Lisa had been iffy about volunteering at the animal shelter, when her mother suggested it. She had never been allowed pets, but Mom said Lisa needed the community service hours, and she had friends there.
Lisa loved it almost immediately. She’d never been around animals much, and she was cautious around them, but she soon learned that respect was the best way to go with even the gentlest of them.
The part she hated, though, was when the time came when an animal had stayed too long unclaimed. She wished she could adopt all of them, those pitiful creatures who went to death merely for being unloved. She saw one dog claimed just two hours before his alotted time was up, and she thought it was the most wonderful thing she had ever seen happen. She understood euthanasia for old animals, animals who were suffering and deserved release, but it seemed cruel to her to kill healthy animals.
Why offer shelter if you were only willing to give it for a certain amount of time, before killing the refugee?