When I first started volunteering at an animal shelter there was only a small selection of dogs I could work with because I wasn't trained to work with the dogs with behavior issues. Also, the dogs I could work with a lot of times had roommates, and since I volunteered first shift there was never anyone to help me separate dogs (which I wasn't trained to do either.)

I had run out of dogs to work one morning and asked a staff member if there was anything I could do to help. She told me to go sit with these two dogs in their kennel (I'm not posting their names because we have specific social media policies). I asked her if I was breaking the rules; she told me this was a special case (without saying anything else) and pointed me in their direction.

Two little chihuahua puppies, only six months old. They had absolutely no fur, and they were covered in scabs. I thought it was the worst case of mange I had ever seen. I sat in there with them and all they wanted was attention and for someone to scratch their scabs. I had to keep them wrapped in blankets because they were cold and it kept them from scratching. They would not stop scratching. They groomed me the entire 30 minutes I spent with them, because all they had ever known was being itchy and they figured I was itchy too.

When I left I asked the staff member if it was mange or maybe just really horrible allergies. She told me that their owner was "a druggie" but I think she meant that he made drugs. She implied that he had caused their skin condition because of the chemicals they had been exposed to.

I visited them every shift for a month, I even tried bringing them outside once. All they would do was try to scratch themselves on the pavement. They were so affectionate despite what had happened to them, but I remember thinking what kind of long lasting mental affects this scratching mania would cause.

One week they weren't there. I figured they went to foster, they needed almost constant supervision to keep from scratching.

I asked the volunteer manager about a month later when I met him for the first time. He pulled me aside, told me they had caught an awful infection from their sores, and were put to sleep.

Still the worst thing I have ever seen after two years of volunteering.

Sorry for the long post. I was 15 when this happened and it obviously affected me greatly. I keep this photo on my phone for all the fuckfaces who ask me why I work with animals instead of people. Fuck them, and fuck the people who do this to their pets.