The East Baton Rouge Parish Animal Control and Rescue Center is taking the right steps to stop killing our furry friends. It partnered with Target Zero Institute of Jacksonville, Fla., a nonprofit organization working to eliminate euthanasia in animal shelters.
I am happy to say that our city has done something right this time.
In 2011, the Companion Animal Alliance took over Baton Rouge’s animal shelter and made an effort to change it to a no-kill facility. The shelter currently euthanizes 44 percent of animals it receives, but TZI thinks it can reduce that number to 10 percent in the next three years.
This means a dramatic decrease in the unnecessary deaths of adoptable animals.
Animal rights advocates should be letting out a collective purr.
The partnership with TZI is bringing our city back to reality. Now college students need to do their part by adopting man’s best friend and alleviating some of the congestion that is bound to occur after reducing so many euthanasia acts.
In blunt terms, the euthanasia our shelter wants to eliminate is the killing of innocent, but unwanted, animals.
Euthanasia is commonly administered too casually and without necessary cause. Animals are being killed because they aren’t adopted soon enough or because workers are afraid they won’t get along with other animals.
Just because animals have been in the shelter for a while does not give people the right to take away their existence.
Supporters argue that it is the most humane way to keep streets clean of strays, but it’s hard for me to see any humanity in killing perfectly healthy animals for the sake of the public eye.
If our society is so obsessed with keeping our streets clean, they should focus on relocating the homeless humans, not the homeless animals.
Most shelters use shots to euthanize, but there are still shelters that use gas chambers, which leaves a strong distaste in my mouth.
Gassing innocent creatures rings a certain bell in my head and reeks of immorality.
I was shocked to hear that even PETA supports the euthanasia of healthy animals. I am proud to say that Baton Rouge has one of few shelters making efforts to reduce and eventually eliminate this unnecessary act.
Naturally, supporters of the drug have already started streaming in complaints about the no-kill goal. People express worry that this will result in the shelter being over crowded and under-kept.
Both the CAA and TZI have assured the public that their first priority is humanity and their efforts will include making sure the shelter is livable for animals.
It’s great that this organization has expanded to Baton Rouge, but we are only the third city in the United States to partner with TZI. The rest of the country needs more of these activists to help halt the euthanasia epidemic.
There are countless organizations that fight against innocent euthanasia practices such as The American Humane Associations and The American Society of the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals. What needs to happen is more targeting and persistence by these organizations.
It all starts with the demands of the city. When the partnership was announced, Nicole Brose, TZI spokeswoman, said she hoped that the example Baton Rouge is setting will trickle around to other parishes.
It’s so important that, as young people in our hometowns, we take advantage of our voices and speak out against unnecessary euthanasia practices in animal shelters.
We are the only ones who can speak for the animals on death row. If I were getting shoved into a gas chamber just because I hadn’t found a home quick enough, I would want someone to speak out for me.
Annette Sommers is an 18-year-old mass communication sophomore from Dublin, Calif.