Meet the Woman Who Left Her Job to Work With Death-Row Dogs

Dogs end up in shelters for all sorts of reasons, and sadly for some of those who struggle to get adopted, due to a lack of resources, they end up on a kill list to be euthanized.

In an effort to help these forgotten dogs, 36-year-old Saharai Salazar quit her job to dedicate her life to rescuing as many misunderstood dogs as possible, working with death-row dogs that have behavioral issues.

"I have been working professionally with canines for 20 years," Salazar told Newsweek, "and I have a bachelors degree in Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology from the University of California.

"Shortly thereafter, I found myself working at the Napa County Animal Shelter as a kennel attendant," Salazar said. "While I primarily worked with private behavioral clients at the time, it was there I was able to see first-hand how well some dogs adjust to the shelter environment and more importantly how many dogs do not, and how the lack of resources puts these animals at disproportionate disadvantage.

"Shelter staff are often understaffed with high turnover and thus do not have time for anything other than their official duties," Salazar added.

Each year, 6.3 million pets are surrendered to U.S. shelters, which is an average of 17,260 a day, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The number of dogs and cats taken in by pet shelters hit 46,807 during January 2023, an increase of 1,744 compared with January 2022, the 24Pet 'Shelter Watch Report' found.

Around 920,000 surrendered animals are euthanized every year. Shelters are striving to minimize euthanasia rates by promoting adoption campaigns, spaying and neutering programs, and behavior rehabilitation.

Understandably, dogs with behavioral issues have a tougher time getting adopted than those that require less work, and with a serious problem of overcrowding in American shelters, more dogs are being put on kill list. This overcrowding can be the cause of behavioral problems in dogs itself.

"I contract with municipal animal shelters to offer comprehensive behavioral services, including assessing and working with severe aggression and fear cases, training of staff and volunteers, and support for pet guardians at the public level," said Salazar. "I work with shelter teams to create practical plans for the behavior cases that takes into consideration the limitations faced throughout the industry."

Salazar added that, in some shelters, the dogs spend all day in their small enclosure as overcrowding and understaffing mean there aren't as many available people.

"It was these dogs I saw deteriorating in their kennels often for months. Dogs exhibiting behavioral challenges faced lower prospects for leaving the shelter alive," Salazar said. "This is when I started developing protocols for the euthanasia-listed dogs and staying in the kennels with them or taking them out during lunch periods, even sharing my lunch with them."

When asked about her most-memorable success story, Salazar mentioned Magnolia, a Belgian Malinois whose fear manifested as severe aggression.

"Another trainer had looked at her and recommended behavioral euthanasia. No one in the shelter was able to even enter the kennel to provide the animal basic care like feeding and giving water due to the severity of the aggression. The manager allowed me to see if I could do anything to help her.

"I worked quietly with Magnolia by her kennel, feeding her pieces of chicken nuggets and hot dogs and, by the third 20-minute session, we were out in one of the exercise yards playing ball. Before two weeks, Mags had formed bonds with multiple shelter staff and others," Salazar said.

"I eventually ended up fostering Magnolia myself in an effort to find the right home for her because the shelter was still full and struggling with constant intakes of other dogs. We drove over 800 miles to meet with her potential adopters, and Magnolia (now named Nala) is currently living an amazing life with her loving family and two other active dogs."

Salazar added that there is a lot more that people should be doing to help dogs in need across the U.S.

"It all really comes down to people holding themselves accountable and understanding what it means to own a dog," she said. "This massive influx we are currently seeing in shelters all over the country is not because the dogs are changing or doing something to end up in these horrid situations. It's us as a society."

Salazar added that many of these healthy dogs end up in shelters because their owners were unprepared for the demands of a pup.

"My fiancé works as an Animal Services Officer for a local sheriff's office, and it is not uncommon for him to get calls from citizens that say they are simply tired of the dog. They will even admit that they did not know how much work a puppy would be and that they are not interested in caring the animal anymore," Salazar said.

"So, I could list the things we as a society already know we should be doing, like spay and neuter, and rescue more, but that doesn't address the crux of the issue," Salazar said. "Microchip your dogs and have an emergency plan so your dog doesn't end up in the shelter due to job or home loss. We can make the circumstance temporary if we plan ahead. Always have a budget for emergency medical expenses, and invest in training; there are many resources in our communities ranging from very inexpensive or free to more intensive and costly."

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