Read about Mysti and our pound experience below
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Real Animal Rescue & Reader News
CrystalBay's Lovable Pound Pups and Animal Rescue pages received the Dog Pound award. Awards page

Pound Puppies, Inc. sent a letter of apology for the "big misunderstanding" in their previous letter at issue with this page using the words pound puppies in the story about adopting our dogs.

We're now shelving the pound puppies letters in archive and glad we can move on to more important work. Thank you to everyone for your support!!

Animal Research Experiments
A reader writes that many dogs at dog pounds are sold to universities for animal research experiments adding to their sad fate. If you have a posting or comment, please send to info@crystalbay.net

Pound Pup Profile
Mysti
Who is Mysti? A black lab/aussie mix(?) We just know she's very sweet, and mischievous!
Where did she come from? Abandoned at 2 months.

Good Homes Needed
Meet the lovely dogs and cats looking for good homes at the Sacramento Animal Shelter.

Provide a Loving Home for an Animal

Not all animals pictured will still be available for adoption on websites you visit. Time is so short for many of these beautiful animals. Very few government run 'shelters' are no-kill. If you would like to provide a loving home for a cat or dog, please visit your local animal pound or shelter. You can make a difference and be an angel in an animal's life. Find a partial list of shelter here... Find a Shelter. Also check your local phone book for a pound near you!

Shelter Facts
Animal shelter officers often try their best to get animals adopted, but they are often over worked and understaffed.  It's a fact that: 60% or more of pound animals will be euthanized * (killed) because there are not enough homes for them. continue

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Animals at the Shelter and Our Real Pound Puppies' Adventures

The kind people at the local dog pound hesitated to give an exact answer the first few times that my child and I asked how many animals a year they euthanize, only answering, "way too many." They later gave me some statistics which show that, unfortunately, the number in the Sacramento County area alone is in the thousands.

In 1998, of 25,302 incoming live animals (2,963 came in dead), only 4,231 were adopted/redeemed. That leaves over 13,000 animals that were "put to sleep."

The county report shows a breakdown of animals by type, ownership, stray, DOA, euthanized, etc., with 3,607 disposed of by "other" means whatever that means. A 1997 report shows 1,945 animals at the University of California, Davis (UCD) where they are no doubt being used for experimentation and research; the 1998 report shows a high number of animals coded 597.1. If anyone knows what "other' or 597.1 means, please let me know. I'll try to find out from the pound also.

O.K, before I turn you away with these sad statistics, I want to tell you about my experiences with our real, live pound puppies." If you've never adopted from the dog pound or the humane society, you'll find that shelter animals make excellent pets and companions -- though not without some training for them and, especially for the owner.

Mysti, Growlith and Sprocket, Our Lovable Little Pound Pups
Mysti (top) was a two month old pound puppy black lab/aussie mix who was neglected and abandoned by some tenants. I fell in love with her when my son adopted Growlith, a cute little 11 month old schmoozer. A week later we went back to the pound and adopted Mysti.

Growlith looked, and I might add -- smelled, a mess at first as his very poor diet on the streets had led to a somewhat mangy appearance, but his fur quickly grew back and his skin cleared up after decent food and several baths. Mysti was very shy and somewhat distrustful of humans at first. As she had been abandoned in an apartment who knows how she had been treated? With lots of love and attention, she quickly warmed up to her new humans.

Sprocket, adopted from the pound two years ago, is thrilled to have other dogs to play with and he's excellent at helping to teach the new pups the house rules. And, I'm happy to say that we've had no damage to the yard YET or to the house. Yippee! Sprocket, who looks pretty big and bad to some people, could tell you something about damage!

Every day was an adventure in cleaning up his mess in the house, salvaging plants he had dug out, and repairing the fence he had chewed holes into until we learned to train him correctly in obedience classes and by listening to my brother's advice about crate training.

Crate training seemed cruel at first to me as he whined, "you're torturing me, let me out", but he quickly got used to it at night and we had no surprises in the morning. After a little while, he no longer needed to use the crate.

Sprocket also wanted to be top dog, the alpha male, so he tried to keep us in line by nipping us. I got so frustrated and somewhat scared, because he's a powerful 60 pound dog with teeth far bigger than mine, so I almost brought him back to the pound myself. Luckily, we went to obedience training classes instead where I learned to show him in a gentle "wolfing" like way that I am the top dog. He's so lovable and loyal now; I wouldn't give him up for the world.

Besides lovable mutts, you can also find purebreds at the pound in all shapes and sizes, like the beautiful, scared little golden Cocker Spaniel that I saw, the adorable Dalmatians, the cute little Shiatsu's, fluffy Chows and Australian Shepherds, brave Pit Bulls, the little toy Collie, Rottweilers, and so many others. So many of them will pull on your heart strings and would make perfect pets!

I can not get the picture out of my mind of the shaking little Cocker, nor of all the other adorable animals pleading with you with their eyes for affection, tails waving, wanting a nice home and someone to play with. Nor, can I escape the memory of the sickest ones, in the furthest kennel right next to the door marked "euthanasia."

One tiny white dog with wet hair and sad, desperate dark eyes, lay ill shivering violently on the floor. She looked at me as if imploring if I would be her salvation. Next to her, in line to be euthanized, the others did the same. An officer was not far behind with blankets. It broke my heart that I could not help them all, but perhaps by publishing this web page, I can help one more.

Please visit your local animal shelter before purchasing a pet. I know these animals will pull on your heartstrings too and perhaps together we can help them find good homes. And don't forget, the grown dogs make excellent pets too! Many of them are already house trained, and you can teach an old dog new tricks.

-- Susan

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If you are considering getting a dog or cat, why not check out your local pound? Don't support puppy mills! There are lovely and loyal animals at the pound who would love to find a good home!

*according to TEAM - Teaching Everyone Animals Matter

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