Animal Cruelty, Control And Euthanasia In Chicago. A Nationwide Story

     The director of the City of Chicago Animal Care and Control facility was fired. Arguments made on her behalf included the fact that euthanasia rates at the city animal shelter were lowered. If animal control is properly addressed in a large city like Chicago, with a significant low income population in need of many services, then euthanasia rates would skyrocket, not go down. By downplaying animal control, all that happens is that animals are left to die on the streets, out of sight, out of mind.
      The telling question that many animal organizations and animal advocates do not want to look at - more than likely because they do not want to rain on their feel good parade and all the easy money that comes from pretending to care about animals - are the responses to animal control and animal cruelty calls timely and appropriate? Nationwide, calls made to 911 and 311 (or another non emergency number) regarding animal cruelty and animal control are enormous. Animal advocates and animal organization have failed, if they even tried, to hold police accountable in regards to their response to animal related calls of a criminal nature. There is a complete failure and unwillingness to advocate for an appropriate police response to animal cruelty and dog fighting.
       There is also an unwillingness to examine and hold accountable how well cities like Chicago respond to animal control related calls (including calls regarding injured animals, stray animals, and dangerous animals), to ensure the response is timely and appropriate.
        As long as nationwide the response to animal cruelty continues to be minimal (which includes the use of ineffective token police forces, or the toothless and often harmful animal cruelty investigations conducted by a number of animal organizations), dog fighting and animal cruelty will continue to be some of the least enforced crimes.
         Regarding animal control, if animal advocates and animal organizations care about animals, they would concern themselves with how cities respond to animals control. Domestic animals in harm's way suffer enormously, and also put in harm's way people and wildlife.
         The less there is animal control, the less enforcement of animal cruelty laws, the fewer animals there are that might have to be euthanized. Low euthanasia numbers in and of themselves are nothing to be proud of.