speech’s purpose was to inform.
He advised us to pick subjects that we were interested in and knowledgeable
about. I decided to center my six speeches on animals, especially dogs. For my
first speech to inform, I talked about the equestrian art of dressage. For my
speech to demonstrate; I brought my German shepherd Badger, to class and
demonstrated obedience commands. Finally, the semester was almost over and I
had but one more speech to give. This speech was to take the place of a written
final exam and was to count for fifty percent of our grade. The speech’s
motivation was to persuade.
After
agonizing over a subject matter, and keeping with my animal theme, I decided on
the topic of spaying and neutering pets. My goal was to try to persuade my
classmates to neuter their pets. So I started researching the topic. There was plenty of material, articles that
told of the millions of dogs and cats that were euphemized each year, of
supposedly beloved pets that were turned into various animal control facilities
for the lamest of reason, or worse dropped off far from home, bewildered and
scared. Death was usually a blessing. The final speech was looming closer, but
I felt well prepared. My notes were full of facts and statistics that I felt
sure would motivate even the most naïve of pet owners to succumb to my plea.
A
couple of days before our speeches were due, I had the bright idea of going to
the local branch of the Humane Society and borrowing a puppy to use as a sort
of a visual aid. I called the Humane Society and explained what I wanted. They
were very happy to accommodate me. I made arrangements to pick up a puppy the
day before my speech.
The
day before my speech, I went to pick up the puppy. I was feeling very
confident. I could quote all the statistics and numbers without ever looking at
my notes. The puppy, I felt, would add the final emotional touch. When I
arrived at the Humane Society I was met by a young guy, named Ron. He explained
that he was the public relations person for the Humane Society. He was very
excited about my speech and asked if I would like a tour of the facilities
before I picked up my puppy. I enthusiastically agreed. We started out in the
reception area, which was the general public’s initial encounter with the
Humane Society. The lobby was full, mostly with people dropping off various
animals that they no longer wanted. Ron explained to me that this branch of the
Humane Society took in about fifty animals a day and adopted out twenty. As we
stood there, I heard snatches of conversation.” I can’t keep him, he digs holes
in my garden” “They’re such cute puppies, I know you will have no trouble
finding homes for them”. “She is wild, I can’t control her”. I heard one of the
Humane Society’s volunteers explain to a lady with a litter of puppies that the
Society was filled with puppies and that these puppies, being black, would
immediately be put to sleep. Black puppies, she explained, had little chance of
being adopted. The woman who brought the puppies in just shrugged, “I can’t
help it “ she whined” “They are getting too big, and I don’t have room for
them”.
We
left the reception area. Ron lead me into the staging area where all the
incoming animals were evaluated for adoptability. Over half never even made it
to the adoption center. There were just too many. Not only were people bringing
in their own animals, but strays were dropped off also. By law, the humane
society had to hold a stray for three days. If the animal was not claimed by
then, it was euphemized, since there was no background information on the
animal. There were already too many animals that had a known history eagerly
provided by they’re soon to be ex owners. As we went through the different
areas, I felt more and more depressed. No amount of statistics could take the
place of seeing the reality of what this throw away attitude did to the
living-breathing animals. It was overwhelming. Finally, Ron stopped in front of
a closed door. ‘That’s it”, He said, “Except for this”. I read the sign on the
door. “Euthanization Area” “Do you want to see one?” He asked. Before I could decline, he interjected, “You
really should. You can’t tell the whole story unless you experience the end.”I reluctantly
agreed. “Good” He said, “I already cleared it and Peggy is expecting you.” He
knocked firmly on the door. A middle-aged woman, in a white lab coat, opened it
immediately. “Here’s the girl I was telling you about,” Ron explained. Peggy
looked me over. “Well, I’ll leave you here with Peggy and meet you in the
reception area in about fifteen minutes. I’ll have the puppy ready.” With that,
Ron departed, leaving me standing in front of the stern looking Peggy.
Peggy motioned me in. As I walked into the room, I gave an audible gasp. The room was small and sparse. There were a couple of cages on the wall and cabinets with syringes and vials of clear liquid. In the middle of the room was an examining table with a rubber mat on top. There were two doors other than the one I had entered. Both were closed. One said “to incinerator room” The other had no sign, but I could hear various animals’ noises coming from behind the closed door. In the back of the room, near the door that was marked incinerator, were the objects that caused my distress. Two wheel barrels, filled with the bodies of dead kittens and puppies. I stared in horror. Nothing had prepared me for this. I felt my legs grow weak and my breathing became rapid and shallow. I wanted to run from that room, screaming. Peggy seemed not to notice my state of shock. She started talking about the euthanization process, but I wasn’t hearing her. I could not tear my gaze away from the wheel barrels and those dozens of pathetic little bodies. Finally, Peggy seemed to notice that I wasn’t paying attention to her. “Are you listening?” She asked irritably. “I’m only going to go though this once.” I tore my gaze from the room and looked at her. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing would come out, so I nodded. She told me that behind the unmarked door were the animals that were scheduled for euthanasia that day. She picked up the chart that was hanging on the wall. “One fifty three is next,” she said as she looked at the chart. “I’ll go get him”. She set down the chart on the examining table and started for the unmarked door. Before she got to the door, she stopped and turned around. “You aren’t going to get hysterical are you? Because that will only upset the animals”. I shook my head. Unable to say a word since I walked into that room, I still felt unsure that I would be able to without breaking down into tears.
As
Peggy opened the unmarked door, I peered into the room beyond. It was a small
room, but the walls were lined and stacked with cages. It looked like they were
all occupied. Peggy opened the door of the lower cages and removed the
occupant. From what I could see it looked like a medium size dog. She attached
a leash and ushered the dog into the room in which I stood. As Peggy brought
the dog into the room I could see the dog was no more than a puppy maybe 5or 6
months old. The pup looked to be a cross between a lab and German shepherd. He
was mostly black, with a small amount of tan above his eyes and on his feet. He
was very excited and bouncing up and down, trying to sniff everything in this
new environment. Peggy lifted the pup onto the table. She had a card in her
hand, which she set on the table next to me. I read the card. It said that#153
was a mixed shepherd, 6 months old. Its family had surrendered him two days
ago. The reason for surrender was given as jumps on children. At the bottom was
a note that said “Name; Sam”. Peggy was quick and efficient, from lots of
practice, I guessed. She laid #153down on his side and tied a rubber tourniquet
around his front leg. She turned to fill the syringe from the vial of clear
liquid. All this time I was standing at the head of the table. I could see the
moment that #153 went from a curious puppy to a terrified puppy. He did not
like being held down and he started to struggle. It was then that I finally
found my voice. I bent over the struggling puppy and whispered “Sam, your name
is Sam”. At the sound of his name, Sam quit struggling. He wagged his tail
tentatively and his pink soft tongue darted out and licked my hand. And that is
how he spent his last moment. I watched his eyes fade from hopefulness to
nothingness. It was over very quickly. I had never even seen Peggy give the
lethal shot. The tears couldn’t be contained any longer. I kept my head down so
as not to embarrass myself in front of the stoic Peggy. My tears fell onto the
still body on the table. “ Now you know”. Peggy said softly. Then she turned
away. “Ron will be waiting for you”. I left the room. Although it seemed like
it had been hours, only minutes had gone by since Ron had left me at the door.
I made my way back to the reception area. True to his word, Ron had a puppy all
ready to go. After giving me some instructions about what to feed the puppy, he
handed the carrying cage over to me and wished me good luck on my speech. That
night, I went home and spent many hours playing with the orphan puppy. I went
to bed that night but could not sleep. After awhile, I got up and looked at my
speech notes with their numbers and statistics. Without a second thought, I
tore them up and threw them away. I went back to bed. Sometime during the
night, I finally fell asleep.
The
next morning, I arrived at my Speech class with Puppy Doe. When my turn came to
give my speech, I walked up to the front of the class with the puppy in my
arms. I took a deep breath, and I told the class about the life and death of
Sam. When I finished my speech, I became aware that I was crying. I apologized
to the class and took my seat. After class, the teacher handed out a critique
with our grades. I had gotten an “A”. His comments said, “Very moving and
persuasive”. Two days later, on the last day of class, one of my classmates
came up to me. She was an older lady that I had never spoken to in class. She
stopped me on our way out of the classroom. “I want you to know that I adopted
the puppy you brought to class,” she said,
“His name is Sam”.