Dear Editor:
I am not at all surprised that despite initial promises by the new staff at the Assisi Center, they have already gone back on their word! After repeatedly stating that the no-kill policy would remain in effect, it has already been lifted — only three weeks after Tom Hart was terminated as Executive Director (for no apparent reason I might add!).
Yet, the Board wonders why there is such an enormous amount of public outrage. As a result of the Board’s actions, most people adamantly believe that the shelter will soon revert back to its old ways — ways that include the overall inhumane treatment of animals. I am sure that in no time at all, the shelter will once again hire employees who 1) beat dogs, 2) own guard dog companies, 3) fail to provide the animals with adequate food and water, 4) leave feces in animal cages for prolonged periods of time, 5) have little or no veterinary experience, etc. But most of all, the shelter is now going to euthanize animals if not adopted within seven days. Where did this seven-day time limit come from? How can you possibly expect an animal to get adopted in seven days? Nothing in this world gets accomplished in seven days! It takes at least a month to calm an animal down and get them ready for a new home. In addition, most people work at least five days a week, if not more. That leaves prospective adopters only two days to get to the shelter and adopt an animal. Otherwise, the animal will die? But somehow, the brilliant board members have decided that seven days is fair! Seven days is not only ludicrous, it is cruel!
If the Board members actually spent some quality time at the Center and got to know the animals that reside there, they would realize that all of the animals are adoptable. They have already gotten a bad break. Most, if not all, of the dogs and cats come from abused homes. Some were purchased as puppies or kittens and quickly abandoned once they got too big or their owners decided they were too much work. Others had elderly owners who have passed away or are too ill to care for them. Some owners have had babies and decided that a dog doesn’t fit into their family picture anymore. Others were used as fighting dogs. Some of the animals at the Assisi Center were brought in by a passerby but most were left tied to the nearby gate overnight. There have even been times when dogs, and puppies, were literally thrown over the barbed wire fence into the outdoor portion of the shelter. On one occasion, a puppy got caught on the barbed wire and was servely injured. It had to be treated by a vet. But, according to the Board, the Assisi Center was spending too much money on veterinarians and medication. Let’s just put the animals to sleep — that is the Board’s solution. What happened to educating the public and trying to obtain successful adoptions? That does not seem to be a part of the Board’s master plan!
I often ask myself why Hudson County does not open up its own animal shelter. Or better yet, why each municipality does not have its own shelter. How can we actually think that one shelter, that is a private organization, can deal with all the stray animals that plague Hudson County? This County needs to stop destroying the Assisi Center, the only good thing that has happened to animals in Hudson County, and start on a plan to control the pet population. We need to spend more time educating the public about spaying and neutering their pets. We need to stop the dog fights and the abuse of all animals, particularly pit bulls and rottweilers. We need to use our legal system to punish irresponsible pet owners. We need to teach people that pets are a big responsibility — a lifelong responsibility. We need to create programs where shelter dogs and cats are used to help the elderly, both physically and emotionally. We need to take Hudson County off the top ten list of worst places for stray animals! Maybe then, the shelter would not be so inundated with strays and euthanization would not be an issue. Maybe then, the shelter would not face "financial problems amidst an overcrowded shelter," as the Board stated. I have not heard the Board make any mention of beginning community education programs, implementing aggressive adoption plans, creating mobile spay and neuter units, etc. All the Board has said is that they need to start euthanizing animals. Instead of trying to solve the stray animal problem by adopting animals out and teaching responsible pet ownership, let’s just kill them! What a sick solution!
I sincerely hope the Board realizes that the financial problems they speak of will never go away if the shelter reverts back to its old ways. There can be no more employees who alledgedly steal dog food and sell it to guard dog companies. There can be no more occasions where adoption money disappears from drawers. There can be no more cases of dogs that mysteriously vanish overnight — particularly rottweilers and pit bulls. There can be no more dead dogs lying in cages with live dogs or dead animals piled in corridors. I urge the Board members to be very careful about how they run the Assisi Center. The people of this city will be watching you. No matter what the Board does, they will never be "Tom Hart"! That shelter will never again be the Assisi Center we have all come to love.
Desperate and disgusted…