El Paso, Texas -
An Animal Friendly Town?
by PrkStRangr@aol.com
Right now El Paso is nationally known as
the city where we beat our zoo animals. It is a city of over six hundred
thousand people and yet, not one vegetarian restaurant. It is a city of
Mexican rodeos, illegal cock fights and dog fights. A city that in many
ways has not entered the twentieth century.
But today, I happily sat at a city
council meeting where the mayor and the representatives voted to make El
Paso Animal Control a no kill shelter. When I moved here sixteen years
ago, the city pound killed dogs and cats in a gas chamber, a room filled
with fumes from a Volkswagen engine. I joined a group which protested
and finally were successful in urging the city council to spend the
money to hire a veterinarian to euthanize the animals by injection.
Today I went to the meeting prepared to
speak in favor of this change to a no-kill policy. Others had come to
urge the city to pass this resolution: the president of the Citizens
Advisory Board to the shelter, members of the Animal Rescue League of El
Paso, members of El Paso's Voice For All Animals. We didn't have to say
anything but "thank you." When this item of the agenda came up and we
approached the speakers' area with our posters and puppies (Champagne,
Millennium and Y2K-nine) El Paso Mayor Carlos Ramirez said "I just want
you to know, before you start speaking, that all of us strongly support
this resolution."
The city's goal is to phase in this
program over the next five years. The goal of the above named animal
protection groups is to make this happen sooner. It will take a lot of
work: fundraising, grant writing, organizing a volunteer force and
education. We must make a strong effort to educate the public about the
necessity of spaying and neutering. We must enlist the help of the media
in getting this message delivered. But by gosh, it is happening. And if
it can happen in El Paso, it can happen anywhere.
By the way, thanks to the efforts of
Voice For All Animals, improvements are being made for the animals at
our zoo. And there is even a vegan restaurant planning to open soon. El
Paso may actually enter the twentieth century sometime in the next few
years.
[Editor's Note: There are some critters
who could use some love and attention this holiday season. Why not take
some blankets, old newspapers and pet food to your local animal shelter
this week.]
Go on to
Helping The Animals is Easy On
Line
Return to 15 December 1999 Issue
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