Wonderful News

 

Shortly before the first of the year we received notification from the Ga. Dept. of Agriculture that, effective 1 Jan 2011, gassing, as a means of euthanasia, would no longer, under any circumstances, be used in the state of Georgia!  The reality is (was) that gassing has been outlawed for years now but so many have been “grandfathered in” that it was still  commonplace in many county shelters.  The new law avoids all that and bans the practice completely. This is a HUGE leap forward for the state of Georgia and hopefully the beginning of a trend toward a more compassionate and humane approach to our stewardship over domestic animals.  We just hope that our new Ag. Commissioner will prove more diligent in enforcing policies that what has existed in the past.

While we are ecstatic over the fact that progress is being made, this is nowhere even close to what should exist.  There are much more humane  ways of controlling companion animal populations than euthanasia.  GARD has, from the beginning, advocated for the adoption of effective, low-cost spay/neuter policies as the only responsible means of achieving this end.  While there will always be a certain number of animals that, for one reason or another, will need to be euthanized (severely injured, dying, vicious etc.), it is appalling that , in this day and age, taxpayers pay to have tens of thousands of animals killed and dumped into our landfills for the lack of a home.  It is an unfortunate reality that Georgia’s recent shift in policy occurred only because the state was under fire for existing practices and future changes toward more humane practices are entirely dependent on public opinion and pressure exerted by taxpayers on legislators to step proudly into the 21st century with regard to animal care.  Better ways do exist in other parts of the country and have been proven to be cost-effective as well much much kinder.  Please take the time to see what’s out there (the state of Vermont provides a good model) and see what works.  Petition your legislators.  You, the taxpayer, are their moral compass and they need you to keep their jobs.