It's a sad, cold world out there

I went to volunteer yesterday at the Athens Animal Control - or should we say, the doggy orphanage. It was the saddest, most heart-wrenching thing I have ever done. I have never been to an actual "childrens" orphanage, and so perhaps that would be just as sad. But it truly made me cry, and I after I spent a couple of hours there, I wanted to hunt down the people who abandon their dogs like that and kill them. Right now you're saying to yourself: "Katie has gone psycho," but if you have even ONE iota of compassion in your bones, after spending time at the pound, you would think the same thing. I hope that when those people get to where they are going (which is hell - because in my opinion, anyway who abandons a dog to a dumpster, or on the side of the road, or leaves them to waste away with gigantic sores on their bodies is going straight to to hell), they will have to endure the same things that their dogs do: ie, spend the rest of your days wasting away in a lonely, cement block - with extremely stinky neighbors, no treats, toys, or friends to play with, and worst of all, not a single person to love you and tell you that you are special. These pitiful creatures were seriously wasting away from lack of attention and love.
You've heard about those orphanages in Russia, or other scary places, where the babies die from actual lack of human touch and interaction. It is the same for these dogs - they were BORN to be with people or dogs, or both, and it literally kills them not to have someone to love. So many of the dogs that I spent time with wanted to just sit at my feet and let me pat them. And even if they didn't waste away from lack of love, then the people at the pound say that after a week or so, the dogs start to get sick - with kennel cough, ringworm, etc - that they have to be euthanized anyways.
I fell in love with a precious black lab at the pound, who was brought in by his owners because they couldn't keep him anymore. He is 4 years old, so already more mature and calmer than Pasha, but yet he ooks so much like Pasha, that I don't think anyone will notice the extra dog. (At least that's what I'm hoping since we are going home for Christmas in a couple of weeks with our new doggy!!!!!) The pound has been calling him Everest, but I don't think we are going to call him that. Any suggestions??? Click here to see what kind of dogs the pound has, and to read more about animal control in Athens.
PLEASE help animals in your neighborhood by volunteering at the pound, becoming a foster parent to animals from the pound, or by encouraging programs that sponsor cheap spay/neuter programs. Overpopulation is really the key to this problem, because if we can solve that, then so many animal lives will be saved. Please help!