While the fires raged through the southern
California mountains, everyone’s thoughts turned
to the victims, animals as well as people.
And thousands either donated money and/or went
to the shelters to help wherever they could.
Which was a wondderful tribute to the human kindness
almost all of us are capable of when called upon.
Unfortunately, there are (voiceless) victims at all
times, and in many places. Not just during earthquakes,
fires and floods….but all year, every year, in perfect
weather as well as bad. It’s just that in some places,
the victimizers are more cruelly deadly than in others.
I have first hand experience with one of these despicable
places: the Kern County Animal Shelter in Bakersfield.
Not only do they violate many parts of the Hayden Law
(which was written to protect the animals that cannot
speak for themselves), but the head honcho, Matt Constantine,
constanly LIES, AND LIES, AND LIES about what is going on
and why it is going on. (One only need to see how the Los
Angeles County shelters are run to see how specious his
arguments are!!!).
I do not understand why the residents of Bakersfield tolerate
this type of “backwater” thinking and behavior – especially since
it has always had that reputation to those of us who live in
more forward thinking parts of the state. Quite frankly,
Bakersfield, and Kern County, your being part of a state that
is usally “ahead of the curve,” is downright embarrasing!
And nowhere is it more embarrassing, or disgusting, than in the treatment
you tolerate of the animals who have been unfortunate enough
to land in one of your shelters! Oh, yes, they are clean.
That’s because so many of runs in front where the few deemed
“adoptable” are kept are usually EMPTY!!
Try a little experiment: ask to see the stray holds that are
behind the locked gate. And after they say “no,” I will show
you, chapter and verse, which parts of the Hayden Law they
are violating.
I could quote several people, from Jesus, to Gandhi, to Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. about how animals should be treated
by a CIVILIZED society. Instead, I’ll just issue this heartfelt
plea:
As Christmas, and the Birth that it signifies, approaches,
please try to find it in your hearts to do something to
help the perfectly healthy, adoptable animals for whom
it is a death sentence merely because they happened to
land in a Kern County Animal Shelter.
Ellen Odell
3131 Copa de Oro Dr.
Rossmoor, CA 90720
562 596 8101