A letter to the editor on this page asks city council to reconsider its decision to not help the humane society with the cost of ridding the shelter of mould problems.
We all know the city is trying to rein in spending. And every effort is appreciated.
But sometimes, common sense needs to prevail.
Mould is not something to mess with. It can cause serious illness for the people who work there, volunteer there and the animals who live there. It needs to be removed immediately for the safety of all.
Perhaps it’s easy for some people to dismiss the humane society because people are more important than animals.
But if the humane society closed its doors here, imagine the consequences. The city would be overrun with stray dogs and cats. Dogs left on their own can become aggressive as they protect territory and search for food. Small children — even full grown adults — could be in danger of attack.
And if you think you have a problem now with stray cats in your garden, imagine if the humane society made no effort at all to collect them and disperse them to responsible pet owners.
Surely no one is cold-hearted enough to simply not care if animals are left to suffer on the streets. In many cases, humans are responsible — intentionally or accidently — for the misfortunes of animals.
The humane society is only looking for $25,000 — not even the full cost of making the repairs. And officials have said the work would get done with or without the help of the city. But the shelter already has to raise thousands of dollars each year just to feed and house the animals left to fend for themselves. This puts an increased burden on those volunteers who work tirelessly to raise these funds.
The city faces many requests each year from deserving organizations and each year it has to say “no” to some. It’s never a good thing, but it is often a responsible thing.
In this case, the city might have been wiser to spend the money and guarantee the continuation of this service.
Just ask people living on some of the northern reserves who have lost children to packs of wild dogs. No doubt they would have loved to have had a humane society that reduces these problems.
They might indeed be “just animals,” but if we are going to embrace them as a society of the whole, we have a responsibility to keep them safe while in our care.
