Dear City Administrators/Council,
Our grass roots animal rights advocacy group is very concerned about the level of killing of cats and dogs occurring at the Johnson City Animal Shelter.
Perfectly healthy cats are being killed simply because an owner decides arbitrarily that they cannot "clean the cat's litter box anymore," and for other trivial issues. Owner- surrenders we are told are killed within a day others are given a paltry 3 days to be adopted or killed. Healthy cats and dogs who are trying to survive on their own as they would in the wild are being rounded up and shut into small cages and then killed. We at I OVER THERE ANIMAL ADVOCACY do not use the word "euthanise" because the definition for this word is very specific as follows:
Euthanasia: Also called mercy killing is the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, a person or animal suffering from an incurable, esp. a painful, disease or condition.
The reason Cats and Dogs are being confined and then killed are NOT critical enough to justify this level of cruelty and killing of animals.
Very few, if any of the cats, we saw at the shelter were sick. There were beautiful robust cats and there were mothers with kittens. I was told by a male worker that the only animals who are not killed are the ones who "show that they are happy and like humans." To demand this level of sociability from animals who have been made prisoners, living in small cages, and who certainly know that they are going to be killed is inane.
As tax-paying citizens of this great Nation and the State of Tennessee, we would like to suggest and advocate for a NO KILL SHELTER. If this is not viable, then captured Cats and Dogs should be spayed and neutered and released if not adopted.
Death ought not to be the QUICK-FIX solution.
This is what the Johnson City Animal Shelter says on their website:
"This shelter is a joint operation supporting the animal control needs of both Washington County and Johnson City. We are not actually a goverment organization or a humane society. Our main services include stray animal pick-up, warnings to those violating animal control and humane laws, adoption of animals and euthanasia of pets."
Our informal opinion poll shows that if the JC Shelter were to become a truly humane center, financial support and many volunteers would flow in. Why this option is not being seriously considered is the question.
The agenda, it seems is to destroy all animals, except the ones who have human owners, as if animals do not have the right to life in and of for their own selves. Picking up stray animals, without actual complaints of violent behavior is clearly cruelty to animals and should be made unlawful.
We would also like to know how many cats and dogs are being killed on a daily basis at this kill shelter. We would also like to know if it is possible for our group to know how many cats and dogs are being adopted and at what rate.
We would also like to know if animals can be removed from this shelter and taken to NO KILL shelters.
We understand the need for animal control under justifiable circumstances, but we sincerely feel, believe and know that this level of killing is in fact, "going too far."
Thank You,
Sincerely,
I Over There Animal Advocacy
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