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Voices For Animals of Western PA Speaks Out Against Pittsburgh's Killing of Wildlife
by Voices For Animals of Western Pennsylvania
Thursday, Aug. 09, 2007 at 6:09 AM
VoicesForAnimals@gmail.com 1-877-321-4VFA P.O. Box 7181, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Voices For Animals of Western Pennsylvania organized a presence at Pittsburgh's City Council meeting on Tuesday, August 7 against the current animal control policy that kills over a thousand healthy wild animals every year within city limits simply because they live in the city. Some VFA activists attended the meeting, while others participated in public education while holding a banner outside.
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From VFA's Press Release:
WILDLIFE SUPPORTERS STAUNCHLY OPPOSE COUNCIL’S ATTEMPTS TO TAKE THE LIFE OUT OF WILDLIFE
Voices for Animals of Western Pennsylvania Speaks Out Against Changing Contracts and Capture-And-Kill Methodology For Animal Control
Councilman James Motznik voted at a Pittsburgh City Council Meeting on Wednesday August 1st to transfer the task of killing wildlife trapped in the City of Pittsburgh to Triangle Pet, a company based in McKees Rocks. Voices For Animals of Western Pennsylvania today expressed its strong opposition to any such move by letter to City Council.
Pittsburgh Animal Control Officers (ACOs) are currently completing euthanasia training with the Animal Rescue League (ARL). In the meantime, the ARL had graciously agreed to handle wildlife euthanasia on behalf of the City, despite its ethical objections to the City’s policy of systematically killing most healthy wildlife trapped within City limits. Although that training period was initially planned to end at midnight on July 31st, the ARL has offered to extend its services to the City for another two weeks (August 14), until ACOs are able to carry out the task themselves using approved euthanasia methods via injectable solutions. Therefore, there is no need whatsoever to resort to the services of Triangle Pet at this time. However, without any contract being signed, without the approval of Council, and despite announcing to the public in June 2007 that the City would not work with Triangle Pet, the City had already proceeded to send several animals to Triangle Pet by the end of the day on August 1st.
Triangle Pet has a poor reputation as an animal control facility, among both the public and ACOs. One Animal Control representative testified to Council in June about the neglectful treatment of wildlife he and other ACOs had witnessed during the period earlier this year when the City was sending its wildlife to Triangle Pet involving the inhumane handling of a injured raccoon, as well as a distressed woodchuck.
One month ago, Laura Simon, Urban Wildlife Field Director for the Humane Society of the United States sent a complete information pack to all Council members and offered to meet with them to review wildlife policy in the City and work on finding a more efficient solution. To date, not one Council member has responded to that offer. In the letter accompanying the pack, Ms. Simon states: “The bottom line is that the trapping and euthanizing program implemented by the City of Pittsburgh is a large and continuing waste of public funds and furthermore, doesn’t address the root cause of the problem. Instead the program creates a vicious cycle of animal removal, orphaning, and enables a continuing cycle of nuisance wildlife conflicts.”
Voices For Animals representative Peter J. McKosky commented: “It is alarming that a handful of Council members were somehow able to conspire to transfer the task of euthanizing wildlife to Triangle Pet without any authorization from other Council members. They seem to have forgotten that they are accountable to the public in this and all other matters. Pittsburgh needs a complete revision of its messy, inhumane and inefficient wildlife policy. Its time to move towards a system that is more humane and cost-effective, through avoiding pointless killing while ensuring the health and safety of all City residents, human and non-human. Instead, we seem to have moved down a notch on the ethical scale. We appeal to members of Council to make a genuine effort to deal with this issue at its core, rather than relying upon questionable contractors to perform random killing as a band-aid solution.”
Interestingly, while the banner holding activists stood outside the City County Building, a public employee brought VFA volunteers an adult house sparrow covered in tar that was picked up earlier that day. The employee told VFA volunteers that they had called Animal Control hours ago - but no one had come to pick the bird up. Ironically, the bird, if picked up by Animal Control would have possibly been killed at Triangle Pet due to the City's archaic policies related to wildlife. Thankfully, VFA volunteers transported the distressed bird to a licensed wildlife rehabilitation facility in Valencia, Pennsylvania - Wild Bird Recovery (http://www.wildbirdrecovery.org) - where she will be cleaned up, cared for, and eventually returned to her rightful place in the wild.
VFA Activists Oppose The City of Pittsburgh\'s Current Handling of Wildlife
by Voices For Animals of Western Pennsylvania
Thursday, Aug. 09, 2007 at 6:09 AM
VoicesForAnimals@gmail.com 1-877-321-4VFA P.O. Box 7181, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
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A flightless house sparrow covered in tar is immediately rescued by VFA Volunteers
by Voices For Animals of Western Pennsylvania
Thursday, Aug. 09, 2007 at 6:09 AM
VoicesForAnimals@gmail.com 1-877-321-4VFA P.O. Box 7181, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
A city employee brought the distressed bird to VFA volunteers after a call to Animal Control failed to issue attention. Thankfully, VFA volunteers got to the bird first - enabling a quick transport to a wildlife rescue facility (http://www.wildbirdrecovery.org) instead of unnecessary death at Triangle Pet.
| TITLE | AUTHOR | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| one for our side | first | Thursday, Sep. 20, 2007 at 8:28 AM |
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