postmodern merz

okay

“But shrimp!! Kill shelters are evil!!”

No, shut up, listen to me for a second.

“Kill shelter” is a colloquial term used primarily for Town/City (aka municipal) shelters that rely on incredibly limited government grant funding to operate.

These shelters, by the very nature of their existence, DO NOT HAVE the funds to operate like private rescues do.

On top of this, they’re also *legally required* to take in ANY animal that comes to them. Even if they’re full. Or they’ll lose all of their funding.

This is what leads them to needing to euthanize for space. Is euthanizing for space sad? Yes. But due to the current crisis, it’s also NECESSARY.

These shelters are constantly overfull. They’re STRUGGLING. They don’t have the funds to operate properly. And yet these municipal, government funded, struggling shelters are the same ones that are most likely to be providing care for owned animals in the community

Municipal (“kill”) shelters are the ones hosting low cost spay and neuter clinics. They’re the ones discounting vaccination appointments and microchipping. They’re the ones that have pet food banks so struggling pet owners can feed their pets that week.

These shelters are not evil. They’re doing the absolute best they can with the bare minimum funding they get.

These people are incredibly resourceful and care very deeply about the animals in their care. It breaks their heart every time they have to euthanize an animal that couldn’t get adopted.

These underfunded shelters need your money significantly more than that fancy private rescue you see on TikTok or instagram that has a beautiful facility and has never had to euthanize an animal ever.

Support your local shelters and they will give back to the community thousand fold.

oh man there's.....a lot. in general i'm pretty happy to read over a dog bio and tell you if anything jumps out if you send something my way

a few off the top of my head:

Bella wants all the attention to herself! = Bella is dangerous around other animals

Bella wants to be the only pet in her new home = Bella is dangerous around other animals

Bella needs slow introductions = Bella is dangerous around humans

Bella needs an "adult only" home = Bella is dangerous around children

Bella is so wiggly that she might knock over small children = Bella is dangerous around children

Bella has stranger danger = Bella is dangerous to unfamiliar humans

Bella loves her people so much that we're looking for someone who can be home with her most of the day! = Bella has serious (and potentially dangerous/expensive) separation anxiety

Bella is learning to share her toys/treats/food! = Bella is a dangerous resource guarder

Bella needs an experienced owner = not always euphemistic but often means that Bella has significant behavioral issues

Bella comes with FREE lifetime training from our shelter behaviorists! = Bella has significant behavioral issues

Bella needs a "low traffic" home = Bella has significant behavioral issues

Bella doesn't know her own strength = Bella is either wildly out of control/untrained, dangerous, or both

Bella is still learning her manners! = Bella is either wildly out of control/untrained, dangerous, or both

Bella needs more training = Bella is either wildly out of control/untrained, dangerous, or both

Bella can be mouthy = Bella will bite you

this might sound paranoid, but this is a real excerpt from a public "toolkit" on how to market adoptable dogs from a major national organization (Best Friends Animal Society):

Here’s an example of how not to do it: “Joey unfortunately has leash reactivity, which means he behaves offensively toward other dogs when he’s on walks. He can live peaceably with other dogs, as long as they’re submissive.” Here’s a way to emphasize the positives without ignoring the negatives: “Joey is that rare sort of pooch whom a child can climb all over and hug. He’s so gentle and sweet around everyone. Well, except other dogs when he’s out on a walk. He’s not so good with other pooches when he’s on leash.” You can include restrictions, but be gentle and choose your words carefully. For example, instead of saying “Andy must go to a home without children,” which could scare off even a childless couple, put a positive spin on it: “Jo-Jo’s such a goofy bundle of energy that he might be a bit too much for small children.”

"Dangerous around children and other animals" is 100% ok for my partner and I, and we have experience with large/energetic/untrained animals as well. We also have successfully broken resource guarding behavior before. Transparency about this means you can appropriately crate or otherwise separate the dog if needed instead of being surprised, and you can set the boundaries for your home as well.

'Buck doesn't like kids' might make your friend think it's ok to drop by with their toddler as long as their toddler isn't in the dogs face.

A German regional court has ruled that Google is directly liable for false claims in its AI-generated search overviews. In this case, Google's AI had wrongly linked two publishers to scams and shady business practices. The court treated the AI overviews as Google's own content and rejected Google's argument that users were responsible for fact-checking the results themselves.

this is the Phoenix zoo, she's got plenty of outdoor space 👍

A reminder that sell-buy dates or best-used-by dates are not the same as expiration dates.

The website puts a link to the USDA site which links to foodsafety dot gov who really wants you to use the app, but you can bypass it.

Also a link to the Canadian government's advisory on best-before dates.