WE MUST STOP THE GASSING!

From an Animal Control Officer who Gasses Dogs

Yes, I gas dogs and cats for a living.

I'm an Animal Control officer in a very small town in central North Carolina.

I'm in my mid thirties, and have been working for the town in different positions since high school.

There is not much work here, and working for the county provides good pay and benefits for a person like me without a higher education.

I'm the person you all write about how horrible I am.

I'm the one that gasses the dogs and cats and makes them suffer.

I'm the one that pulls their dead corpses out smelling of carbon monoxide and throws them into green plastic bags.

But I'm also the one that hates my job and hates what I have to do.

First off, all you people out there that judge me, don't.  God is judging me, and I know I'm going to Hell.  Yes, I'm going to hell. I wont lie.  It's despicable, cold, cruel and I feel like a serial killer. But I'm not all to blame.  If the law would mandate spay and neuter, lots of these dogs and cats wouldn't even be here for me to gas.  I'm the devil, I know it, but I want you people to see that there is another side to me the devil Gas Chamber man.

The shelter usually gasses on Friday morning.

Friday's are the day that most people look forward to, this is the day that I hate, and wish that time will stand still on Thursday night. Thursday night, late, after nobody's around, my friend and I go through a fast food line, and buy 50 dollars worth of cheeseburgers and fries, and chicken. I'm not allowed to feed the dogs on Thursday, for I'm told that they will make a mess in the gas chamber, and why waste the food.

So, Thursday night, with the lights still closed, I go into the saddest room that anyone can every imagine, and let all the doomed dogs out out their cages.

I have never been bit, and in all my years doing this, the dogs have never fought over the food. My buddy and I open each wrapper of cheeseburger and chicken sandwich, and feed them to the skinny, starving dogs.

They swallow the food so fast, that I don't believe they even taste it. Their tails are wagging, and some don't even go for the food, they roll on their backs wanting a scratch on their belly. They start running, jumping and kissing me and my buddy. They go back to their food, and come back to us. All their eyes are on us with such trust and hope, and their tails wag so fast, that I have come out with black and blues on my thighs. They devour the food, then it's time for them to devour some love and peace. My buddy and I sit down on the dirty, pee stained concrete floor, and we let the dogs jump on us. They lick us, they put their butts in the air to play, and they play with each other. Some lick each other, but most are glued on me and my buddy.

I look into the eyes of each dog. I give each dog a name.

They will not die without a name.

I give each dog 5 minutes of unconditional love and touch.

I talk to them, and tell them that I'm so sorry that tomorrow they will die a gruesome, long, torturous death at the hands of me in the gas chamber.

Some tilt their heads to try to understand.

I tell them, that they will be in a better place, and I beg them not to hate me.

I tell them that I know I'm going to hell, but they will all be playing with all the dogs and cats in heaven.

After about 30 minutes, I take each dog individually, into their feces filled concrete jail cell, and pet them and scratch them under their chins. Some give me their paw, and I just want to die. I just want to die. I close the jail cell on each dog, and ask them to forgive me. As my buddy and I are walking out, we watch as every dog is smiling at us and them don't even move their heads. They will sleep, with a full belly, and a false sense of security.

As we walk out of the doomed dog room, my buddy and I go to the cat room.

We take our box, and put the very friendly kittens and pregnant cats in our box.
The shelter doesn't keep tabs on the cats like they do the dogs.

As I hand pick which cats are going to make it out, I feel like I'm playing God, deciding whose going to live and die.

We take the cats into my truck, and put them on blankets in the back.

Usually, as soon as we start to drive away, there are purring cats sitting on our necks or rubbing against us.

My buddy and I take our one-way two hour trip to a county that is very wealthy and they use injection to kill animals.

We go to exclusive neighborhoods, and let one or two cats out at a time.

They don't want to run, they want to stay with us. We shoo them away, which makes me feel sad.

I tell them that these rich people will adopt them, and if worse comes to worst and they do get put down, they will be put down with a painless needle being cradled by a loving veterinarian. After the last cat is free, we drive back to our town.

It's about 5 in the morning now, about two hours until I have to gas my best friends.

I go home, take a shower, take my 4 anti-anxiety pills and drive to work... I don't eat, I can't eat. It's now time to put these animals in the gas chamber.  I put my ear plugs in, and when I go to the collect the dogs, the dogs are so excited to see me, that they jump up to kiss me and think they are going to play.

I put them in the rolling cage and take them to the gas chamber. They know. They just know. They can smell the death....They can smell the fear. They start whimpering the second I put them in the box. The boss tells me to squeeze in as many as I can to save on gas. He watches. He knows I hate him, he knows I hate my job. I do as I'm told. He watches until all the dogs, and cats (thrown in together) are fighting and screaming. The sounds is very muffled to me because of my ear plugs. He walks out, I turn the gas on, and walk out.

I walk out as fast as I can. I walk into the bathroom, and I take a pin and draw blood from my hand. The pain and blood takes my brain off of what I just did.

In 40 minutes, I have to go back and unload the dead animals. I pray that none survived, which happens when I overstuff the chamber. I pull them out with thick gloves, and the smell of carbon monoxide makes me sick. So does the vomit and blood, and all the bowel movements. I pull them out and put them in plastic bags.

They are in heaven now, I tell myself.

I then start cleaning up the mess, the mess, that YOU PEOPLE are creating by not spay or neutering your animals. The mess that YOU PEOPLE are creating by not demanding that a vet come in and do this humanely.

You ARE THE TAXPAYERS, DEMAND that this practice STOP!

So, don't call me the monster, the devil, the gasser, call the politicians, the shelter directors, and the county people the devil. Heck, call the governor, tell him to make it stop.

As usual, I will take sleeping pills tonight to drown out the screams I heard in the past, before I discovered the ear plugs. I will jump and twitch in my sleep, and I believe I'm starting to hallucinate.

This is my life. Don't judge me. Believe me, I judge myself enough.

I do not know who wrote this.

Someone sent it to me in an email and it haunts me.

                     My hope in reprinting it here is that everyone who reads it, will remember it always.

         Lets all work relentlessly to get the laws changed in this country to give homeless animals a HUMANE DEATH

     if they must be euthanized. 


We owe them at least that much


 

 Better yet, SPAY AND NEUTER!!!! It WORKS! Let's be a NO KILL NATION!

IVY and TUCK...Safely Delivered to Rescues

This is Tuck, a blind albino 2 year old  doberman who was saved from a kill shelter in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. A wonderful woman in Pennsylvania is taking him in because she has experience with blind dogs and will train him and love him until he finds his perfect forever home.  I was so surprised at  how thin Tuck was. 

Since it was such a COLD day, another driver had stopped and bought him a T Shirt to keep  him warm along the way. He came with his own sleeping bag for the car and cuddled up in it for most of our time together. My husband drove so I got to sit in the back  and snuggle with him.  

Tuck is well on his way now to a happy future.

Thanks to all the people involved in Tuck's rescue and transport.

Also, this past weekend I went along with my friend Belinda to transport a beautiful Anatolian Shepherd named Ivy.

 She found herself on death row in a dog pound in Mississippi and was so lucky to have been rescued by the National Anatolian Rescue Network based in Queen Creek, AZ. We met with her previous driver in LaGrange, Ky and she just climbed into the back seat and went to sleep. It could not have been an easier transport. She was very relaxed. That always surprises me about how well these dogs adjust to new people, new cars, with usually very few problems. They seem to know we are there to save them.

Ivy was thin at 80 pounds and reminded me a little of a Great Dane. I do not remember ever driving another Anatolian Shepherd over the past seven years of transporting dogs. They are wonderful dogs, and right now there is one at the Pike County Ohio dog pound in VERY rural Waverly, Ohio  in need of a rescuer or a foster home. They do their best to keep the dogs as long as possible but it is a kill shelter. Last December the biggest champion for these dogs passed away suddenly and they need a lot of help to get their dogs to rescues and on a transport. Please check out their website on Petfinder.com and also Adams County Ohio's dog pound. These rural shelters are trying so hard to keep from euthanizing homeless dogs but there is very little they can do. There just are not enough homes, especially in this economy. Spay and neuter programs are the hope for their futures.

 We also need to address the issue of puppy mills out there in that part of Ohio often run by the Amish community, and it goes unseen. They sell their puppies by the side of the road. Please help pass legislation to abolish this practice.

So, Tuck and Ivy say thanks to EVERYONE who helped them along the road to safety and love this winter weekend.

                           "WOOF!"