Sunday, February 11

Community Planing?


We don’t need no stinking’ community planning!! Or do we?

Well, before you decide, let’s get a handle on what it is and how it can help our community work together to better address the root causes, as well as the symptoms, of the animal problems in Hardin County.

It’s fair to say that most people in the humane movement got involved through a personal encounter with a homeless animal and the sinking realization that their experience was just the tip of an enormous iceberg.

For many, that realization gave birth to the commitment to do something to help the animals; to take as many as possible from the pound and find homes for them; to promote or fund spay/neuter programs; to educate the public; and to build a more humane shelter or to some combination of these.

As they got more involved they got busier and busier. "The faster I go, the more behind I get!" seems to be the common cry of rescuers everywhere.

They are like a team of janitors attempting to deal with a flooding sink in a locked broom closet by mopping the floor in the corridor because we can’t find the key to the door and they can’t break it down! They are dealing with one crisis after another and have no apparent hope of getting to the source of the problem.

So how can they get further ahead when most of them are already working as hard as they can, running only on adrenaline much of the time.

The answer lies in working smarter, not harder. This is where a community assessment and plan comes in. An assessment will help to identify the gaps in efforts to end the stray animal/homeless pet problem. A plan can help set goals and stay focused on where we want to go.

The questions that stop so many before they even start are: "How do we begin? Do we need a paid staff and state-of-the-art facility? Do we need millions of dollars?" Staff, a shelter, and money help, of course, but you don’t necessarily need them to end the killing of healthy animals. What you need is the initiative to take the first step – A commitment to step outside the way things have always been done to develop and promote innovative and proactive programs to save animal lives.

Now that we’ve taken that step ... Welcome to the beginning of our journey on the path to creating a plan in our community.

What is the plan and what are the goals of the campaign?

Animal lovers have long dreamed of a time when there would be no more stray animal/homeless pets.

We are confident that the dream can become a reality, in Hardin County, within the next 10 years, by participating in a broad-based network of concerned citizens and animal lovers – animal organizations, rescue groups, shelters, businesses and individuals – who work cooperatively for reasonable, effective and humane rabies/animal control programs; to end the destruction of healthy animals in the U.S.; and who help find loving, permanent homes for unwanted animals.

Respected submitted for your consideration and support.


Ted

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