06/24/2025
ā¼ļøšØSome photos may be upsetting. Post contains photos and talk of animal cruelty and abandonmentšØā¼ļø
This is not kindness. This is cruelty.
In the last 24 hours, two people walked up to our shelter, read the very clear sign that says ā Animal abandonment is illegal. Do not do it. ā and they did it anyway.
The first left behind a box of kittens ā alive, thankfully.
The second left behind a milk crate containing a single kitten that was either already dead or mere breaths away from death. She had passed before staff arrived.
Then the man got into his Tesla and drove away.
You couldnāt have sat with her? Held her? Given her comfort? Taken her to a vet? Buried her? You brought her here ā a place unfamiliar, unmanned at the time, closed ā and left her to die alone. Thatās not compassion. Thatās not even decency. Thatās cowardice.
To the woman who read the sign and abandoned animals anyway: you are no better. You took up space and resources meant for animals whose guardians followed the process. When you abandon animals here, youāre stealing ā stealing food, stealing care, stealing safety ā from pets already here and those we work every day to save.
We know this is a hard field. We chose it ā but we chose it for the animals. Not to clean up after the irresponsibility of people who refuse to spay or neuter, who breed ājust onceā for fun, who āfindā babies but donāt try to catch the mom, or who want credit for ārescuingā without actually doing the work rescue takes.
If you took in a pet and didnāt spay her, and now she has babies you canāt care for ā thatās not love.
If you found a litter but didnāt bother to trap the mother or bottle feed the babies beyond a night ā thatās not rescue.
If your version of āhelpā is driving to a no-kill shelter in the middle of the night and dumping a box out front ā that is not kindness.
We are not a dumpster for your guilt.
We are a no-kill shelter doing the best we can with the resources we have. We donāt have a vet on staff. We donāt offer cremation. When you dump a dead or dying animal here, youāre not giving them a chance. Youāre giving them fear. Youāre giving them loneliness. And youāre robbing them of dignity in their final moments.
And weāre tired.
Weāre tired for the animals ā the ones who keep paying the price for human irresponsibility.
Weāre tired of getting hundreds of emails a day from various animal control facilities begging us to take in pets before theyāre euthanized ā because, like us, they canāt keep up.
Weāre tired of people breaking adoption contracts within days because āthe pet didnāt adjust fast enough.ā āThe puppy isnāt cute anymore.ā āI didnāt believe you when you said I would have to train it.ā
Yes, pets are hard.
They are also a commitment. They are family.
And this constant flow of avoidable heartbreak ā this cycle of human negligence and innocent suffering ā has to stop.
Do better. Be better. Or at the very least ā donāt make your lack of compassion someone elseās burden.
ā The Team at the Humane Society of Southeast Texas
