Why I don't do dog rescue anymore

This is Sonny and Ashley.

Sonny was one of our first fosters back in 2001 or 2002. One of over 100. He was a puppy of about 5 lbs. Looked to be about 6 weeks old. Laying in a cage by himself, sleeping, sickly, at a humane society. He was the only puppy on the "kill side". The building has 2 sections. The "kill" side and the "adoptable" side. ALL black dogs and dogs that appeared to be pitbullish, rottweilerish, etc.. are immediately put on the kill side. Don't be outraged, this is common practice most everywhere. Very young puppies don't last long in any shelter situation, especially without their mother because of disease.

So we took Sonny home and nursed him to good health and he was adopted by a very wonderful woman. Sonny is now, as you can see by the pic a very big pup....I'm told close to 200 lbs.

This same woman adopted Ashley from us about a year later. I honestly don't remember Ashley's story.

The woman whom adopted these pups was in her 40's. She died of a brain tumor last week.

Now, it is in the adoption contract that the rescue take back the dogs if the owner cannot care for them anymore. The rescue takes ultimate responsibility of the dog throughout it's life.

What breaks my heart is that these 2 dogs, no matter how loving or well behaved they are, because they are very large and rottweilerish, will probably spend the rest of their days in the concrete floored kennel. It's not as bad as the pound. They will be fed, they will get exercise and "some" attention, but kinda reminds me of the old folks in a nursing home, that spend their days sitting in a wheelchair against the wall, just passing time until they die.

So how do you look a pup in the eyes, that has lived it's life in the comforts and love of a house and family and all of a sudden they are sitting in a kennel without constant play and affection, and convince them they did nothing wrong?

This is where I'm not sure that I believe in the "no kill" thing.

The dilemma...Which would be worse? Putting the dog down? Or having them live out the rest of their life in a cage?