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AREA CRUELTY
I was a front desk volunteer at the SFAS for five years while Kate Rindy was the director [Cover story, Jan. 18: "
"]. I have never worked with such a dedicated group of people, all with the same goal: to care for and place as many animals as possible into good homes. I admire them all greatly.
I stopped working there this summer because I couldn't tolerate the ignorance and cruelty of many people who live in our area. Those who drop off an unkempt older dog, then head to the puppy pens to pick out a new one, never hearing the cries of the abandoned pet left behind. Countless litters of sick puppies or kittens brought in for the shelter to dispose of. Animals arrived who had been used as target practice, a poodle thrown into a dumpster with one of his eyes out of the socket, left to die. Many animals had literally been thrown from a moving car. The stupidity of the public keeps the SFAS busy trying to do what's best for all the many critters it receives. Thank God we have such a place and for the people who work there.
Vicki Lightner
Santa Fe
PUPPY LOVE
The
about the practices of the Santa Fe Animal Shelter was disconcerting and sad-dening. Several years ago, I tried to adopt a cat from the shelter. After completing an application in which I honestly answered that I would let my new animal companion outdoors for exercise (I do not believe animals should be kept indoors and think they are happier maintaining some of their "animalness"), I received a phone call stating my application was denied because I'd allow my cat to go outside. Had I been informed of the shelter's policy before completing several pages of an application, and waiting several days for a response, I would not have wasted their time or mine. I later went to the Española Animal Shelter, where I have since adopted many animals. Three currently live with me and my husband-two cats and, most recently, a puppy. All are happy and healthy and, most importantly, loved.
I was broken-hearted to read about prematurely euthanizing animals to "make room" for more "adoptable" animals. It is hard not to wonder if the cat I had hoped to adopt made it to a good home, or if it was put down for a, perhaps, cuter and fuzzier little creature. I have been an animal lover my whole life. I have lost cats prematurely, but believe that those kitties were happy experiencing life rather than being put to sleep without a chance of being provided a good home. Euthanasia should be reserved to prevent an animal's suffering, not as a means to "provide space." At the Santa Fe Animal Shelter, whose needs are being met?
Kristen Peterson
Santa Fe
SPAY TODAY
I appreciated
your article on the Santa Fe Animal Shelter
, as it raises some issues that have been discussed for a long time regarding the shelter, even before it moved to its new facility. However, apart from a brief mention in the last few paragraphs, you don't really address the root cause of shelter overcrowding and euthanasia: people who refuse to spay or neuter their pets. We can blame the shelter all we want for putting cats and dogs down, but the real cause of, and solution to, this problem is simple: FOLLOW THE LAW and SPAY/NEUTER YOUR ANIMAL! It's easy to blame the shelter as it makes a convenient scapegoat, but the problem wouldn't exist if people would address the problem at its source. This is a COMMUNITY problem much more than a SFAS problem.
By the way, one more small issue: One would think, from reading your article, that the problem only exists regarding dogs. It would have been nice for you to acknowledge that the problem is as bad or worse for our other four-legged friends, cats. I love both cats and dogs, as do most animal lovers; so why are cats only mentioned in the article twice or three times, and always preceded by a "dogs and…?" The same thing happens when I mention that I volunteer for a cat rescue group, Felines & Friends (a WONDERFUL organization)…people say, "why not dogs also/instead?" I respond: Dog rescue groups do wonderful work, but they are a dime a dozen…there is hardly a decent-sized community in the US without some sort of canine rescue organization. F&F was the first I've heard of to handle cats, and that's why I work with them: Cats need rescuing, good homes and love and attention as much as dogs. Please, don't forget about them.
Andy Hopkins
Santa Fe
SETTING THE STAGE
Despite its inflammatory title, "
" had impressively even-handed coverage of attitudes toward the Santa Fe Animal Shelter. But the article failed to stress the crucial point: There are not enough good homes for all the adoptable animals in northern New Mexico. More mobile adoption events, more posters, more newspaper photos will generate a few more homes and make those working on them feel good. But until unchecked breeding is brought under control, we will not get ahead of the curve.
To attack the problem, humane organizations need to work co-operatively toward the common goal of ending pet overpopulation. The public airing of grievances by critics of high-quality shelters like Santa Fe's is counter-productive because it is so divisive.
Duane Adams, just months after arriving in Santa Fe, began bringing area animal organizations together to work on a large-scale spay-neuter program with the goal of ending the need for euthanasia of healthy animals. This is an extraordinarily positive development in a community where humane organizations have traditionally had difficulty working together. This co-operative effort represents the greatest hope I have yet seen for the animals of northern New Mexico. Duane deserves credit for setting the stage on which this hope may be fulfilled.
Marian Sperberg-McQueen
Española
ADOPTION HASSLE
It breaks my heart to read "
" I am one of those people who was looking forward to adopting a dog, after my dear companion Lucky died at age 13. When I went to the Santa Fe Shelter in early November, I asked to see any dogs rescued from Hurricane Katrina and was told they were not ready to be adopted. I was told they were still too traumatized-and the staff was still seeking their owners. And yet at this same time, rescued dogs were being posted on the Internet for adoption in Colorado and Texas. So, instead I picked out a dog from the available pens-there were lots to choose from. I was told I would have to complete an application, which would be reviewed. Then on a subsequent trip to the shelter, I might take the dog or be subject to counselling by the staff.
I live 60 miles from the shelter. Two trips? Counselling? Strangers deciding what is a good match for me and my family? I don't think so. What do they know about my five acres on the river, how good we've been to dogs, with hiking and camping, about sleeping with us in our bedroom at night?
We went elsewhere to get our new addition to our family-Maxie the Labrador Mutt.
Marilyn Price
Embudo
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