Animals better off for their care
This is regarding the letter published on March 16 from the
Weekend Pinnacle by Shaw and Shen regarding the animal shelter.
”
…the hastiness to kill rather than re-home them,
”
is simply not true. Had Shaw and Shen bothered to contact Julie
Carreiro, supervisor of the Hollister Animal Shelter, they would
have learned that rescue groups are frequent visitors to the
shelter and take many dogs and cats to place in foster settings.
The shelter has a long list of rescue groups and volunteers who
care for the animals there. They are NOT destroyed within days. It
is interesting that Shaw and Shen didn’t mention which group they
represent!
Animals better off for their care
Guest Editorial
Opion of Helen Ross
This is regarding the letter published on March 16 from the Weekend Pinnacle by Shaw and Shen regarding the animal shelter. “…the hastiness to kill rather than re-home them,” is simply not true. Had Shaw and Shen bothered to contact Julie Carreiro, supervisor of the Hollister Animal Shelter, they would have learned that rescue groups are frequent visitors to the shelter and take many dogs and cats to place in foster settings. The shelter has a long list of rescue groups and volunteers who care for the animals there. They are NOT destroyed within days. It is interesting that Shaw and Shen didn’t mention which group they represent!
To say that by law all dogs and cats MUST be altered is pie in the sky thinking. There is a bill in the California legislature right now proposing this very idea. I doubt this bill will pass. With some guidelines it could be a good idea. ALL dogs and cats adopted from the shelter are altered before the adoption is completed. In February of this year the shelter offered coupons for free altering of dogs and cats.
One of the main points that Shaw and Shen did not mention is that the staff at the shelter has shrunk from six officers down to three officers. This fact alone limits the outreach that these hard working officers can do. Just the basic running of the Shelter and responding to the public demands is crushing. Theirs is an awesome job to perform day after day caring for animals that careless owners may have temporarily neglected or that their wily animals have escaped from their property.
It is easy to sit back and criticize when one brief visit is one’s only frame of reference. Shaw and Shen have spoken out of turn and got it wrong. What they got right was to mention that a new shelter would help. It is in the works right now. I have volunteered at the shelter now for five years. I see what these dedicated women officers do and I am impressed with their expertise and kindness to all animals.
Shaw and Shen do not impress me with their short sighted and inaccurate reporting.
