Disappointed in new shelter

In response to the editorial on the new shelter (“Humane Society reaches milestone with new shelter,” Dec. 10), I would like to make an observation.

First of all, the shelter is larger – it has a lot more room for the administration duties and a huge lobby, but it only has 6 or 7 more kennels than the old shelter. And yes, it will be a healthier and more pleasant environment for the animals. These things are all important.

But I too was under the impression that as the city was growing so was our animal population and problems with homeless animals. However, during the past few years, working on the “Fur Ball,” a major fundraiser for the new shelter, their message has changed, unbeknownst to most of us.

The new message is “our goal is not to house more animals, the focus is free spay and neuter clinics and education so there are fewer homeless animals and more responsible owners.”

I am going to be watching the monthly reports on the number of animals that are euthanized over the next year. It takes time to educate people and implement a new program, and in the meantime, the animals will continue to be euthanized because of the lack of space. I certainly hope the “board” was correct in the design of this shelter and their new goal.

I will continue to support the new shelter, but am terribly disappointed with the number of kennels they decided were needed or NOT needed.

Kim Wright

Yuma