Say the words "shelter dog" and many people think of freakish, aggressive or feral dogs. Those of us in sheltering, rescue and advocacy know that nothing could be further from the truth. Our nation's animal shelters are full of wonderful, friendly dogs. Some may need a little extra attention and devotion initially"”because their previous owners failed to properly socialize them"”and some may need medical care, but they are worthy and deserving of loving forever homes, nonetheless. The vast majority of dogs in shelters, more than 90 percent, are highly adoptable. But we have been led to believe that there aren't enough homes for them all. Each day in this country there are more people looking to bring a dog into their home than there are dogs in shelters. Unfortunately, millions of great shelter dogs are overlooked as people continue to purchase dogs online and from pet stores. This lack of awareness leads to the killing of more than 4 million shelter dogs each year in the U.S.
In October of 2007 two forward-thinking dog lovers, Alex Aliksanyan and Brenda Bush, launched the Web site DogsInDanger.com. DogsInDanger.com is a listing of shelter dogs around the country that are scheduled to die, thus giving these animals a last chance at life. DogsInDanger's two-pronged strategy is aimed at getting shelter dogs adopted into loving homes before their time runs out, and raising awareness of the number of dogs being killed in our country's shelters. The site is owned and operated by The Buddy Fund, Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to helping dogs in need.
Shelters in this country take in 6-8 million dogs each year. The inflow of dogs is far greater than shelter space available. Shelters have limited funds and limited personnel and they need help reaching out to their communities to find homes for their dogs. DogsInDanger bridges that gap. DogsInDanger offers a free way for shelters to let their communities know about their urgent dogs so more dogs will have a chance to escape death. And, it offers a way for interested adopters to find out about the dogs in their local shelters that will be killed if not adopted or rescued.
DogsInDanger.com is different from the other pet adoption Web sites in that it has no discussion forums, limited educational information and no advertisements. In essence there is nothing much on the Web site except for dogs in danger of euthanasia and it is unique in that respect. The site attracts one kind of audience"”adopters motivated to adopt now and save a life. As reported by the hundreds of municipal shelters that are currently using DogsInDanger.com, IT WORKS! The data is there. The precedent is there. The site delivers a large, targeted audience to dogs in need.
With so many families losing their homes to foreclosure and others surrendering their dogs to shelters because they can no longer afford to feed and care for them, the situation for millions of abandoned shelter dogs is more dire than ever. These dogs"”once family pets accustomed to quality of life in a home"”are now forced to live in steel cages with cement floors, imprisoned for a crime they did not commit. These dogs are deprived of human interaction and at best, without DogsInDanger.com, their chance for adoption is 40 percent. The end of the line for these dogs is inevitable death.
DogsInDanger has brought shelter dog killing to the forefront of our societal mindset. The team at DogsInDanger believes in the power of compassion, and that Americans would do more to help and adopt shelter dogs, if only they knew how many dogs shelters were forced to euthanize. They also believe that shelters don't really want to euthanize dogs, if they had any other option"”the team has chosen a path of technology as a means of connecting scared, abandoned shelter dogs with the loving homes they long for.
DogsInDanger brings a new transparency to shelter operations that some shelters do not like. Most shelters don't advertise that they kill dogs and don't want the public to know that they do. This terrible burden is unfair to shelter workers everywhere who care deeply for the dogs and desire to nurture life, not destroy it. Even though DogsInDanger has reached out to every shelter in the country, only 479 of the estimated 2500 municipal (government run) animal shelters are registered with DogsInDanger.
There are many ways that you can help shelter dogs, even if you are not ready to adopt. Speak with your local shelter about DogsInDanger.com and encourage them to list their dogs on the site. Volunteer at your local shelter and spend time with the dogs; it will enrich their lives and yours. Shelter dogs get little human interaction, which can lead to behavior problems and in turn increases the likelihood that they will be killed. Spay and neuter your dogs and support spay/neuter efforts in your community"”controlling the pet population is the key element in decreasing the number of dogs entering shelters. Make a tax deductible donation to DogsInDanger so that it can continue to raise awareness of our capabilities and help more shelters save their dogs. Most of all "¦ tell everyone you know about DogsInDanger.com.
It may be uncomfortable for some people to see the lists of names and photos of dogs scheduled to be killed. But the truth is uncomfortable. By making it personal, hopefully more people will be compelled to help these dogs. Thus DogsInDanger.com refuses to present a sanitized version of the truth; its ultimate goal is to see a day where healthy and treatable dogs are no longer killed by their most trusted friends, simply because they do not have a home.
As of the writing of this piece, 20,586 dogs have been saved with the www.DogsInDanger.com lifeline.
