A news story aired last night on Houston's Fox 26 news which concerns the horribly inhumane treatment suffered by Hope at the hands of Harris County animal control, which is one of five kill shelters in Houston.
Hope was a severely injured Bassett Hound who had the terrible misfortune of entering Harris County animal control’s facility. Even though it is clearly evident that Hope was suffering, and even though a rescue group begged to take her to a veterinarian for treatment, the director of Harris County animal control, Dawn Blackmar, stubbornly refused to release Hope. Hope was forced to wait for 3 DAYS in what must have been agonizing pain. When Hope was finally released, her treating veterinarian said that it appeared that she had received no medical care whatsoever at Harris County AC. No antibiotics; no pain medication; not even water to wash the wound. Just three days of sheer agony at a “shelter” in Texas.
And to add insult to injury, when the rescue group spoke up, another perfectly healthy Bassett Hound that the rescue had offered to save, was killed. It would seem this poor dog was killed by Harris County animal control in retaliation because the rescue group dared to ask to save an injured dog. During her interview, Dawn Blackmar had the audacity to tell reporter, Randy Wallace that it is not their policy to contact rescue groups.
This story is horrific and I am livid that this type of abuse is allowed to continue in our Texas shelter system. Readers and Harris County residents should be outraged as well. Not only is this facility supposed to be an animal "shelter", but this facility is paid with Harris county tax dollars. If you live in Harris County, this is how your tax dollars are spent... on horrific animal abuse and a 77% kill rate. We must demand better.
And we know that Hope’s story is not an isolated incident in Texas shelters. A very similar story happened one year ago at BARC. See Keiko’s story here.
One year before that, a cat that was supposed to be on hold for me at BARC was killed anyway. This was a cat that had a home lined up and a free plane ride to Dallas, but she was killed by a "shelter" employee who didn't care enough to check the computer before killing her. A second cat on hold for me was found sitting outside the "euthanasia room" next in line to be killed. In addition, we were told that BARC "could not find" a kitten that was also on hold for me.
A Schnauzer that was on hold at the Houston SPCA was killed anyway.
This is happening over and over and over in “shelters” all over Texas.
Hope’s story and others, are perfect examples of why we desperately need the Companion Animal Protection Act in Texas and this is exactly why state Representative Jessica Farrar introduced H.B.3450 i.e. Texas CAPA. H.B. 3450 would make these shelters' refusal of life saving alternatives illegal in Texas. It is absolutely absurd that we need a law that forces shelters to treat animals humanely and release them to rescue groups so that they can receive proper medical care and so that their lives can be saved, but quite obviously we do need these laws. We now know that some shelters absolutely cannot be trusted to regulate themselves. We MUST have shelter reform legislation in Texas.
I want to suggest that we now call Texas CAPA "Hope's Law" in honor of the poor Bassett Hound that was so inhumanely treated at Harris County animal control. If she had been released to a rescue group, as H.B. 3450 mandates, Hope might have lived. She certainly would not have been forced to suffer in agony for 3 days.
Please contact members of the Texas Public Health committee and ask that they set H.B.3450 for a hearing. Please do it TODAY.
The Texas legislative session will end in a few weeks. If this bill is not set for a hearing by then, it will die. Then, we will have to wait 2 more YEARS to try again.
Do not let Hope’s death be in vain. Tell your elected Texas legislators that you want H.B. 3450!
Here are the email addresses of the Public Health committee members:
Lois.Kolkhorst@House.State.TX.US; Elliott.Naishtat@House.State.TX.US; District145.Alvarado@House.State.TX.US; District147.Coleman@House.State.TX.US; Sarah.Davis@House.State.TX.US; Veronica.Gonzales@House.State.TX.US; Susan.King@House.State.TX.US; Jodie.Laubenberg@House.State.TX.US; Charles.Schwertner@House.State.TX.US; Vicki.Truitt@House.State.TX.US; John.Zerwas@House.State.TX.US;
Authors of H.B. 3450:
Jessica.Farrar@House.State.TX.US
Eddie.Rodriguez@House.State.TX.US
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