Dogs in Danger.com

February 11, 2008

DogsinDanger.com is a new non-profit organization devoted to saving the millions of dogs who are running out of time in local shelters all across the country. No one group, or single approach can stem this tide of killing abandoned dogs. But this is certainly a step in the right direction.

James Serpell, author of the excellent book In the Company of Animals estimates that we euthanize less than 5% of the US canine population each year. So while the percentage is small, the absolute number is still unconscionably high.

The truth is we are doing better today than we were in the 1970s and 1980s when the estimates were around 13 million dogs killed a year. But we must drive this number down further. Dogsindanger.com is one way to do that. Check them out if you are interested in adopting a dog and saving a life.

–from their website:

WHO ARE WE
DogsInDanger.com is a nonprofit national shelter outreach program at the forefront of a grassroots movement trying to help shelters save the lives of millions of innocent dogs.

A NATIONAL TRAGEDY
We are a nation of dog lovers. Then why is it that the shelters that are expected to provide these animals with a second chance at life are instead being forced to euthanize them?

Shelters are the last line for millions of innocent dogs. The public has no idea of the magnitude of this national tragedy. The sad reality is that over four million dogs are killed each year in shelters. Why, in a country of dog lovers, are so many dogs homeless?

Because their families abandon them, for reasons like job change, divorce and new baby… and most shelters don’t have the necessary programs to get the dogs the exposure they need to find new homes. Shelters find homes for many dogs, but millions are euthanized. For far too long we have been told there is no other way.

AND A REASON FOR HOPE
DogsInDanger.com believes in the power of compassion, and that Americans would do more to help and adopt shelter dogs, if only they knew how many dogs shelters were forced to euthanize. We also believe that shelters don’t really want to euthanize dogs, if they had any other option. Simply put, we have chosen a path of technology as a means of connecting these scared, abandoned shelter dogs with the loving homes they deserve. As a nonprofit organization, we seek no other gain except for the happiness we see in the face of a dog as he faithfully walks out through the shelter doors, in perfect step with his loving new family.

It may be uncomfortable for some to see lists of names and photos of dogs scheduled to be euthanized, but, the truth is uncomfortable. By making it personal, we believe more people will be compelled to help these dogs. Thus dogsindanger.com refuses to present a sanitized version of the truth. Our ultimate goal is to see a day where healthy and treatable animals are no longer killed by their most trusted friends.


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