At the animal shelter today!

Brittany and I got up early and headed down to the 'ol equipment check out to grab a camera and sound stuff last minute for an interview at the New Hanover Animal Shelter. When we got there, we were suprisingly warmly greeted and given a full tour of the facility. I was expecting some kind of resistance, considering that the shelter is arguably the last resort for an animal, and the project that we're doing does show that we are trying to save animals from living in this kind of shelter. But, the lady that we talked to was in agreement, saying that she hates to see so many animals be processed through the shelter system. We brought up the statistic of low income families, and how if they had better access to low cost or no cost sterilizations for their animals, how the number of euthinazations might fall. I wasnt expecting her answer: she holds college students accountable for a lot of the admissions. The transient nature, combined with the lack of responsibility, she said usually turns into a situation where they would rather dump the pet on the shelter than go through the trouble of taking care of their companion. It seems to make sense in our college town, but these college kids also fall into the "low income" bracket as well. They are just as incapable of paying for rabies vacc, spay/neuter, yearly check-ups, etc. as families who are living in section 8 housing.

Basicly, she said in her opinion, if someone in New Hanover County was really looking for a free option for spay and neuter, they would have access to it. She holds people's apathy and laziness accountable for the growing numbers of strays and feral cat colonies that are living on the streets. Makes a lot of sense. Which is why I hope our project can get through to people who feel that sterilizing their animal is not a priority.