Why Does Cobb County Need Animal Welfare Reform?

Why do we need animal welfare reform in Cobb County? Below is an account of a recent experience sent to me by someone who had just left the . She and her friend were there adopting a cat named Dario.  Dario wasn’t the cat that she had intended to adopt. The cat she came for was Midnight – a terrific, family-friendly Russian Blue; a big ole boy with a terrific disposition. She met Midnight this past Sunday, fell in love with him, and went home to find someone to adopt him. On Tuesday morning, she and her friend went to the shelter to get him. Midnight wasn’t there.

She contacted me (via a Facebook page for the Cobb cats) to ask if I knew what had happened to him. I called the shelter to see where he was…being that he was there on Sunday, the shelter was closed on Monday, and she came on Tuesday morning when it opened…I didn’t think the news would be good. Sure enough, he was put down on Monday. I had to tell her. Her response:

“I can't stop crying. Last thing he did he gently kissed my forehead and went back in the back of the cage. I promised him I'll be back to get him and found someone for him on Monday but it was too late... If they would only knew I would have got him out of there on Sunday ;(“

Why was he put down? Was he sick? No. In fact, he had been sick previously and had been given medicine. He got well; then they put him down. Why then? and why him? partly because there are too many animals being turned in and not enough space to house them; and the other part of partly is random selection.

Back to Dario, and his pending adoption. While she and her friend were waiting for Dario to be combo tested (a test given to make sure he doesn’t have Feline Aids or Feline Leukemia), they were witness to a horrible incident at the shelter:

“As we were there waiting for Dario to get his test back, one of the people there was dragging a dog down the hallway telling him "let's meet the grim reaper".  She went on to say, “This is so disturbing. I don't know what makes people be so cruel to other souls. I will never be able to get that image out of my head.”

With programs and policy in place that help keep animals and families together and lost pets reunited at home, many of these stories would simply be bad fiction….but until changes are made, it is sadly the ugly truth. Cobb Countians speak up for your homeless animals.  Please sign the petition to make changes so these animals will no longer have to die.