Thursday, April 19, 2012

Clearly Upset


See this guy? He's clearly upset. When we hear about stuff that hits us in our heart we get upset. The problem is that we get emotional without knowing the facts.

In all this mess about the Derby Dog Pound I'm not seeing many facts. I'm seeing a lot of allegations and innuendo. The most important question is whether the animals were being cared for properly. We need facts about that.

It's not about how modern or elegant our Dog Pound is. One comment was that it smelled like urine inside. Really? Animal "places" - like zoos too - smell bad.

It's not about Klapcik's people skills. He may not be a people person - anyone can tell you that. But he is a person of integrity, a hard worker, and a responsible person who took good care of the animals given the meager resources he had.

Here's an idea for all of you who are upset. Why don't you show up at one of the Tax Board meetings where we are putting the City Budget together. There are 2 more workshops, a prelimary budget vote, a Public Hearing, and a final budget vote all taking place on subsequent Tuesday evenings at 7pm at City Hall. Come tell the Tax Board, tell the Police Department, tell the Mayor, that you would like more funds dedicated to the Derby Dog Pound!

The teachers and school administrators show up to ask for more money for the schools. They, along with the parents, are the children's advocates. Where are the animals' advocates. That's clearly how it works folks.

3 comments:

  1. MAKES SENSE - Thank You!

    CLEARLY SHELTERS AND SOCIAL MEDIA

    Anyway there are shelter groups whom greatly facilitate adoptions. They evaluate the prospective pet with visits and more, take a quality photo and use social media to post these on Facebook which allows for broadcasting to animal lovers who can either donate, transport, foster or ADOPT!

    I was thinking our fellow dog-lovers might want to be in on working with the shelter and social media to properly place these pets.

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  2. Mangomama has a great idea, which inspires me to further ask: does Derby have volunteers helping at its animal shelter (and if not, would the city be able/open to receive them)? Perhaps some folks who are concerned on the dog pound issue would be willing to spearhead a volunteer initiative and create a program to improve conditions (cleaning up to reduce smells, collecting items that could be used in the care of the animals, etc.). Such a program could save animals' lives and help the town stay within its budget constraints, all while building a greater sense of community.

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  3. Thanks mangomama and Lee. I know we have people who are anxious to volunteer their resources to improve the pound dogs' lot. I think what Derby has been lacking is a plan for using those volunteers. I think we need
    a strong presence in charge of the pound, working under the Police Department, who can get the volunteers organized, get the computer set up so we can "advertise" our strays for adoption, and get the other many things going that are required. I'm traveling right now but I plan to bug the Mayor and the Police Chief when I get home. These are good men and they love animals - let's go!

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