Animal care system needs overhaul
The following is a Counterpoint:
By Joan Garner
The situation involving the Great Pyrenees who was "orphaned" by the tragic loss of his master (Lorraine Ahearn column, Jan. 16) should point out some very salient needs for changes in the Guilford County animal care system.
The most obvious question is why the shelter has a policy to hold a dog in Raleigh's situation in its care at all if there was an owner's family member or rescue group that could do a more thorough and humane job when the shelter is overcrowded and the staff so overloaded?
A recent letter to the editor seemed to imply that the "sensibilities of the larger public" were secondary to the realistic limitations of the shelter. I, for one, would like to see the sensibilities of Guilford County residents come to the forefront and demand changes.
The euthanasia numbers, overcrowding and lack of cooperation between the shelter and rescue groups need to be addressed. The county commissioners seem to focus all of their time and our resources on corporate incentives, school funding needs, and jail overcrowding with bond issues and other remedies. Having contracted out the management of our shelter, they now look the other way.
I would suggest that a new shelter be constructed, more like ones in neighboring counties, which should have an area for rescue groups to be involved in the placement of pedigreed dogs. Lack of interest in non-pedigreed dogs was a stated reason for the refusal of Guilford County's shelter director to release pedigreed dogs to be cared for by rescue groups because she believes the pedigreed dogs are needed in the shelter as a drawing card.
We need a shelter advisory board and action by the county commissioners to elevate our animal care facility to true "shelter" status, and not remain a county pound. I am proud to say that I am the kind of person whose "sensibilities" are offended by what the conditions are every day in what we call our animal shelter.
The writer lives in High Point.