The Pittsylvania Co pound in Virginia has an 80% kill rate for cats. Pete Boswell, the county’s chief ACO, has an excuse:
Boswell said the county’s shelter picks up feral cats throughout the year, which drives up rates, he said.
It only drives up kill rates if you actually kill the cats. But that’s probably just me being persnickety.
Most cats impounded by Pittsylvania Co get sent to the Danville Area Humane Society. Which has a 93% kill rate for cats. So long frying pan, hello fire. Paulette Dean, the Danville pound’s executive director also has an excuse:
“Have you seen the number of cats we receive?” Dean said via email Friday.
Apparently if you saw the number of cats, you’d be all right with killing 93% of them. Because number.
The Pittsylvania facility has no director and never has had one in its 30 years of existence. The ACOs go out on calls and the pound is unattended while they are in the field. But they’re doing the best they can:
Boswell said the shelter makes every effort to adopt out its animals.
[…]
As for adoptions, Pittsylvania County animal shelter officials promote them by running four photos of animals per week in a local weekly publication, Boswell said.
Four photos. Not one – not two – not three – but FOUR PHOTOS. The county really is doing all the things to save lives. Except TNR. They don’t do that. Because it’s stupid:
“It has not been proven that it reduces the number of cats,” Boswell said. Of course it decreases euthanasia rates if they’re picked up and released back into the wild, Boswell said.
Yeah I mean OF COURSE if you aren’t actually killing the cats, it makes the kill rate go down. That doesn’t mean it’s some kind of good idea or anything.
Pittsylvania Co has 3 ACOs, one of whom has been out sick the past 3 months. If someone wants to adopt or rescue an animal and the place is locked, they have the option of waiting around to see if an ACO shows up. Can’t call because no one is there to answer. Can’t email because no one has time for such tedium, as evidenced by the case of a starving, mangy hound who was picked up by Pittsylvania Co last month and killed while offers to save him were ignored:
[Franklin Co HS director Anita] Scott says she made several attempts to contact the shelter to save the dog but says her calls and emails went unanswered. “So, there was never a reply.”
Boswell claims he didn’t have time between himself and the other officer to respond to Scott’s emails. “The email says “Is this guy going to be released. That’s all it says. The next day I didn’t get to reply due to the work schedule.”
The email did not say DO NOT KILL in red typeface with many exclamation points and the “oh no” emoticon and anyway I can barely squeeze in all the animal killings what with the four photos a week and such.
So many more cupcakes are needed.
(Thanks Clarice for the links.)