Sad story

[FUCK THE POLICE]

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. I'm not all to blame, if the law would mandate spay and neuter, lots of these dogs and cats wouldn't 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. There tails are wagging, and some don't even go for the food, they roll on their backs wanting a scratch on their bellys. 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 worse 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. Why? 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, 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.
​

 

[Thorn]

That is bullshit propaganda from HSUS and PETA, and is emotionally charged but entirely inaccurate.

The problem is with people who take an animal when it's cute, or when they have some self-image that they're trying to satisfy, but make no commitment to the pet as any responsible petowner would do. Those people, who are far more numerous than you'd suspect, have no idea how to treat, train, or live with a pet.

When the animal behaves, well, like an animal, or grows up and is no longer the cute little puppy or kitten, or when the owner moves or goes home at the end of the semester (this happens here a lot), or if it's just inconvenient to keep the animal, you'll find one of several options. We live in the country, and find many animals simply abandoned at the roadside. I've taken in countless dogs and cats, paid for their shots after ensuring that they're abandoned and not lost, and taken them to a local reputable no-kill shelter for adoption. Some will take them to a shelter, even to the local animal control place where they'll be euthanized if they're not adopted within a few days. Some take them to the local chapter of the Humane Society to be adopted out. I used to volunteer with them; they have a network of foster homes, constantly shrinking and expanding then shrinking again. Some simply move and leave the animal behind, in the house or tied up in the back yard. There are times when I really hate people!

We need stricter controls on who adopts a pet, and on the responsibilities of pet ownership. It's a commitment for life, and no pet deserves less.

While we're at it, please be aware that the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) does NOT contribute to the local Humane Society chapters, and in fact all their appeals for money to help animals in fact are bogus. The money they collect in response to their emotional appeals featuring sad-eyed dogs and kittens does nothing of the sort: their funds go to political uses only, including making more ads like those you see. They do nothing at all to fund rescue, maintenance, medical treatment, or adoption services. If you want to contribute to help these services, give to your local chapter, not to the national organization.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

That is bullshit propaganda from HSUS and PETA, and is emotionally charged but entirely inaccurate.

PETA operates slaughterhouses on the same scale.

There should be a fine for not neutering your pet without a breeders license, and the use of carbon dioxide in suffocating animals should be banned. They should be required by law to use lethal injection.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

And PETA and the local Humane Society both operate kill shelters. PETA's are particularly bad, and they're actually critical of the no-kill shelter movement. I tend to agree; it's not possible to keep all strays alive. But the use of non-humane methods of killing should be banned.

 

[leaningright]

I adopted a Blue Healer cross back in January. It took quite a bit of effort to adopt Blue. He's a great dog who now has a good home. I felt like I really had to jump through a lot of hoops to make the adoption go through. They needed my pet's history and photos of my yard and house which was fine. Then they wanted my veterinary records opened up to them which I thought was a bit strange but OK. The thing that held up the adoption for 3 weeks was that I have a beagle that isn't neutered. That was the hang up. They finally relented and we were allowed to take Blue home with us. Great dog.

 

[Thorn]

I adopted a Blue Healer cross back in January. It took quite a bit of effort to adopt Blue. He's a great dog who now has a good home. I felt like I really had to jump through a lot of hoops to make the adoption go through. They needed my pet's history and photos of my yard and house which was fine. Then they wanted my veterinary records opened up to them which I thought was a bit strange but OK. The thing that held up the adoption for 3 weeks was that I have a beagle that isn't neutered. That was the hang up. They finally relented and we were allowed to take Blue home with us. Great dog.

Good for you! One local shelter here actually does home visits before adoptions are approved. Both my dogs came from AKC-approved breeders, and the hoops we had to jump through were impressive. They also follow through at least annually for the entire life of the dog, and will take the dog back, no questions asked, if something happens where the owner can't keep it. That almost never happens, but it's a great comfort to know if for instance we died in an accident our dogs would have a responsible and loving place to go. I'm glad to see breeders and rescue organizations go to such trouble to ensure that the pet will be well cared for and valued.

Blue heelers are great dogs, and extremely smart, if a little stubborn at times. A friend of mine here does Heeler rescue, so I've met a few.

Somewhere, I think it's on the Doctor Foster and Smith's website, there's a "Pet's Bill of Rights" that I'd printed out. I'll see if I can find it again.

 

[Thorn]

PETA operates slaughterhouses on the same scale.

There should be a fine for not neutering your pet without a breeders license, and the use of carbon dioxide in suffocating animals should be banned. They should be required by law to use lethal injection.

That's part of the propaganda that seems to make sense on the surface, but there are other issues involved. I have a lot of the missives from the Responsible Pet Owners of America news bulletins; will see if I can find those that pertain to that particular matter.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

That's part of the propaganda that seems to make sense on the surface, but there are other issues involved. I have a lot of the missives from the Responsible Pet Owners of America news bulletins; will see if I can find those that pertain to that particular matter.

Are there perverse incentives I'm not taking into account?

 

[Thorn]

Are there perverse incentives I'm not taking into account?

Yes, actually fallout that wasn't taken into account. The proposal has an intuitive appeal until you start to consider the resources that would be required to implement and enforce such a policy. In practice, what appears in theory to be desirable is not. Better to spend some time (and a small amount of funds) to educate the public on the wisdom and benefits of voluntary spay and neuter, and to convince people that the dog won't be "sad" or "know what he's missing". No kidding, people have actually asked me these things. I try to keep the astonishment out of my face.

I have special pet-friendly licence plates on my vehicle. They're available in Texas and the difference in cost between the standard plate and these goes to subsidize spay and neutering for people who can't afford the full fees for their pets. This helps, but doesn't reach everyone. Also, not everyone seems to know that subsidies are available for them. The mandatory spay/neuter requirement in these proposed bills would make it such a hardship for many low income families, who otherwise would make excellent pet owners, that they wouldn't be able to afford to have a dog or cat. Moreover, a lot of people bristle, justifiably in my view, at the notion of this being a mandatory requirement. It's much better if this is their idea and they get some help if they need it, hence the education prospect.

A mandatory spay and neuter requirement in some municipalities (wasn't able to track it down today; my internet went out temporarily) has resulted in huge increases in pets turned over to animal control, as many people simply couldn't afford to be in compliance.

It is the agenda of most of the organizations pushing for this (HSUS and PETA to name two) to have no dogs or cats born in the future, so that nobody will have any pets.

Every bill proposed concerning pet regulation seems to have hidden teeth, and they all seem to belong to these misguided organizations.

I'll do what I can to dig this stuff out. Until then, see what you can find on a website for Responsible Pet Owners of America (RPOA). Our club has a membership, and they really do seem to dig into the truth of things, and have a very sane and responsible agenda.

 

[Mott the Hoople]

That is bullshit propaganda from HSUS and PETA, and is emotionally charged but entirely inaccurate.

I figured that out when they said "I'm the one that pulls their dead corpses out smelling of Carbon Monoxide and throws them into green plastic bags. "

Carbon monoxide is an odorless gas.

 

[Mott the Hoople]

PETA operates slaughterhouses on the same scale.

There should be a fine for not neutering your pet without a breeders license, and the use of carbon dioxide in suffocating animals should be banned. They should be required by law to use lethal injection.

Oh that's just plain fucking stupid. You have no more idea then the man on the moon if CO, lethal injection or a well placed shot by a high caliber .22 to the base of the skull is any more humane then the other. Dead is dead.

I'd wager that there's good evidence that CO gas is possibly more humane the lethal injection.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

Oh that's just plain fucking stupid. You have no more idea then the man on the moon if CO, lethal injection or a well placed shot by a high caliber .22 to the base of the skull is any more humane then the other. Dead is dead.

Then let's put you through a meat grinder. After all, dead is dead.

 

[Mott the Hoople]

Then let's put you through a meat grinder. After all, dead is dead.

Would it be any more humane then dropping me into a tank of acid?