The truth is I love animals; I have since I was a young boy. I was approached by a non-profit APET because they were desperate for someone not only with my canine training skills but also operations and technical experience. One-hundred people applied and I was the last one holding a rose. A lot was discussed in the interview, and yet so much was swept under the rug. It’s a pretty daunting experience to be told by the board of directors that none of them knew how to train me in my new position, but as adventurous as I am I viewed it as one of my greatest challenges, one I was ready for with the force and tenacity of the toughest junkyard dog. What was to come, not even Carnac could have predicted.

The thing I was most mortified by was that in my third week a kitten came into the shelter and tested positive for Feline AIDS and I was pressured by my boss and other volunteers that my only means of resolution was to euthanize the cat. It broke my heart. I was told this was business as usual, and we were a “selective-kill” shelter. In my experience, APET was the “no kill” shelter, so I was not emotionally prepared. This was one of many incidents that let to my resignation.

I needed to be able to live with my choices, and I did not sign up to send kittens to the camps. I tried very hard to work within the system, but was only mocked for my inabilities by a board member, even though I had not been formally trained. I write this only to bring to light the true reality of APET.

Ryan Benicky