Action Alert! San Antonio TX

[Rene Allegrini]

From Responsible Pet Owners Alliance

Permission granted to crosspost.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006
San Antonio City Council Vote In August!

San Antonio is in danger of becoming another "Albuquerque." The Animal
Rights Activists are tarnishing the 5 Year Strategic Plan for a No Kill
Community by 2012 with their agenda. As in other cities, it is the "Animal
Rights" Agenda and not reasonable workable solutions to animal problems that
guide this extreme movement. Never mind facts and statistics. "No Kill"
does not and should not mean "No Pets."

RPOA has worked very hard for many years to get the initiatives on paper
that are included in this Plan. San Antonio is now the 7th most populous
city in the U.S. with one of the highest poverty rates. Legislation will
not solve our problems; certainly not the feral cat problem. Cats are the
#1 problem in San Antonio.

At the last minute, the Animal Care Services Advisory Board inserted two
items that MUST be removed. Once again we ask for your help. The "Animal
Rights" Industry is lobbying to get them moved back up to Year One. RPOA is
asking that they be deleted entirely.

Please go to our website for the Action Alert Update which has more
information, points of opposition and the list of city officials to contact:
Responsible Pet Owners Alliance - Home
Click on the yellow blinking "Action Alert!" button near the bottom of the
home page. As San Antonio goes, so goes the state of Texas. Disappointed
with their defeat in Austin, the cross hairs are now on San Antonio.

[jakesfostermom]

Living here in San Antonio, you certainly can educate yourself in any number of ways to the proposed changes (the 10 year plan) at the Animal Care Services facility. I can tell you that I read whatever I can get my hands on, I have and will continue to visit the ACS facility and work to maintain a relationship with their Project Coordinator - so my thoughts on this are sort of "on the fence" if you will. We are a city of over 1.6 million people - who hear the media portray a potential "no kill" facility like some rose garden, free of thorns, and we (not me per se) envision a large beautiful facility where all animals are cared for until adoption or natural death. That is simply NOT how this goes. Can you imagine the number of dogs/cats and other animals that this facility must deal with DAILY? It's roughly 150-200 per day......they can house 900 before they must close temporarily. So in 4 days, they are at capacity. If PEOPLE would get a clue - WE could make a difference. But in a city where there are COUNTLESS other issues of equally high importance that affect the HUMAN population, I see the goals for the ACS facility as lofty at best. They are trying to make changes - and have successfully done "some" - they have a long way to go - BUT a team of 15-20 dedicated individuals CANNOT be expected to take on the task of educating the 1.6 million people in this city, nor can they be expected to figure out how to house/care for EVERY unwanted animal that this city casts into the streets as easily as they do their empty soda can. I appreciate the passion that these animal rights groups have - I really do - but they are full of all kinds of piss and vinegar during the meetings and I don't see any of them ready to roll up their sleeves and spend a year or two in the trenches of kennels 2, 3, 4 and 5 at ACS and work with the city leaders and staff to develop a WORKABLE plan, instead of some hair brained scheme to "save them all"..........sorry - this is a sore spot for me - San Antonio has a world class reputation (of the negative kind) for their ability to adopt out more homeless animals than they are forced to put down.........but this didn't happen overnight and overcoming it won't happen overnight either.......

MySA.com: Cathy M. Rosenthal

This link is to a really good column about some of the issues we are facing here.....while being watched under a microscope.

[Rene Allegrini]

An excellent article offering intelligent alternatives. Thanks for sharing.