Return to Table of Contents
This text may not be edited or altered, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission. For editorial licensing of the pictures or text, please contact ZUMA Press at (949) 494.7704 or e-mail Info@zReportage.com.
Gassing of Pets to End
02/05/2004
Text by © Laura Jesse/San Antonio Express-News/ZUMA Press
Seeking a "higher ethic" in the way
unwanted and stray animals are put to death, the new pound director said Friday
the city's new Animal Care and Control facility won't include carbon monoxide
gas chambers.
A fledgling volunteer program and a new interest
in animal adoptions and rescues also reflect a shift in thinking and a re-evaluation
of the pound's purpose, said Sam Sanchez, who took over the facility's administration
in December.
"San Antonio is evolving in terms of the
whole issue of euthanization of animals," Sanchez said. "In order
to bring a higher ethic for responsible pet ownership in the community, I believe
that we at the animal care facility must also represent the higher ethic of
animal care."
Sanchez said that while both lethal injection
and carbon monoxide are widely accepted methods for animal euthanasia, lethal
injection is considered more humane.
The new facility is scheduled to open in June
2007 and will expand the existing facilities from 2 acres to 8 acres. The switch
to lethal injections and the change in size would require more hands-on treatment
of the animals, he said.
"It's more a change in management of the
animals in our care where we're going from kennel maintenance to animal care,"
Sanchez said.
The pound has come under recent public scrutiny
after a series of San Antonio Express-News articles revealed the city's pound
has the highest rate of euthanasia per capita of major cities in the nation,
with an estimated 50,000 dogs and cats put to death in one year.
Once focused only on enforcing the city's ordinances,
animal care's mission now has two parts, Sanchez said. Enforcement still is
one aspect, but so is preventing animals from entering the shelter in the first
place. Increasing the number of adoptions out of the shelter must also be a
priority, Sanchez said.
"We want to reduce the euthanasia rate,"
he said. "Maybe we shouldn't have such an easy operation where you can
do mass euthanasia with carbon monoxide. It also changes the emphasis to getting
animals out of the facility."
To get more animals out, Sanchez has doubled
the number of animals in the adoption kennels, which used to hold one dog per
run. He realizes putting two dogs to a kennel could increase the risk of disease,
but he said veterinarians check the animals daily.
Two volunteers have donated an industrial-size
washer and dryer, toys, blankets and beds for the dogs in the adoption kennels,
he said. For two weeks they have worked at the pound, putting in 175 hours.
"The volunteers are socializing the animals,
feeding them and helping get the grooming area fixed up," Sanchez said.
"We're beginning to take on the operation of an adoption kennel. We're
very happy with that."
In the past week, Sanchez has intervened five
times for private rescuers to remove dogs, said Laura Stanford, an organizer
of Citizens for Pound Reform. Last year, the city ended a long-standing agreement
for Responsible Pet Owners Alliance rescuers to remove animals.
One of the rescued animals, an American Eskimo
dog, had been quarantined for biting and the owners wanted it put down, Stanford
said. But a member of Citizens for Pound Reform was allowed to take the dog
out of the pound and assess its behavior, saving it from the gas chamber.
Sanchez is working with Stanford and other members
to have an offsite adoption event this month.
The division's Web site is up to date with more
photos of dogs available for adoption, including a litter of 3-month-old puppies.
Before, all animals younger than 4 months were put to sleep.
Sanchez said he now will review city ordinances
and policies regarding animal control and test their purpose and effectiveness.
One example is the city's pet licensing ordinance, he said.
In some cities that have an ordinance requiring
pet owners to pay a fee per pet, if the animal is picked up by animal control
it gets one free ride home. That isn't the case in San Antonio, he said.
"Ours doesn't really have any benefit,"
Sanchez said.
This text may not be edited or altered, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission. For editorial licensing of the pictures or text, please contact ZUMA Press at (949) 494.7704 or e-mail Info@zReportage.com.
Download The Story
Return to Table of Contents