We turn a blind eye to the reality that animal shelters regularly euthanize animals to make room for more. While some are much better than others and refuse to euthanize animals, the Lexington Humane Society for one, there are certain other, much more horrific stories out there, and this next one is very disturbing.
A Canadian "Outdoors Adventures" business which bred, raised and kept hundreds of sled dogs, suffered a serious downturn in business. Feeding and caring for hundreds of sled dogs was an expense the owner could no longer bear. So he had an employee shoot a hundred dogs, in full view of the others.
A veterinarian had been contacted but refused to participate in the cull of healthy animals.
However, because of the large number of dogs, he said he was forced to euthanize the dogs in full view of the other animals. By about the 15th dog, it appeared to him "the dogs were experiencing anxiety and stress from observing the euthanasia of other members of the pack and were panicking."
As a result of the panic, a dog named Suzie was only wounded by the employee.
"Susie was the mother of his family's pet dog 'Bumble.' He had to chase Suzie through the yard because the horrific noise she made when wounded caused him to drop the leash,” the report states. “Although she had the left side of her cheek blown off . . . he was unable to catch her. He then obtained a gun with a scope and used it to shoot her when she settled down close to another group of dogs." [Canada.com]
As disturbing as this report may be, please remember what horrific consequences mankind has witnessed in the past when faced with widespread food shortages and a severely depressed economy.
[W]hen Lenin died in 1924, he was succeeded by Joseph Stalin, one of the most ruthless humans ever to hold power. To Stalin, the burgeoning national revival movement and continuing loss of Soviet influence in the Ukraine was completely unacceptable. To crush the people's free spirit, he began to employ the same methods he had successfully used within the Soviet Union. Thus, beginning in 1929, over 5,000 Ukrainian scholars, scientists, cultural and religious leaders were arrested after being falsely accused of plotting an armed revolt. Those arrested were either shot without a trial or deported to prison camps in remote areas of Russia.
Soviet troops and secret police were rushed in to put down the rebellion. They confronted rowdy farmers by firing warning shots above their heads. In some cases, however, they fired directly at the people.
In Moscow, Stalin responded to their unyielding defiance by dictating a policy that would deliberately cause mass starvation and result in the deaths of millions.
Starvation quickly ensued throughout the Ukraine, with the most vulnerable, children and the elderly, first feeling the effects of malnutrition. The once-smiling young faces of children vanished forever amid the constant pain of hunger. It gnawed away at their bellies, which became grossly swollen, while their arms and legs became like sticks as they slowly starved to death.
While police and Communist Party officials remained quite well fed, desperate Ukrainians ate leaves off bushes and trees, killed dogs, cats, frogs, mice and birds then cooked them. Others, gone mad with hunger, resorted to cannibalism, with parents sometimes even eating their own children. [The History Place]
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