Of all the reports of abuse, killing and mismanagement at Robeson Co Animal Shelter in NC, this one frustrates me the most. And it’s not even directly about a pet suffering or being killed.
A new policy enacted last month bars members of the public from taking pictures or recording video inside the shelter.
Of course we know why:
Dozens of photos of dead kittens, emaciated dogs and dirty kennels at the shelter have been posted online the past several months.
And naturally, the bureaucrats in charge have an explanation:
Albert Locklear, director of environmental health with the county, said the photos unfairly added to widespread criticism of the shelter.
“I know for a fact there have been a lot of pictures that have went out, that when the average person sees it, it’s not an issue,” Locklear said. “But there are certain folks out there whose hearts are easily moved, I think.”
So in Mr. Locklear’s view, there are certain folks out there whose hearts are so easily moved, it takes nothing more than photographic evidence of shelter pet abuse and death to touch them. But those are not your average people. Average, normal, regular people look at a photo of a dead kitten or a starving dog at the shelter and just don’t see what the fuss is about.
Mr. Locklear, you are sadly out of touch with your community. Here in the south, we may lack the the financial and education advantages some people in other parts of the country enjoy, but we love our pets. We don’t want them to suffer or be killed. And most importantly, the taxpayers of NC pay your salary and own the shelter. So who are you to tell the people in your community that they are uncaring? Who are you to order them not to take pictures of animals at the shelter? This is the people’s shelter. You are but the people’s servant.
Perhaps most infuriating of all:
The policy also set a 15-minute time limit for visitors to browse the kennels for a new pet.
You know what? Screw you. You have no right to tell the people who own the shelter how long they can spend looking for a pet. Never mind that a caring person (which I know you don’t believe any exist in your community) is going to spend more than 15 minutes with a pet after they’ve found a good potential match. Never mind that the first pet an adopter spends time with might not be “the one”. Never mind that the idea behind shelter pet adoptions is to have them stick for life and that no one could possibly expect to achieve that goal in 15 minutes total.
Forget all of that because I say again, you have no right to limit visits from the taxpayers of NC to an arbitrary time. Unless your goal is to decrease adoptions and thus make it appear that you are correct in branding the people of your community as callous. But I sincerely hope that isn’t your intent. I hope you are simply a bunch of misguided stuffed shirts who think they can get away with murder on the taxpayer’s dime. In any case, your days are numbered. Your antiquated ways of thinking are being rejected by communities everywhere. We are a no kill nation of pet lovers. Join us.