A Future Foster Mom’s Story:
After my chemo treatments (had one today) my husband usually brings me to my favorite store to pick something out. Well, today he surprised me at we went to the ACC Manhattan.
As we drove up I was pleasantly surprised that the building was modern and not dilapidated the way I expected it.
It has been driving me crazy to see what had happened to Bundles, and I think I have been driving my husband crazy talking about him.
We walked in to a full lobby. A couple with their child (who adopted Plato), and woman turning in her cat, and a mother and daughter sitting there with a pit bull. There was a check in desk to the left, 3 people, behind 3 computers, phone ringing off the hook. There was a sign that said sign in and adoption upstairs. We walked to two flights of stairs in the clean, bright, well lit staircase to a cheery section that said adoptions. We approached the desk and there was not a worker to be found. We went in to the pit room, big clean cages, windows well lit, not too many pits,(then I remembered it had been a pit massacre day). There was a room of rabbits, full to the top. Who knew? Then there was the small dog room. That is where we found Plato, Rocket (there was a really nice guy going crazy trying to find someone he wanted to adopt Rocket), and that cute little rat terrier. NO BUNDLES?!?!
My husband, myself and the guy go down stairs back to the lobby to find a senior man bringing in four cats. I tell my husband to wait in line to find Bundles, and I went up to the girl who was turning in her cat. She was crying but I said to her, “you know your killing your own cat right?” I explained it was a kill shelter, she said she called several rescues all too full?!? I pulled out my IPAD went to the Urgent Part 2 Page explained to her she get can get her cat out and she has two days to do it and to contact the rescues on the list. She was thankful, going to go on site and try. We will see.
At this point my husband says they found Max? I said we are here for Bundles! The worker (who I must say was kind, patient, and helpful) said lets go figure this out. Not sure they are all like that there but he was. Well now we enter the shelter that I thought I would be in. The gross, dilapidated, rundown, dirty shelter. There were two pit rooms full, in the hallway the were dog cages filled with dogs stacked on each other. Oh and the smell, (mind you I just had chemo so imagine me). We see Max. Who is Bundles with a name change. But I am not convinced because I had the picture and man that did not seem like the same dog. The worker says we have to go back out front one more time to see the computer stats about the dog. As we walk through the dim, rustic hallways the worker (I believe not for show) stops at each cage and talks and pets the dogs.
We go out to the lobby where I now see the mother/daughter combo are now turning in the pit bull!!!!!! I was a in disbelief. I marched right up to her and said do you know this is a HIGH KILL shelter and your dog will be dead by Saturday. They have over 20 pits on the kill list and trust me yours doesn’t stand a chance. The mom starts crying telling me she has a baby at home and she has the another pit at home, which I replied will probably be here next week, and she just can’t keep him. I explained to her that there are plenty of rescues and no kill shelters she could contact. Blah blah she tried to no avail. When the dog was actually taken from here with his tail between his legs trying with all his might not to go through those doors, she starts to whale. I mean cry like you would not believe, the daughter was basically carrying her out and I yelled, well there are other options which you are not to choosing to seek.
Now the worker has come to the conclusion that it is the same dog, Max/Bundles so we go back one more time, he takes him out of the cage, he literally tried to jump in my husband’s arms, kissing and hugging. Needless to say our applications to foster are being filled out tonight (by my husband) and will be sent in tomorrow morning.
It was the hell hole I thought it was. It was sad and smelly with the feel of doom and gloom, all business no heart feel (except the worker who helped us).
I think that lack of money is a HUGE part of why people turn their pets in just as rescues can not afford to take new pets in. Personally you would have to have taken my last breath from me to get my fur family out of my arms.
I will vow this to you, I will do everything in my power to educate, and promote spay and neutering, and every night continue to try to help save these poor innocent gifts from God.
All in all I am so thankful that I actually got to see the dogs on all the lists, just wish it wasn’t that way.