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Friday, November 19, 2010

Tragedy At Arizona Dog Shelter

Even though this story is terribly tragic, it's worth bucking up and reading the full article. It made the front page of today's New York Times, and I'm sure it's already made the rounds on the Internet.

You might recall that earlier this year, Parental Unit shared a Times story that featured the hero military dogs from Afghanistan that were able to return to the U.S. with the soldiers they had bonded with in war. Please revisit that post here: boccibeefs.blogspot.com/2010/09/four-legged-heroes-from-afghanistan.html

Well, there's a tragic end to one of those hero dog's story. Her name is Target, and she was happily living with one of the soldiers who had witnessed her bravery (Target unnerved a suicide bomber and saved the lives of 50 soldiers). That soldier, Sgt. Terry Young, is an army medic and helped treat several of the dogs and soldiers who were wounded in that aborted attack. Target received a hero's welcome when she finally was transported to the U.S., and even appeared on the Oprah show.

Late last week, Target somehow escaped from her yard, but Sgt.Young managed to track her down at the local shelter. He paid the retrieval fee online, but mistakenly thought the shelter was closed for the weekend. When he arrived at the shelter on Monday, he received the horrifying news: just that morning a shelter worker had  mistakenly euthanized his beloved Target.
Read the full article here: www.nytimes.com/2010/11/19/us/19dog.html?_r=1&ref=us

Now, we all know that this was a terrible mistake, but the real issue we must focus on is the millions of dogs and cats that are needlessly euthanized each year. Do allow us to get on our soapbox for a moment: we must band together to support spay and neuter campaigns,  stop "shopping" for our pets at pet stores and with breeders that we can't verify as reputable online (this will help dry up the puppy mill market), support as many shelter and rescue adoption campaigns that we possibly can, and finally, lend our singular support to no-kill rescues and shelters.

Apparently, Target has her own Facebook page, originally set up to chronicle her new life in the U.S., but Parental Unit is having trouble locating the link-we'll pass it on to you all as soon as we locate it. Her Facebook page is now being used to help rally support for the "no-kill" movement. If any of you know the link to Target's Facebook page, please pass it on to us!

As always, thanks for your support!

10 comments:

Molly the Airedale said...

We saw this story on the news last night. It had mom in tears and running for tissues. It's just horrible!

Love ya lots
Maggie and Mitch

Kristine said...

The more I hear this story, the sadder I feel. Is this really the state of shelters on this continent? If so we have a lot of work to do. The only positive spin I can think of is that hopefully Target's death will spread awareness of this issue and bring in more resources to the obviously resource-less shelters.

The Daily Pip said...

I read this story earlier this week and am heartbroken and very angry that this happened. This dog survived a war zone, saved many lives, made it to the United States, found a loving home -- only to be killed by mistake in a U.S. shelter. It is just outrageous!

Your pal, Pip

♥I am Holly♥ said...

When I heard about this story, I was heartbroken. It is beyond me how this dog survived in a war zone, saved lives there, came to the U.S. and ends up being killed by a worker at a shelter. It is totally irresponsible and outrageous. When I read that the county where the shelter was located said they wouldn't charge the family a recovery fee, I almost screamed. I hope and pray that something is done to this shelter, to all shelters that operate like this and I know there are way too many. My heart and prayers go out to the family of the hero dog. This never should have happened. Debbie

Kirby, CGC said...

I also heard this on the news last night! I couldn't believe that this happened to this dog. The thing is, and I think it's true at all "kill shelters" that strays are held for 7 days and shelters have to make an attempt to see if the dog has ID or is chipped. Then the owner is usually given 5 days. Then the dog, if adoptable, is put up for adoption. This is the procedure for the humane society I volunteer at. It sounds like an awful mistake that cost this wonderful dog his life! I hope that one day the humane society I volunteer at will be a no-kill shelter, but not until people spay/neuter and start adopting pets instead of buying them will this ever happen! Stay on your soapbox!!!!

Kirby's mom

Lorenza said...

We saw Target some days ago for the first time and now we know about what happened.
We are very sad.
Take care
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

Unknown said...

I had read about the tragic of Target a few days ago too and I'm still upset on the mistake that the shelter made. It's ridiculous!!!

A MilShelb Mom said...

Oh no! How horribly awful. :( We are so sad. Today seems to be a day to find out lots of sad news. :(
~Milly and Shelby

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Marg said...

I hadn't heard this story before. That is just horrible. I, too , would have thought that the shelter was closed on the weekends. I also didn't know that they put dogs to sleep on the weekends. I sure will join in anything I can to help reduce this killing in shelters or anywhere else of the animals.
Take care.

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