Animal Shelter needs our support (dogpound)7.5.02

Shots of dogs are almost as common on my camera as pictures of people. At the Pride Parade, in Bayliss Park or just out and about on assignment, if I see people with their dogs, they are about twice as likely to end up in the paper than people with kids. I'm funny that way, but frankly your dog says more about you than your kids. Your kids just look like you, a dog is a lifestyle choice.
My family always had dogs growing up, partly because we liked dogs better than people, but also because people kept dumping them on us. So growing up, I never adopted an animal from the Council Bluffs Animal Shelter. We usually just kept the dogs that floated over our transom rather than take them to the pound.
With that said, we could only keep so many dogs and when we went to the animal shelter, it was to drop off some loser's dog. People dump animals in the vain hope that someone else would actually want to take on the challenge of a parvo-plagued bitch that had given birth within hours of being abandoned on a rock road from a moving car.
I don't know what it is about people who dump dogs in the sticks as though passing the buck keeps their karma in good standing, well, I assure it doesn't. More often than not, dogs that get dropped off get run over, killed by coyotes and bigger dogs or taken to the pound by a DECENT human beings.
I spent some time at the Animal Shelter this week and I recommend that most people give it a try. You won't find a facility that does better with as little as Galen Barrett, chief animal control officer, has to work with.
I warn you up front though, it's depressing. Every dog, cat, hamster and iguana in the place is somebody else's botched responsibility.
Animal Shelter workers will tell you that if as many people who abandon their pets actually moved when they said they were moving and couldn't take care of an animal, Council Bluffs would be a ghost town.
One rarely sees more dedicated city workers. There are no Cruella DeVilles at the Animal Shelter, no stereotypical Hollywood hound haters. There are volunteers and employees who do their best to convince everyone who walks in the door to adopt.
"I'll be honest with you," said one employee on my last trip. "If you don't adopt this dog, it will probably be put to sleep."
Now that is salesmanship. They are always closing the deal at the Animal Shelter and they aren't even working on commission. There is something more important going on down there because every day starts with full cages. For each dog and cat that come into the Animal Shelter, one dog and one cat has to go out with an owner or they are put to sleep.
It is a harsh reality and not for the sensitive, you can bet on that. I had to curb my inclination to make eye contact or touch any of the animals because they aren't toys, they are innocent, living creatures brought into this world more often than not by the misguided intentions of people who either let their pets breed without regard or took on a pet capriciously and changed their mind later. I don't want to get their hopes up and I can't afford to get attached to an animal I can't help or take care of myself.
Working at the Animal Shelter takes a kind of emotional fortitude this writer has not been able to muster. Sharon Powders is a clerk at the Animal Shelter and a member of Support Our Local Animal Shelter. She told me she used to cry every night when she started working down there and some of the women still do.
It comes as a shock to many who realize a stray dog or cat has as little as three days from the time it enters the shelter until it is claimed, adopted or put to sleep. Abandoned pets can be adopted or killed right after they enter the shelter.
Luckily, SOLAS volunteers and shelter employees can keep some of the animals around for much longer. They make space where they can and even take animals to the homes of volunteers who get nothing in return to find people who can take care of pets.
It is easy to point the finger of blame and say someone needs to do something about this, but when it comes down to it, the "someone" is all of us. Our taxes fund the place poorly, so a donation to SOLAS is always helpful.
Volunteers are always needed because as it is, 15 people do the work of 30. Call Mary Jones at 256-2287 to donate time or money.
And this can not be said often enough or loud enough for people to listen. GET YOUR PETS FIXED. Spay and neuter your cats and dogs. Uncontrolled breeding is the reason why this problem goes on year after year. A litter of puppies is not a donation to the Animal Shelter, it is bunch of dogs they might have to put to kill because someone else failed to take care of business.
Resources are needed if the Animal Shelter is ever to make its way into the 21st century so while we are busy building gateways and convention centers, perhaps we could set a grant or two aside to expand and fund our shelter in a manner of which we can be proud.
- Greg Jerrett is a Nonpareil staff writer. His column runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays. He may be contacted at 328-1811, Ext. 279, or by e-mail at gjerrett@nonpareilonline.com.