A quick check of the Petfinder listings for the Lowndes Co pound in Valdosta, GA tells me the place is not serious about finding homes for pets. Hardly any photos or personal information is included with the listings – two criteria essential for getting pets adopted. Minimal marketing efforts could turn the Petfinder listings into a lifesaving tool but no one at the facility is apparently interested. The pound’s numbers make it plain as day:
In 2012, the Lowndes County Animal Shelter received 5,870 animals. Of this number, 1,433 were adopted or rescued, 386 were reclaimed and 4,031 were euthanized.
That’s a 69% kill rate for 2012. And the Valdosta Daily Times reports that this month is off to a horrifying start:
Since June 1 of this year, meaning in the last 11 days, more than 260 animals have been brought into the Lowndes County Animal Shelter. Of the 260, 167 have had to be euthanized.
This is not a shelter. The primary function of the Lowndes Co facility is pet killing. And county officials are in full blame-the-public mode:
Paige Dukes, Lowndes County clerk and public information officer, said, “The over-population of animals in Lowndes County is not an animal problem, it is a people problem. […] It is a problem that can be fixed with one simple solution, the spaying or neutering of pets.”
Low/no cost spay neuter is one of the eleven core programs of the No Kill Equation. But to state that spay/neuter is the one and only “simple solution” that would end the killing of shelter pets is not only false, it’s objectionable. The county is blaming the public for the killing at a taxpayer funded facility where employees are failing to do their jobs to shelter animals.
There is a “Friends” group for the Lowndes Co pound and the best I can say about that is – second verse, same as the first. What the community pets of Lowndes Co really need is a voice. Advocates who engage the public instead of blaming, who demand that the shelter actually shelters animals in need and who won’t give up on shelter reform until every dog and cat in Lowndes Co is respected as having the right to live.
(Thank you Clarice for the links.)
I couldn’t find a email address..
Lowndes County Animal Services
337 Gil Harbin Industrial Blvd.
Valdosta, GA 31601
Phone: 229-671-2760
Please call 229-671-2760 8:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST Tuesday through Saturday
Losers. One small word to describe the work ethos there. How many people ‘work’ there and how much are they paid? They aren’t worth the taxpayer dollars.
No, they’re not doing the best they can.
They’re working SO HARD. Those animals aren’t going to kill themselves, you know. And someone has to spend time bagging and disposing of the bodies. Bring them cupcakes.
The same over most of georgia
There are photos of only 30 dogs in the Adoptable Folder on the Friends Facebook page and they were updated about a week ago. Where are the other hundreds of dogs that should be posted? People cannot share them with rescues or potential adopters if they are not posted!
Quite frankly, I’m absolutely shocked that they even bothered to name the animals.
Well the numbers are out..http://www.examiner.com/article/overcrowding-leads-to-large-number-of-animals-being-destroyed-at-georgia-faciliy?CID=examiner_alerts_article..