Question:
http://www.animalrights.net/articles/1999/000030.html On this misleadingly named website, I saw proof that the so-called "Humane" Society is not: they support animal experimentation.
So PLEASE reconsider ever leaving an animal there for potential adoption. They will most likely be "adopted" by a science lab, where they will be tortured.
I have also heard stories of animal carcasses being obtained from Humane Societies for use in pet food & human beauty products, notably soap.
I hope someone can prove me wrong, I don't know all the facts on this, but this above info is stuff I keep hearing & it is very upsetting.


Answer:
Neuro, if it weren't for the Humane Society, there would be millions of animals being beaten, starved, and abandoned onto the streets. I don't know how many pets are adopted from Humane Societies each year but if it weren't for this organization, these animals would never have a second chance at life. I have worked at a Humane Society and know several others who do and the ones that I know of have strict adoption procedures. I think that maybe you should stick with facts before you start advising people to reconsider leaving animals there.


Answer:
I agree with Candice. My first question about this article is who is the organization that wrote it? At first glance, the website does not look like a credible source at all. Also noticed the article was in their 1999 collection. that's a bit old by internet standards. who's to say facts have not been refuted since then?
I'm not going to get into the debate any further. Just wanted to point out a few things that would make me think twice before basing an argument on it. Not saying it might not turn out to be true but I would definitley do more research.


Answer:
Yes, the humane society here in Toronto is also pretty involved in who they are adopting to. You may have just stumbled onto a propoganda site, which are always bad. Be sure not to believe everything you read on sites about controversial things, especially any sites by the PETA and the like. People who are genuinely interested in animal rights do more than gossip about it, they do things that matter.
People who give their time up to actually help in some way, rather than just talk and spread 'news'.


Answer:
I am not telling everyone what to do, although I do think that individuals should try to find homes for animals themselves before dropping them off @ shelters.
A coworker of mine took an abandoned kitten to the Burnside Humane Society here in NS. I went back the next day & couldn't get a straight answer about what had happened to the kitten,but he was no longer @ the shelter.
The kitten had mysteriously disappreared in less than 24 hours. He had not been adopted I was told.
The Ottawa Humane Society put out this document about seemingly every pet issue BESIDES experimentation: http://www.ottawahumane.ca/positionstatements.pdf
I think that is a serious omission.


Answer:
I don't see why Humane Societies should have to take a stance on animal testing...it doesn't involve them. I think that the HSUS is taking a realistic stance on animal testing. It is not going away anytime soon and it has advanced our knowledge.
Humane Societies such as the one in NS are not operating in the best interest of the animal, however, that doesn't mean that all HS are like that. If I couldn't find a home for my pet, I wouldn't have any reservations about taking it back to where I used to work.


Answer:
When you take you animal into the SPCA and the humane society you sign a form that says you agree to give them full custody of your animal, and that from then on the animal is no longer yours. Trust me, i've even tearfully read over and signed such a form once myself when I found myself out of home and having no place to keep my little ferrets. They specified on the form that I signed that I could not come back and reclaim my animals, and that they were now absolutely not mine anymore. So seeing as they a) Get so many animals per day, and b) had no obligation to tell this person how his "contribution" was doing, I don't see any fault laying on their heads.
Just yesterday I went in to drop off some cat and dog toys, and I saw THREE people with animals to leave behind. Two lost, one who could no longer receive proper care.
And maybe it's not omission, maybe it just isn't as present in shelters as you'd like to think it is because of that article you read.


Answer:
http://www.hsus.org/ace/Article_Prin...ntent_ID=15049
This US Humane Society document states essentially that they want to make life better for lab animals, but they still see a value in vivisection.
They do not take a stance against it, & say nothing of whether the animals left in their care end up in labs.
I agree that the Humane Society does some valuable work, esp. spay/neuter programmes & adoptions, but I am very upset by the pro-experimentation position & failure to account for their own involvement/non-involvment in the process of supplying vivisectors w/ pets to torture.
My sisters left my cats (5 of them) @ the Toronto Humane Society in May 2000, & they were gone within a week. Adopted? The woman on the phone wouldn't tell me. She just said they were no longer there, while confirming that they were brought in.


Answer:
Originally Posted by neuroleptical
The Ottawa Humane Society put out this document about seemingly every pet issue BESIDES experimentation: http://www.ottawahumane.ca/positionstatements.pdf
I think that is a serious omission.
Maybe suzoo can shed some light (or not) on this one since she is an employee of the Ottawa humane society after all.


Answer:
You have a very "if you're not with us you're against us" stance on things. As was stated before the humane society doesn't have a stance on the subject, because it's not what they're there for. They're not here to be activists, they're here to do exactly what they do. Find animals homes. And no, they don't just give animals who have been in their cages too long away to labs, so before you put your foot in your mouth i'd stop assuming things out loud. What they do with animals that have been in the shelter too long is they push to get them adopted by advertising that the animal has been there the longest, and needs a home just as much as the cute kittens and puppies do.