8:41pm
Shelter Makeover
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Why does the Humane Society of Parkersburg deserve to be selected as the winner of the Zootoo Million Dollar Makeover? That's a very good question. First, I must say that I'm certain that all the shelters in the Top 20 and those beyond are all very deserving. The reality is that we all wouldn't exist if there weren't a rampant pet overpopulation problem and millions of homeless animals. We are all working to solve the same problem and to help these animals that need us so much. So for me to say that we deserve it more than another, I cannot. In reality every animal in every shelter deserves better. Better than we can give no matter how wonderful our facility may be. No matter how good the food, how loving the staff, no matter how many walks, toys, treats they get. They are all missing the most important thing which this makeover won't provide. They deserve a home. And there's no money that will buy that for them.
And yet, I can't help but wish to give them a better place to spend their time as they wait for that forever home. We need a healthier shelter environment. And we need a low cost spay/neuter clinic. As hard was our staff works and no matter the cleaning protocols we put in place, we continue to have health problems because our facility is not configured and constructed in such a way as to help in this effort. How sad for homeless animals to arrive often seemingly healthy but to fall victim to kennel cough because we don't have a means to separate the sick from the well. And we all know the public won't adopt sick animals. We can clean to our hearts content but without facility improvements, we are limited in how much more we can do.
Secondly, we can't solve this problem alone. We must battle the root cause which is that too many people are not getting their pets spayed and neutered in our region in part because of cost. Not being able to offer a low cost alternative is just killing us and resulting in the deaths of many animals. With the closest clinic being 2 1/2 hours away the public has few viable options with vets not able to lower prices either. We need to be reaching out beyond the immediate problems of an overcrowded shelter and work to reduce our annual intake of 5000 through active and incentive based spaying and neutering. We can't just think tactically but must act strategically to really solve the problem.
While I am very confident that beyond sheer need, we could also support an improved shelter…we’ve got the management, Board and staff to ascertain a well operated and maintained shelter, I have to say that we really aren't deserving of this makeover.
But the animals are.
Respectfully,
Carrie Roe, President
Humane Society of Parkersburg
