Then, after a lot of hard work by a lot of people, we had a regime change at the Lucas County dog pound. More dogs began getting out alive, both through adoption and via direct transfer to the Toledo Area Humane Society. From there, the pound began working with other shelters and rescues, and those others have helped now and then too. Yes, it's a gradual process on everyone's part. Still, it's been a year now. Isn't it time to start asking "what have all of you done to change along with the dog pound?"
OK, it's been discussed to some degree, in the form of (quite frankly) some unfounded accusations slung in a lot of directions. Where's the positive discussion been? What disturbs me the most about what's been said is just how quickly way too many people are willing to toss Fulton, Ottawa and Wood pound dogs right under the bus. "They can develop their own groups!" And in the meantime, what happens to those dogs? Not to mention, Lucas County has at least a dozen viable options for dogs, and we'll just hope the adjacent counties can manage with one or two?
What was overlooked in all of that was how many dogs come into Lucas County from a whole lot farther away than a 20 minute drive? Yes, those are great dogs too, and the people in those counties work very hard to get some of their dogs to safety. That was fine for a lot of years. Now though we are saving hundreds more dogs from right here in Lucas County. There's not room for the others anymore.
And let's get something else out there not too many people seem willing to say. The "rescues" in this area "adopting out" high demand puppies and dogs for breeder prices are not legitimate. If they paid anything more than a pound fee, and/or do not offer complete veterinary care including spay/neuter and follow-up, and/or are vague about where their dogs come from, they are a for-profit business. Period. And most of the time when you "adopt" a puppy from them, some part of that money is lining the pockets of a puppy mill. We've come a long way in educating the public about pet stores. Unfortunately now we have to do the same thing all over again when it comes to unscrupulous "rescues." And let's also make it clear that puppy mills aren't just huge Amish operations with hundreds of dogs. They're everywhere, everywhere someone keeps breeding dogs in substandard conditions to make money.
So what are we going to do? Where is everyone's willingness to work together for the good of the dogs? I am completely convinced that if all of the legitimate, hard-working, dedicated rescues and shelters in this area were willing to at least talk about common goals and coordinating efforts, the greater Toledo area could be close to "no kill" within a few years. Owner surrenders go to shelters, or better yet, we find more ways to help more owners keep their dogs. Strays go to the pounds, and once they are there, everyone works together to get them out. Some of "our" dogs might go to areas where there's more demand than dogs but we don't turn around and fill the resulting spaces with 3 dogs from somewhere else. Add in continuing education; as many spay/neuter options as possible; recruiting more volunteers and donors; and promoting responsible adoptions, and it is not an unrealistic goal.
It is and should be up to all of us. If you foster, ask where your foster dog came from and if it came from out of this area, ask why? Are you sure that same dog isn't being put down right here? Same if you donate money. We could put together a blog of dogs that die here, if that would bring the reality home. Adopt local dogs and educate yourself about what to expect from a legitimate rescue before you do. We've come a long, a lot farther than most of us could have imagined. Let's not stop now.
