Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 25, 1993 TAG: 9311250354
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A32 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: STEVE DAVIDSON
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Shelters that have no-kill policies only avoid responsibility for the mass killing of pets. The animals are still killed, but they are killed by the city and county governments in those local areas.
Walker Nelms, as vice president of the Roanoke Valley Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, chairman of its public-relations committee and representative to the valleywide task force on the problems of animal overpopulation, has done as much, and maybe more, than anyone to help move the valley in the right direction on animal welfare. Because of his leadership, the number of animals ``put to death'' at the SPCA shelter has gone down while its adoption rate has gone up.
It was a motion, made by Nelms at a board meeting, that has defined the goals and direction of the organization. Because of his vision and concern, the SPCA has been able to set up a multipronged approach to solving its own financial problems and helping the valley to live up to its obligations to the animals.
I'm sure Dawn Hale and The Roanoke Organization for Animals are wonderful people. But don't speak of the two organizations in the same breath. The SPCA is much wider in scope. We're in the schools teaching children about the care and responsibilities of pet ownership weekly. We're in nursing homes in the valley every week bringing the joy of companionship to the elderly and the animals. We're on the radio, in the newspaper and on billboards informing the public about the problems of pet overpopulation as often as we can be.
It's true we kill more animals every day than anyone else in the area. We don't want the job, but we accept this public-relations nightmare because we know someone has to. We find homes for hundreds of animals each year. This is the job we love to do, and it's easy. This is the job that allows us to live with the fact that we do kill unwanted pets almost daily. But spare us this attack, because it makes it sound like we're on a mission to remove pets from people's lives. Nothing could be further from the truth.
We, and especially Nelms, are as dedicated to the welfare of animals as any group you'll find. And I resent the implication made by Ms. Taylor that we should find alternatives to mass killing of animals. We have, and we work every day to reduce the problem by educating the public. But there's not, at this time, any realistic alternative, no magic bullet that will overnight reduce the need for the euthanasia of the literally thousands of uncared-for animals in the valley.
If well-meaning but uninformed people like Ms. Taylor would join with us instead of making derogatory comments, we could correct this horrible problem much sooner.
Steve Davidson is president of the board of directors at Roanoke Valley Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
by CNB