Save A Pet didn’t save her either…big surprise.

Meet Pepsi, formerly Tag # 262, who is now safe and in the hands of a very caring person who could see that her life had value.  Pepsi came to Animal Control in Columbus, GA, just another pit bull, neglected, starved, with a mangy coat and a floppy ear.  She was one of the ones that gets passed by when someone goes to look for a new dog.  You could tell she needed some work.  Save “A” Pet wouldn’t be saving this girl.  She wasn’t a “highly adoptable dog”, but someone cared enough to take a short video of her and post it on Facebook last night and “share” it around.  I had posted about her in my prior blog hoping someone would reach out and offer to help, because her chances of making it out were looking quite grim.  She was adoptable on May 24th and a rescue called and offered a last resort, but they were at capacity so it would be a stretch.

When you want to do something you find a way to do it.  Someone will help if you ask!  So everyone started asking.  A fellow animal lover in the community, the same volunteer who was FIRED from her position as Offsite Coordinator, saw Tag #262 and couldn’t leave her there.  She, not Save “A” Pet, stepped up to help an animal in need.  Keep in mind that she was picked up as a stray and has been there for 5 days, and has had NO MEDICAL TREATMENT, even though it’s quite obvious she had been starved, which comes with all kinds of health issues that need to be addressed.  This is not a dog you can just give a bowl of food and hope for the best.  This kind of rehabilitation takes  money, time, care, and it takes love.  Even though it would be a challenge SHE STEPPED UP TO THE PLATE WHEN IT MATTERED!  Pepsi matters, she’s not “just a dog” she’s a life, she’s a living breathing creature that is deserving of kindness, respect and LOVE!  These animals are savable.  But it’s not going to happen with the Save “A” Pet program.  These animals are leaving the building alive because of volunteers, animal rescuers, and the people in this community and other communities that are all HELPING!  So why can’t Animal Control help?  Why do they still refuse to simply do what is laid out in the program designed by our city leaders and launched in September of last year?  The answer is simple.  The have made their intentions clear in the last few days with their refusal to sign the pledge to stop killing for Just One Day, June 11.  It’s truly sad when the opportunity for them to pave the way for other communities in Georgia is right before their eyes,  and still they refuse to even TRY!  They keep saying they’re doing something, but the reality is that they are not choosing anything different.  The status quo is not enough.  Pepsi and all the other animals deserve better.  The is something fundamentally wrong with killing for the sake of killing, when there is another way that has proven to be successful in a growing number of No Kill Communities around the United States and around the world.  Saving “A” Pet is simply not good enough. Pepsi needs your help, just like so many others.  She is safe, but others will die tomorrow.  The shelter is full and until they decide to implement the No Kill Equation and ALL IT’S PARTS, animals will continue to die and dogs like Pepsi will end up in a trash bag heading to the landfill.  Please consider supporting No Kill Columbus GA.  Get involved, do something that matters.  We only have this one life to live, and so do they, so go make a difference.  Without us they will continue to end the lives of so many.  They all matter, they all have value, they all deserve to be saved, so help us save them!  Please take the the time to click on the following links below to learn more about how you can make a difference. WHY NOT HERE?  WHY NOT NOW?

To donate to Pepsi’s vet care please visit her chip in site.

To find out how you can help visit No Kill Columbus GA and make a difference!

Join the movement to a No Kill Community in Columbus GA by making your voices heard!

WE DESERVE A NO KILL COMMUNITY!

Where is the “Angel Fund”????

Part of the Save “A” Pet program laid out in their own document is a fund that is set aside to treat animals that are in need of immediate medical attention.  There has been confirmation that this fund has been established and that there is money in the account.  There have been donations made at Offsite Adoptions to this fund that I have seen with my own two eyes.  The money is sitting there in an account unused while there are animals at this facility that need urgent medical attention.  Why is the money not being utilized?  What is the excuse they will come up with next?  I have had just about enough of the lies, the half-truths, the insulting and offensive things that have been said about a group of animal lovers in this community that have spent their Saturdays hauling crates back and forth to Offsite Adoptions, hours spent taking photographs, sharing on social networking sites, talking to people and making them aware of the situation, spending money out of their own pockets to help these animals get to rescue, or into loving homes, begging this city to implement the steps OF IT’S OWN PROGRAM, it has blatantly refused to implement the No Kill Equation and all its parts, so how about just implementing YOUR OWN PROGRAM?  Why is it so hard to do what is laid out in the program Mayor Teresa Tomlinson came up with all on her own, it HAS GOT TO BE BETTER, than the proven life saving methods of the No Kill Equation.  Yeah, that seems like a much better plan.  We here you go Madam Mayor, time to put your money where your mouth is and let’s use the “Angel Fund” to help Tag # 262.

Starving bully girl at Columbus, GA Animal Control Available 5/24/12

This is your big chance to show us that you’re serious about your own program, so let’s go!  Have this dog at a vet when the doors open tomorrow morning.  Let’s see the Save “A” Pet program save this one. Let’s see if the staff get on the phone tomorrow and start networking this girl to find a rescue or a new home.  Let’s see Save “A” Pet in action!

It sure couldn’t help this guy.  He was killed and so were several others on Sunday when this facility isn’t even open to the public.  Well, what excuse do you have for this dog, who has obviously been well cared for, has a brand new collar on and is not thin, or scarred?  He probably had a family looking for him.  Why didn’t Save “A” Petsave him?

He wags his tail. at the kill room door

When will you finally see that this “plan” you have devised, which is nothing but smoke in mirrors, a shell game of numbers and animal shuffling and killing, isn’t working, and let people who know how to save these lives, save them?  Surely you don’t think they’re better off dead?  Oh, wait, that’s right, you’re friends with PETA who killed nearly all of the cats and dogs that were in their shelters last year instead of trying to find them a home.  I guess that’s much better than giving them a chance at life, right?  Let’s see you put your program where your mouth is and save Tag # 262.  I DARE YOU TO MOVE, Columbus, GA!  Why not here, why not now????

Please email the Mayor’s office, the City Manager’s office, City Council, Animal Care and Control Director Drale Short, local newspapers, local tv stations, and make your voice be heard.  We want her to live and we want them to save this pet!

Visit No Kill Columbus GA to see how you can get involved.  Be their voice in city that is deaf to their cries!

IP in the valley…where the cats are really going.

I was in attendance for the No Kill Columbus GA meeting at the public library in Columbus, GA on May 20,2012.  During this meeting, the ugly truth about what happens to cats that come into this facility finally came to light, and it was disturbing, to put it mildly.

Will die via IP if not adopted or pulled by a rescue

The cats at this the  facility have less than a 20% chance of making it out alive. I’m not talking about feral cats, because there are many, many cats that come through this facility that are not feral and have been very obviously someone’s beloved family pet.  These cats hardly ever make it out of building.  They are killed via IP :

Intraperitoneal (IP)

injection of 20% Pentobarbitone solution

Barbiturate
• Slow acting
• Takes longer to take effect than IV injection: 15–30 minutes (dependent
upon the species and size of the animal)
• A larger dose may be required than if given intravenously
• May be used when collapsed or poor venous access precludes IV injection
• May not be suitable for the euthanasia of larger animals
• The use of pre-euthanasia drugs may prolong the time until death
• May cause irritation to the peritoneum, particularly with
concentrations >20%
• Can be combined with a local anaesthetic to reduce the risk of irritation
• Animal may become distressed when it starts to lose consciousness
• May be a practical alternative when IV injection is difficult e.g. for
fractious stray or feral cats, neonatal kittens and puppies. It is advisable to
return cats to a secure cage after injection as they may become distressed
while the drug takes effect

This is the method being used on the animals here in Columbus, GA.  All cats are killed in this manner, puppies and kittens too.  It is simply horrifying to know that this is considered acceptable.  It puts the animal in distress and is far from a quiet peaceful goodbye.  It’s cruel in and of itself to subject and animal to  15-30 minutes of defecating and urinating on themselves, seizing, writhing in pain, and convulsing.  Sometimes internal organs are damaged, spleen and intestines are perforated,  in the process of killing them.  As if this isn’t bad enough what happens next is even more disturbing!

Once the cats are killed they are ALL (except those who are “damaged”) then sold to a company called Bio Corp which provides carcasses for dissection and research purposes.  Bio Corp pays the city for these animals, the going rate is roughly $3-$5 per cat.  If you do the math it’s a nice chunk of change, when there is an 85% kill rate at this facility for cats, feral or domestic.  They make a profit on killing cats in Columbus, GA.  To profit from killing is sick and twisted.  But what’s even more disturbing is where the money goes.  The money does not go back to the shelter, the money goes to the city “slush” fund.

So none of the adoption fees paid by the public to adopt these animals, nor the profit they receive from the sale of these animals, is put back into the shelter in any way.  There is no incentive to improve or change practices because the city will lose money.  Money for the new “projects” funded by the city is BLOOD money.  Money is being made off the stray, lost, and feral cats in the city.  How can this be ok?  How is this even morally acceptable?  Where is the accountability?  Where is the transparency?  Why was it required that we file an open records request if they have nothing to hide?  If they support their methods why was it so hard to get them to release this information.  The answer is quite simple,  they don’t want the general public to be aware of what is really happening at this facility because they know it would not be deemed acceptable.

So here we have it;  A city that has the means and the ability to become the first No Kill Community and pave the way for Georgia, but has repeatedly refused to fully implement the No Kill Equation.  The city officials have not even required the implementation of their own Save A Pet program which is loosely modeled after the No Kill Equation but IS NOT the No Kill Equation.  There are countless examples just in the past week of their lack of concern for not only doing simple things such as posting the gender or age of an animal on their page, but their inability to operate a camera effectively.

The Save A Pet Program is not working and Mayor Teresa Tomlinson would really appreciate it if we stopped bugging her.  There are far worse shelters than hers and we need to go bother them.  Well, we’re not going away.  The only way we are ever going to be able to change things, is by exposing the ugly truth about this city and it’s practices.  We must educate the public on how to handle a feral cat problem effectively, and we must change the city ordinance which deems cats a nuisance,  affording them no protection at all.  We must also insist on transparency.  Those who have nothing to hide, hide nothing.  Is this where you want your tax dollars spent???

If this information disturbs you, DO SOMETHING!  Contact the Mayor’s office, the City Manager’s Office, the City Council members, write a letter to the editor of the newspaper, make your opinion heard.  This is going to be a long road, but it can be different.  We can make it different.  We must get louder.  We must push forward.  Innocent lives are counting on us to be their voice.  Join us in the effort to make Columbus the first No Kill Community in Georgia.  It’s time for change!  Why not here, why now?  Visit the No Kill Columbus GA website to learn more about what you can do to help.