All of these communities have the same amount of “irresponsible public” yet they still manage to save all healthy and treatable pets. Blaming the public has been an excuse of kill shelters which has allowed them to continue killing millions of animals every year, and some do it in the most inhumane, and illegal, ways possible. But this blaming the public does not solve the problem. Licensing has been instituted in many communities and it has not stopped shelter killing either.

There is a model of sheltering that does solve the problem, and stops the killing. I encourage everyone to search the No Kill Advocacy Center website. There are step by step instructions on exactly how other shelters, in several countries, have stopped killing. http://www.NoKillAdvocacyCenter.org Become aware, then demand that your local shelter implement the programs that No Kill shelters are using.

No Kill Houston has listed the contact information for all relevant Harris County officials on their website. We have even posted a sample letter to help get you started. We have also posted a link to petition which will email all Harris Co officials when you sign.

Please do tell Harris Co officials that you want justice, and don’t forget to tell them that YOU VOTE as most of these people will be up for re-election this year. You can find contact information here: http://www.NoKillHouston.org and http://www.NoKillTexasAdvocates.org

BTW: Peter, normally we agree that people should support their local shelters, however in Houston, we have five kill shelters with very high kill rates. (Together, they kill 80,000 pets every single year) Houston’s Humane Society has an 89% Kill Rate, according to the Mayor’s Task Force Report. So, although I would encourage people to adopt from HHS to save animals’ lives, personally I would not donate to them as you have no guarantee that your donations will not be used to purchase Fatal Plus (the drugs used to kill shelter pets).

We suggest donating to your local No Kill shelter, and also demanding that the kill shelters implement the programs that are working across the country to create open admission, No Kill shelters. Also, demand that your elected officials support laws like the Companion Animal Protection Act so that we will have laws that actually protect the lives of shelter pets. Right now, Texas has no laws that protect their lives. Shelters have free reign to kill any animal, any time … and they do.

Recently I witnessed a guy driving full speed on the highway with a dog on the flatbed back of his pickup (no rails or guards or anything to contain the dog), tied to the truck only with a string around his neck. We called the highway patrol while driving, the cops said they can’t do anything as long as “the cargo” (meaning the dog) is “secured sufficiently” (meaning the string around the neck. Brutal. Laws have to change and needless cruelty has to stop.

What I’ll do: Never buy a pet (always adopt), support the local Humane Society and face and point our cruelty wherever and whenever it happens.

Violence towards animals, even those that we eat, is abhorrent.