Comments on: Good news — Longer hours and other good things at the animal shelter http://ellensmith.org/blog/2009/12/02/good-news-longer-hours-and-other-good-things-at-the-animal-shelter/ I'm Ellen Smith, member of the Oak Ridge City Council. Thank you for visiting my blog and reading my views on public and private life in and around Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This website is my own; content here does not represent the official policies or views of the City of Oak Ridge. To add your own comments, click on the topic title to open a comment box. To read posts about a particular topic, scroll down to "Categories" (in the sidebar) or use the "Search" box in the sidebar. Look under "Archives" to see collections of past posts organized by date. Wed, 02 May 2012 13:01:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Ellen Smith http://ellensmith.org/blog/2009/12/02/good-news-longer-hours-and-other-good-things-at-the-animal-shelter/comment-page-1/#comment-39999 Ellen Smith Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:53:55 +0000 http://ellensmith.org/blog/?p=333#comment-39999 Part of your wish has been fulfilled, Anne. As I understand it, pets adopted from the shelter are spayed or neutered before they are released to their new families. I don't think that same rule applies to "owned" animals that are returned to their owners after ending up at the shelter, though. Part of your wish has been fulfilled, Anne. As I understand it, pets adopted from the shelter are spayed or neutered before they are released to their new families.

I don’t think that same rule applies to “owned” animals that are returned to their owners after ending up at the shelter, though.

]]> By: Anne Garcia Garland http://ellensmith.org/blog/2009/12/02/good-news-longer-hours-and-other-good-things-at-the-animal-shelter/comment-page-1/#comment-39998 Anne Garcia Garland Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:46:47 +0000 http://ellensmith.org/blog/?p=333#comment-39998 Now that some fresh energy is going into the animal shelter, it would be a good time for Oak Ridgers to renew efforts to persuade all pet owners to have their pets spayed and neutered. Two of my three cats came to me as the litter of a feral cat who has since been partially domesticated and spayed. Poor kitty had two litters of two kittens each before she was big enough to even take care of herself well. She was a ferocious mother and I love her kittens who are both domesticated and free from the threat of parenthood. She would have been much better off, however, had she not had kittens. The third cat is a "drop off" adult who took up with us and is happy. Perhaps we should have a rule that animals picked up by the shelter could not be returned to owners until they were spayed or neutered. And certainly no animal should be adopted from the shelter without permanent birth control. Puppies and kittens and baby rabbits are all adorable but too many are born to careless owners who have little empathy for the plight of the unwanted. Now that some fresh energy is going into the animal shelter, it would be a good time for Oak Ridgers to renew efforts to persuade all pet owners to have their pets spayed and neutered. Two of my three cats came to me as the litter of a feral cat who has since been partially domesticated and spayed. Poor kitty had two litters of two kittens each before she was big enough to even take care of herself well. She was a ferocious mother and I love her kittens who are both domesticated and free from the threat of parenthood. She would have been much better off, however, had she not had kittens. The third cat is a “drop off” adult who took up with us and is happy.
Perhaps we should have a rule that animals picked up by the shelter could not be returned to owners until they were spayed or neutered. And certainly no animal should be adopted from the shelter without permanent birth control. Puppies and kittens and baby rabbits are all adorable but too many are born to careless owners who have little empathy for the plight of the unwanted.

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