Nicole Walukewicz is on the Anderson Co shelter advisory committee and founder of a horse rescue group in SC. She also happens to be campaigning as a write-in candidate for county council which means she wants to get her name in the paper as often as possible.
Coincidentally, a lady who works with Ms. Walukewicz in the horse rescue group found a dog recently. The lady called the shelter “but was told that no one had reported the dog missing. Walukewicz said the woman who found the dog was not told by the shelter staff to fill out a “found dog report,” and was not asked for any contact information.”
Coincidentally, the lady who found the dog went to the shelter – even though she had been told no one was looking for the dog – and found the dog’s owner, a sheriff’s deputy who happened to be working at the shelter at the time the lady visited.
Coincidentally, the deputy had apparently reported his dog missing but no one at the shelter had asked him to file a lost dog report.
Naturally Ms. Walukewicz was pearl clutchingly very concerned about the entire matter and fired off a detailed e-mail to the local paper. Coincidentally, the paper ran the story, using Ms. Walukewicz’s name many times, just a week before the election.
No word on whether the deputy was cited for allowing his dog to roam loose.
Okay. My gut reaction is “so what?!” Are we at all surprised that government, and the people hoping to live, work, play in that realm might be politically motivated?
Hell, politicians use their KIDS in this fashion, homeless (or not, as the case may be) animals are no different!
Isn’t it a GOOD thing that Animal Control got some press? (Good press/bad press, both can be helpful in finding new homes for pets or helping pets stay in the homes they already have…right?)
The advisory committee was created to try to deal with problems at this shelter. Maybe it’s naive of me to want people on the committee to care about animals and use their position to improve conditions at the shelter as opposed to using it for political purposes.
I see what you’re saying, YesBiscuit, but motivation aside, how is this not working to improve conditions at the shelter? If shelter staff are not following procedure and aren’t taking down any lost/found information or maintaining any kind of log, it needs to be addressed.
If the story is true and if any action gets taken to correct things then obviously that will be an improvement for the shelter. I have my doubts on both points.
I see the fact that this politician was even interested in the goings on at Animal Control as a step in the right direction.
Regardless of motivation, many (if not most) politicians wouldn’t use a situation like this one simply because they couldn’t care less what happens to animals in the shelter system and they assume the public agrees (which is sadly too often true).
What *I* see is an opportunity for animal welfare champions to take this story and run with it. If it does in fact aid in this politician’s election, that says something about the area in which they are running and may serve as a reminder to keep a closer eye on AC in the future, and perhaps even to take steps to improve things.
I understand the immediate negative taste this leaves in your mouth – I have it too. But after five years of fighting tooth and nail to improve the situation in my own city the SPCA’s board of directors has been overthrown and the current shelter director has reached out to local rescue for the first time since… well, ever.
Maybe this has my rose coloured glasses in place, and I agree that ideally politics would never have a place in animal welfare – but the reality is that if we can use those politics to our advantage (even if the advantage is greater to the politician) it would be irresponsible not to take the opportunity and run with it.
Shirley, there’s quite story to be told in my city, in fact… if you email me (I’m sure you have access to that information, no?) or I will message you on Facebook and fill you in if you’re interested.
Maybe I’m the only one questioning the veracity of the story here but it struck me as CONCOCTED. That’s just my impression of course.
I have access to ALL INFORMATION Kim! ; )
Honestly, I didn’t get that feeling at all. Not to say that I don’t agree it’s totally possible – but I find it more believable that the AC was a lazy screwup than I do that a politician thought they could really affect public opinion by exposing this.
The fact is that the public in general doesn’t give a damn. If they did, the incredibly poor state of most local pounds, ACs and shelters would not be tolerated.
If it *is* a concocted story, all I have to say is… lady, that’s the best you could come up with??
;O)
Did her ploy work? Was she elected? Let us know.
Looking at the election results, it looks like no write-in candidate for county council got more than 2%, so I’d say that’s a no…
Write-in candidates are almost never successful. It’s often just a ploy to get public exposure for a future run or even to promote a business. That said, a write-in candidate for Senate in AK may end up winning the election after ballots are recounted, disputed in court, etc. If so, she’ll be the first successful write-in bid for Senate since Strom Thurmond if I remember my history.