Dear Editor,
I read with great interest Evon Dumesnil’s letter regarding the necessity to implement the recommendations for a new animal shelter in South County. We have recently had a situation that makes a new shelter more urgent. As all of us know, we had a 12-day unrelenting heat wave two weeks ago. During the day, temperatures were between 100 and 114 degrees, and nights cooled down. We humans had access to movies, shopping, air conditioners, and other methods of surviving the heat. Animals at the current shelter didn’t.
For those who haven’t visited the shelter, it is a small, outdated building. The front office is air conditioned. The cat adoption room has a window air conditioner. The rest of the facility has nothing. The dog kennel area is a long room with kennels open to the inside and outside. It has a few ceiling fans. At the back are the “sick cat” rooms, in which cats with illnesses are treated. Across the hall is the surgery room where spaying and neutering is done. There is also a room where feral cats are housed. None of these areas have air conditioning.
Both the animals and the dedicated people caring for them had to endure record-setting temperatures for a very long time. The living conditions for the animals and the working conditions for the humans were more than difficult. I know the care-givers did all that they could to cool the animals, but how much can you do in when the temperature is 112 degrees?
In a country like ours, it’s untenable that we should allow Third World conditions like this to exist for the most unfortunate animals who end up at the shelter, and for their caregivers. The study that cost the county $100,000 and recommended a new expanded shelter was completed in 2004, and for two years nothing has been done to implement it. If work had been progressing on finding a place, and construction for a new modern, air-conditioned facility, everyone could have hope. However, the Animal Needs Assessment study has been ignored. That lack of concern rests with Don Gage, who represents our area of the county, and Greg Van Wassenhove, who oversees the entire operation of the South County Animal Shelter. It appears that the care of our animals does not exist on their priority lists.
Elaine Jelsema, Gilroy
