LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Longtime DCHS volunteer urges change in Pet Care policies
Dear Editor,
I just read Anna Dewitt’s letter in my News and Press. Thank you, Anna, for speaking up. I have volunteered for the Humane Society for 19 years and have not spoken publicly about our pet overpopulation problem for a while. When I last did, one County Council member told me to “just ki(ll) them…or whatever you need to do.” That should be in the minutes of the Council meeting where she said it. This was around 2013 or 2014. That person is no longer a member of council.
Speaking before Council, I asked for a pet registration program which rewarded pet owners who had their pets spayed and neutered, and required owners with unaltered pets to pay a yearly fee to help provide for the stray and unwanted ones picked up or turned in to the County. Some of our county residents remarked on FaceBook that the Humane Society just wanted more money. That proposal required money from the registration program be used to support the Shelter rather than money from the General Fund. In other words, the owners of pets who produced the overpopulation would bear the burden of the Shelter, and normal tax monies in the General Fund could be used for all citizens.
Since 2007, Darlington County’s Humane Society has, through donations, grants, and partnerships with national pet rescue groups, provided free and low-cost pet spays and neuters to thousands of pets of county residents. The money came from those sources, but the time and transportation came from unpaid volunteers, and veterinarians donating a portion of the surgical cost. Dozens of volunteers, including myself, have driven tens of thousands of miles to deliver Darlington County pets to rescues in other states where pet owners are required to spay and neuter companion cats and dogs. Darlington County, and even Florence County, residents foster dogs and cats who cannot fit into the Darlington County Humane Society Animal Shelter.
As I write, there are 113 dogs and cats in the homes of Darlington County foster volunteers. The Society supports cat colonies, again taken care of by volunteer county residents. Dozens of dog and cat hoarding situations have been mediated by humanely altering and rehoming dogs and cats from overburdened, good-hearted people who “just fed a stray” and ended up with litter after litter. In the last 3 months, one volunteer (from Darlington) and I (from Hartsville) alone cared for 34 newborn puppies, and are helping (aided by the Humane Society) to get their 3 wandering moms spayed.
There are 253 cats and dogs housed in the Animal Shelter this afternoon. Total, Four hundred sixty-six pets to feed, clean, vaccinate, alter and find homes for…all from Darlington County.
To those who say “I just don’t see it,” please volunteer at the Shelter, become a foster volunteer, or volunteer to be a (local or long distance) transport driver for the Humane Society … and then write your own letters.
Thank you,
Kathy McDonald
Hartsville, SC