In the two years she's worked at the Humane Society of Gregg County, Noretta Frick has been called a murderer more times than she can count.

PHOTO EDITORIAL 'A Good Death' Reality puts grim face on pet overpopulation.

Humane Society officials said it's no secret that 70 percent of the animals that enter the front door are put down within a couple of weeks. Most are healthy and non-aggressive.

"We have no choice. We can't stack dogs on top of one another. That's inhumane," Frick said.

Euthanasia is the compassionate alternative, Frick and other shelter employees say.

In 2005, 9,750 animals were brought to the shelter either by animal control, pet owners who no longer wanted their animals or people who found strays.

Frick, the center's office manager, said she's fortunate that she doesn't have to administer the lethal injections. She has held the animals as they were drugged and killed, though. It leaves her feeling sick even though she knows it's better for the animals to die humanely than be turned out on the street to starve, be hit by a car or freeze.

Despite the reality that the animals are being killed and her co-workers' dread of working in the euthanasia room, operations manager Klancey Wright enjoys being present for the process.

"I want to be the last person with the animals before they're put down. I like to be the one who's in there so I know that they're being talked to, being loved. So many of them have never had a human touch. They're scared. I like to be the one that calms them down so their last few seconds are peaceful," said Wright, a 1996 Hallsville graduate who has certifications in euthanasia and animal control.

Wright previously worked at the shelter in Canton, where overcrowding was such an issue because of the monthly trades days that all animals not adopted or reclaimed by their owners within 72 hours were euthanized.

In Longview, Wright said euthanasia is the last resort and healthy animals are held for as long as there is space. Many times, several dogs are "buddied up" in kennels to make more room.

Even so, about 25 to 30 animals are euthanized daily.

Loretta Kanniard, 62, has worked at the Humane Society for 20 years. She now works at the front desk, taking care of dozens of incoming animals everyday. For a time, she was a euthanasia technician.

"It was sad, very stressful, especially when you've been around the animals for a while and they have touched your heart," Kanniard said. "You do come to realize, though, that a life like they're living is not a life. Sometimes they're better off."

Shelter employees take their work home with them, sometimes literally.

In her early years at the shelter, Kanniard said she adopted countless cats and dogs to save them from being killed. Three of the six dogs she has now and all three of her cats were adopted through the shelter.

She said she has learned her lesson about taking home animals just for the sake of saving them. She only takes home animals that she has bonded with and ones that will get along with the rest of her pets.

"To take an animal just because you're saving it doesn't always work," she said.

Audrey Chatman, 25, has worked at the Humane Society for seven months as a kennel technician. Her duties include cleaning cages, treating animals for worms and other minor illnesses, and helping with the intake when Frick and Kanniard are overwhelmed.

Before she began working at the Humane Society, "euthanasia" to her meant killing.

"At first I didn't want to have anything to do with that, but the longer I've been here, the more I accept it. They really are better off to be put to sleep," Chatman said.

It's called the "good death," and while Humane Society workers agree with the definition, they can't help but wonder whether there's a way to save the thousands of animals that are euthanized each year.

According to the American Humane Association, national euthanasia statistics are difficult to pinpoint because animal shelters and control agencies do not uniformly report numbers.

The American Humane Society's latest National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy estimated that more than 2.7 million animals were put down in 1997 because of overcrowding, sickness, injury or aggressiveness.

Animal protection leagues say the problem is overpopulation and the responsibility lies with pet owners who don't sterilize their animals. Legislation is needed so that only licenced breeders are allowed to have unsterilized cats and dogs, the leagues say.

Frick said she could write a book about the misconceptions surrounding spaying and neutering.

"I've heard so many excuses. Men think it ruins a dog to neuter them. That's not true. They're still smart and playful and affectionate. It doesn't change anything," she said.

Roxanne Hutson, the executive director of the Humane Society of Gregg County, said a state grant the center received last year allows lower-income pet owners to get their animals sterilized for free. Family incomes must be less than $20,000 annually to qualify.

About 85 people have been issued certificates to take to participating veterinarians in the area. The $24,000 "Stop the Littering" grant will pay for thousands more, Hutson said.

"Ideally, we'd love to see so many do this that it reduces the pet overpopulation problem. We wouldn't be here if everyone would sterilize their pets," Hutson said.

Chatman said she talks until she's blue in the face to her friends and family members about the responsibility that goes along with pets.

"It's a lot more than just throwing it some food. It's like taking care of a baby. It's hard," she said.

Watching people turn over their animals to the shelter because they bit off more than they can chew makes her angry.

"The hardest part is to see the animals come in and see one get put to sleep because it's too big or barks too much or digs up flowers," Chatman said. "Of course it barks. It's a dog. That's what they do. They dig. Why didn't you think about that before?"

Frick sees red when an owner or animal control brings in dogs and cats that have been abused or neglected.

"I can't do anything but sit here and smile and say 'yes' or 'no' when I'd like to jump across the desk," she said. "One of the attitudes that people have is that animals are disposable commodities. Then they think we're crazy because we think differently."

She has seen animals that are nothing but skin and bones and some that have mange that has been left untreated for so long that the animals are one big open sore.

"I've seen dogs left on chains until it embeds in their neck and has to be surgically removed," Frick said, trying to hold back tears. "There's a lot of times that I will have to leave the office because I just can't take it anymore. I'll go outside and scream and smoke and scream some more."

Wright recalled a dog that was brought in after being kicked in its head by its owner.

"It had blood-shot eyes. It was very scared. No one wanted to be around it. We kept him for a couple of weeks and it finally began to trust us. He became loving and sweet. He was adopted out," she said.

Hutson said part of the Humane Society's mission is educating the public. Most of the people who abuse their pets do so because they're frustrated and don't know how to deal with their barking, chewing, digging and the messes they create.

"We're here for the animals, but we're also here for the public. If they're having a problem with their pet and they don't know what to do, they can call us. We can point them to a trainer or a Web site that can help," she said.

Until every pet owner learns how to take care of their animals and sterilize them, Hutson said, the animal shelter and euthanasia are necessary.

She said the shelter could keep the animals longer and have a better chance of adopting them if it had a bigger facility.

The Enterprise Road facility can house a maximum of 150 animals and that's with several dogs "buddied up." Plans are on the horizon for a facility three times larger.

In the meantime, Wright spends a majority of her time posting photos of the "adoptable" animals — the ones that are healthy, cute and non-aggressive — on the Humane Society's Web site and on Petfinder.com.

She also works closely with rescue groups in the area that will take in animals with injuries or illnesses and care for them until they are well and adopted.

Every animal that is brought in is held for at least 72 hours in an effort to reunite as many as possible with their owners. Hutson said many people don't think to call the shelter when their animal is missing.

"So many of them know how to sit and shake. They're well behaved. We know their someone's pet, but they don't call us," she said.

Hutson said her job seems hopeless sometimes, but she gets through the days by focusing on the positive.

More than 1,100 animals were adopted from the shelter and more than 580 lost animals were reunited with their owners in 2005.

"Those are success stories," Hutson said.

Frick remembers a woman who had a dog dumped on her a few months ago.

"She couldn't keep it, but she had it fixed and she had it inoculated before she brought it to us. That was a great donation. She didn't bring us a bag of bones like so many other people do," Frick said. "There are people out there who care. The thing that keeps us going is knowing that."

On the Net: Humane Society of Gregg County: www.hsgco.org