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December 9, 2012

Consider alternatives

Anonymous Commercial-News The Commercial-News Sun Dec 09, 2012, 02:00 AM CST

COVINGTON, Ind. — Editor:

Hours after my visit, my thoughts were about how the adorable little fox terrier mix, Rosie, had arrived at the CARA Animal Shelter near the Tilton 14th St. overpass. Contact them at (217) 655-4353, http://www.caraillinois.com).

At CARA, a no-kill shelter, Rosie will survive, but many similar loving animals will die simply because society will not tackle a problem that, scientifically, has a solution.

Most of the animals in tomorrow’s shelters will come from today’s “free” pets or from backyard breeding. Frequently, these animals go to homes where the owners cannot afford, or simply chose not, to spay/neuter their new pet. So, eventually, it costs the public about $125 per animal, often more, when the uncontrolled offspring of these “free” animals ultimately arrive at shelters.

if a proposal of the Danville City Council is realized, this amounts to a cost of about $200,000 per year, plus a one-time cost of $650,000 to expand the Vermilion County Animal Shelter, the proposed new home for Danville’s unwanted or stray animals.

While the proposed cost is competitive, what bothers some is that there has been little or no discussion about alternatives to that plan. Worse yet, there has been no discussion about how to prevent other costly expansions from being needed in the future.

If city and county representatives seek to make a change of that magnitude, those governing bodies owe it to the public to consider alternatives to the plan as well as passing ordinances to help reduce the root causes of the animal control problem.

Ron Gore

Covington Ind.

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