Thanks for animal issues coverage 

Thanks for animal issues coverage

Thank you for your coverage of the N.C. Department of Agriculture's legal action to permanently close All Creatures Great and Small in Hendersonville and relocate the animals that are suffering there ("State seeks custody of 700 animals," by Lisa Sorg, Sept. 12). This "shelter" is one of the worst in the country. Being stacked in a crate for years without adequate food, water, shelter, exercise, medical care and socialization is a fate worse than death.

Thanks also for reporting on the proposed new rules regarding euthanasia at animal shelters ("Use of gassing challenged," by Lisa Sorg, Aug. 8). You've done a much better and more thorough job of covering these stories than any Asheville or Hendersonville paper, daily or weekly. I wish we had a publication that carried this quality of journalism here in Western North Carolina.

I traveled to Raleigh to speak at the euthanasia hearing, and was encouraged to see such a large and vocal turnout. I am hopeful that gas chambers will be eliminated, as lethal injection is clearly the only humane form of euthanasia.

Rather than talking about how to kill animals, we should be talking about how not to kill them. Increased rescue efforts are noble endeavors, but they are like bailing water when you've had a pipe break. We need to fix the leak. This can only be done with increased spaying and neutering. Some municipalities have enacted progressive ordinances providing incentives for citizens to spay and neuter. But most efforts are quashed by the strong and organized opposition from those who profit from animal overpopulation, like the American Kennel Club. Those who care about animals need to get organized and have their voices heard. We need statewide legislation to stop the holocaust. More than 250,000 of the approximately 5 million homeless dogs and cats euthanized every year in America are killed in North Carolina. That's about 700 a day and 5,000 a week—a rate twice the national average.

Stewart David
President, Carolina Animal Action
Asheville