County must offer full animal shelter services
Local officials have already begun the process of establishing a county-run animal control center. For a county that has long disagreed with the Humane Society about the best way to operate an animal shelter, this is welcome news.
Officials are currently considering sites and have plans to hire an animal control officer who will answer calls about stray animals. County Executive Kenneth Rogers says he hopes to have the animal control center open by the end of the year.
There is, however, one glaring oversight with the plan. Rogers has said the animal control center will concentrate on picking up stray animals and has no intentions of accepting litters of puppies and kittens.
This will create a significant problem since a large portion of animals euthanized in Warren County are, sadly, unwanted puppies and kittens.
The utopian solution would be to have all pet owners act responsibly and have their animals spayed or neutered. More than anything, that is the true answer to our animal overpopulation problem.
In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have shelters to kill animals. We would spay or neuter to prevent those puppies and kittens from being born in the first place.
Grant money from various organizations, including Bob Barker’s foundation, is available to help pet owners pay for spaying and neutering if they can’t afford it. But only a small percentage of people take advantage of this money.
That means we’re left with litters of puppies and kittens no one wants. And those animals quickly grow up to become stray dogs and cats.
Accepting litters of animals is no pleasant task. But it must remain a county service if we have any hopes of controlling the stray animal population.
For the county to properly serve its residents, it must offer all the services that were provided by the Humane Society’s animal shelter, however unpleasant that may be.