PA town "deals with" stray epidemic
 

Here's the story Cesar Milan posted on fb. So sad & so very wrong!

Stray Dog Epidemic Hits U.S. | CesarsWay.com

I am so glad you posted this. We do not live in Harrisburg; however, we are in PA and this has been on our news quite a bit. One officer refused to follow this and took a found dog that appeared ill to him to the local animal shelter. He was supposedly reprimanded for the act of defiance.

This is crazy. From our understanding of what is being reported, it is bc the city of Harrisburg cannot reach an agreement w the local humane society for payment to care for these dogs. Harrisburg expected to finalize Humane Society contract soon - CBS 21 News - Breaking news, sports and weather for the Harrisburg -York -Lancaster -Lebanon Pennsylvania area

If anyone knows of a way to put more pressure on this administration, please post.

I dont like it or agree with it but Im not going to judge what a town feels they have to do to solve a problem of epidemic proportions. When there is an epidemic as far as an emerging disease we may all be required to take a vaccine to prevent spread, We may not agree with it and the vaccine may have its own problems associated with it but Our Govt the ones we put overlooking our countrys best interest feels it is necessary so we do it.

It really is not a problem of an "epidemic". The title of the thread is misleading. It is a financial problem. The humane society wants a certain payment for caring for feral animals. The city claims it has paid but not what the humane society wants paid. On average, a total of 7 feral dogs per month were taken to the humane society in the year of 2011.

Here is an article for details. UPDATE(4): CBS 21 gets exclusive new information on Harrisburg vs. Humane Society battle - CBS 21 News - Breaking news, sports and weather for the Harrisburg -York -Lancaster -Lebanon Pennsylvania area

Well it still is a problem even if its a financial one in these days and times when people are out of work and dont want their taxes raised and Govt officials are under the gun for where tax maoney is spent. Like I said I dont agree with it but our own Humaine society has went from being no kill to kill because of money cuts

Gee, maybe it would be smarter to euthanize those who keep unaltered pets. It doesn't make you more of a man for your dog to still have his b@//s. Or neither are you teaching your children anything about the circle of life to let them see your dog or cat give birth. What your are teaching them is to be irresponsible.
Ok I'll get off my soapbox now.:rolleyes:

Though I really know nothing about it, it'd seem they could team up to properly euthanize the dogs for a similar price to bullets or gas driving out of town. Our regular dog pound will euthanize a dog for around $10 last I knew.

I guess it is closer to being humane to shoot them than to leave them for dead on the outskirts of town.:thumbdown If I couldn't pay my garbage bill & took my trash & dropped it off I'm sure someone would go into a tizzy. And I don't have a living, breathing mammal in the trash. Not to mention what the dog could catch disease wise then bring back into town, or attack someone out of desperation for food.

It's a sickening fact that funding for local shelters has dropped and they are always over crowded. I had a feral cat problem where I live, outside of town. I asked the local private shelter for help but they were always full and could not even loan me a trap to trap the cats. I guess they were afraid I might try to bring them to the shelter. As a result there are feral animals in town and outside of town. People don't spay or neuter their pets and this is the result. The state and county run shelters keep a stray animal for 3 days and then kill them.

This is a direct result of the economy being in such a mess. If you look at almost any purchase you make these days the item was probably made in China or some where outside this country. Jobs just are not available and now our towns, cities, counties and states are having to cut back because they do not have the tax revenue they once had. Sadly they feel the animals should get the cuts first.

I ended up trapping these cats myself and getting them spayed one by one. Some were tameable and some where not. The ones I could not tame now eat on my patio and go in my shed during bad weather. This is the first year we have not had a new litter of kittens to deal with in several years.

My point is that individuals need to start doing something about the problem. Everyone can help at least one dog or cat. People who love animals can form groups and pool resources to help more animals. I got tired of watching those poor creatures suffer and die and decided that I could do something if only one critter at a time.

I took those cats to a low cost spay/neuter clinic. It's sad but the last time I was there they told me that they were having less and less people call to make appointments for their pets.

Oh my! That is awful! I live 25 minutes from Harrisburg! Makes me mad that is so close to home!