The Washington Post makes my blog yet again, this time for their coverage of the toll on animal-loving humans caused by the epidemic of unwanted animals. There's an interesting phrase I first heard in this article, but I've seen it in many activists and people who make compassionate choices: "Compassion fatigue."
...many shelter workers adore animals but must bear the emotional brunt of animal overpopulation while putting up with a public that often derides their work and treats animals callously. The job can be so traumatic, shelter directors and psychologists say, that workers are often afflicted with nightmares, depression, suicidal thoughts and fears of going to hell.The problem is immense:
battling animal overpopulation is a Sisyphean quest. The Humane Society of the United States estimates that shelters euthanize 3 million to 4 million animals each year.We all can do our part by making sure everyone we know adopts animals instead of buying them, and that their animals are spayed or neutered. Sometimes it's only a matter of giving them an article like this to change their intentions.
Even at places that contribute a fraction to the toll, such as the Loudoun shelter, the work can be heartbreaking, workers say. The shelter euthanized 1,360 dogs and cats in the most recent fiscal year, about 47 percent of all the dogs and cats it took in.
