As a locum vet nurse, I love my job… mostly. But there are days when you can’t wait to leave, drive home emotionally choked and in tears, and can’t wait to hug and fuss your own rescue animals when you get home, often saying to them things like “you’re one of the lucky ones”.
Today was one of those days. It started with routine ops, all normal, until you see a vet carrying in two 12-week old kittens in a mesh carrier. I, stupidly, make the clucky “ah, cute pies” comments, until I saw the euthatal in his syringes. On asking what was wrong with them, the vet said “nothing, they’re semi-feral. The RSPCA brought them in to be euthanised”. Semi-feral? Normally, they hiss and spit and try to hide, these 2 pictured look petrified, wondering what on earth was happening to them. As they were “semi-feral”, they were in a crush cage; a device which enables a mesh door to pull the kitten towards you into a tiny space, so you can inject the euthatal without the risk of being bitten/scratched. I also HATE crush cages – you can’t cuddle, reassure, or give this tiny animal a last touch of love before a needle is injected. One went quickly, the other clambered over the dying one trying to escape the same fate. It failed, and died feeling scared and panicked and without any form of love. By this point, my eyes were a tap, and I could not in a million years contain my emotion, so when I discovered there were another 2 kittens and their mum waiting for their turn, another nurse took over. Why am I telling you this and sharing their picture? Because this has to stop.
Any person who comes to me and mentions ‘breed lines’ again, I will let rip in no uncertain terms because it’s rubbish breeders spiel to condone their breeding and it earns them quite a few quid (strange, that). Do you really think the cat/dog cares what breed it is? Absolutely not. Especially when the majority of dogs are never used for the purpose they were bred, and many of them, both cats and dogs, have more health issues (another thing we see so much in the vets) because breeders actually aim to produce these poor specimens.
The same goes for the fools who buy cross-breed dogs like Ladradoodles and cockpoos, they are cross-breeds, no more, and these idiots who choose to pay a substantial amount of money and call them designer dogs are completely thick. You’re feeding the business of breeding for money, and you may as well be the ones injecting the millions of animals who die because of these money-making breeders, be it legitimate breeding or other.
I work in one vets out of thousands in the UK, then there’s the rescues who destroy healthy animals (many more than the vets ever see) every day, and we are just one country seeing the crisis of irresponsible owners and over-breeding. It is soul destroying, and the breeder who wants to ignore this or try and justify their actions, or the person who chooses to buy an animal out of sorrow or choice, come with me to work and watch/help as these animals lose their lives.
The focus has got to be educating people and children, and making them all too aware (no, not a nice sight) how many animals are dying (yes, even the cute kittens and puppies are dying people). The national rescues/local authorities need to setup a neutering campaign, even if it’s initially castrating male animals for free or a minimal amount, which starts to deal with the route of the problem. Breeding needs to be policed more thoroughly (Kennel Club/Governing Council of the Cat Fancy/local authorities etc) but then we forget they make money out of breeding, too.
PLEASE stop buying animals… even the ones advertised for a tenner because when you’ve seen the sickly, poor-bred thing and you feel sorry for it, and all you’ve done is fuelled them to breed more. If they can’t sell them, they’ll stop doing it. I am now going to have a coffee and attempt to eat something, because I’ve had a good cry, the sick feeling has eventually started to pass, and I know I have to deal with this. Please share this with whoever you like – no, it’s not a nice picture, but it has to be seen so people realise the extent of the problem – and by God, if any one wants to argue the pro’s of breeding and buying, bring it on, I’m totally ready…
