Pet care education could reduce animal cruelty
Your article, “Seeking answers to animal cruelty” (Sept. 28), once again reminds us all of a serious issue in our county: the mistreatment of pets. Can we stop using the bad economy as an excuse for animal abuse and neglect? When the economy was better, pets were still being dropped off at the shelter and cruelty to animals still existed.
As a teacher and animal lover, I believe, as the article mentioned, that stiffer penalties are in order. But we must get to the heart of the matter, which is education. Let’s put more effort into educating the public about how to treat and care for pets.
People often hold beliefs about how animals should be treated, and this is most likely modeled by parents or other adults. Children are naturally caring and concerned about living things, and our schools would be a great place to start. Education is the key to improving attitudes and behaviors toward animals.
Our county needs to make the needs of the animal shelter a priority and, along with providing a better facility, work toward a focus on pet-care education.
Deborah Belcher
Greensboro
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