An Open Letter to That Person on Craig'sList...
(Regarding "rescuing" a dog who's been at the shelter a long time)
I apologize for contacting you regarding your post on Craigslist, but as a volunteer at the Irving Animal Shelter, I thought it prudent to clear up a couple of misconceptions in your ad.
By all means, everyone wants Leslie to be adopted. In fact, there's not an animal at the shelter that we don't want to see go to a good, loving home. But waving the spectre of the euthanasia list is not a good tactic for a number of reasons.
I'm not sure where or how you obtained your copy of the "euthanasia list," but please bear in mind that any such "list" is a tenative, speculative - and very mutable - thing. So long as there is room for an animal in the shelter, the staff will keep taking care of them and looking for adoptors or rescue groups for them. And if more animals can be adopted to good homes than come in, the "list" shrinks accordingly. When someone rushes in to "save" a dog or cat out of fear or a misguided sense of justice, then decides the next week that it's the wrong pet for them... they just bring them back, and it makes the problem worse.
I agree wholeheartedly that Leslie is quite shy and needs a home with a lot of patience and love. Please keep in mind that to the shelter staff, shy most certainly does NOT equate to "kill," though. One of my major tasks - and joys - as a volunteer is working with all of the shy, frightened, and asocial animals, trying to get them comfortable and socialized enough that people will not overlook them as potential companions. It's a difficult, sometimes dangerous, and often heartbreaking task. If anything, shyness flags an animal as needing extra care and effort to get people to give them a chance.
If you feel compelled to emphasize something in a Craigslist post, I'd suggest those four words: GIVE THEM A CHANCE. Encourage people to come in, meet the dogs and cats, get to know them better, and not judge them immediately by color or breed or age or seeming lack of enthusiasm. Yesterday, three people come in to adopt a german shepherd puppy, and not a single one of them would even consider Negra, our beautiful and outgoing black shepherd because she wasn't "brown, like a police-dog." Yes, that is a quote. From all three people. Or the even friendlier rottweiler puppy, because "they're not good dogs." Or any dog with any Pit Bull blood in them. Or any dog or cat over a year old. This isn't the staff being callous or uncaring, mind you; people refuse to even consider these animals most of the time. People don't need to necessarily swoop in and rescue an animal on the euthanasia list; they need to come in, meet the animals, GIVE THEM A CHANCE, and find the dog or cat that will be a good, lifelong companion for them. They need an animal that they'll want to devote time, attention and effort on out of a sense of love instead of guilt. That way, the shelter doesn't get the same animals back again and again, and there's enough room for the "short-list" animals to stay around long enough to find their lifelong friend, too.
Thank you for your efforts - I really mean that. It's an admirable and good thing to try and help homeless animals. It's something that everyone at every animal shelter everywhere is passionate about, as well.