The Great News: Tom "Dog Killer" Skeldon of "We kill 77% of incoming shelter dogs" Lucas County is resigning December 31, 2009!! I had wondered why he hadn't made any public comments since the Toledo Blade started their campaign against him. It's apparently because he needed a few weeks to draft a letter of resignation. Yes! You can read more at KC Dog Blog.
The Bad News: Pit bulls, regardless of temperament, will still be killed. This may still occur under new leadership. As I write this, no doubt several dogs and puppies have been killed by Lucas County officials. Pit bulls comprise the majority of dead dogs at the shelter, so even if they adopt out every single non pit bull dog who enters their shelter, more than 50% of incoming dogs will exit in body bags. I will be cautiously optimistic that whoever replaces Skeldon will stop the murder of puppies, regardless of breed, and consider placing pit bulls with rescue agencies.
The Annoying News: If you read the comments over at KC Dog Blog's entry, you'll notice an editorial that was originally published in the Toledo Blade by a PeTA representative. It is not surprising, PeTA has a vendetta against dogs who look like pit bulls. They too have a high kill-rate. Objectively, though, Skeldon has not done his job - he has not improved public safety, has not eliminated pit bulls, has not significantly reduced the euthanasia rate, and has not even done the minimum work to reunite owners with their dogs.
A small portion of the letter:
We thank Lucas County Dog Warden Tom Skeldon and his staff for putting animals' best interests first by not haphazardly adopting out dogs just to make the pound's euthanasia statistics look better.
Jennifer Brown
Animal Sheltering Adviser
People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals
Norfolk, Va.
There's more to the letter, but I have no interest in republishing all of the tripe it includes.
I wonder if you were the first to notice the pink nailpolish dog? If so, I'm kind of thinking that news spread virally and was one of the last straws (along with that litter of puppies)
ReplyDeleteAs for PETA... that defense of Skeldon is so very very wrong, I would almost believe it's a parody (or punking).. except it's all too plausible for those cretinous assh****
yay yay yay yay yay yay
ReplyDeleteArgh. PETA!!!! HATE.
ReplyDeleteMy son-in-law just adopted a pit that had been re-programmed and a sweeter more loving dog, I have never seen. He loves people, kids, other dogs and cats, obeys commands and is a real kick to play with so it truly is the breeder and not the breed.
ReplyDelete