Mayor Orders: Dump Shelter Dogs In National Forest
August 4th, 2008
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When I first read about this, I thought it was a hoax. But it's not.
Mayor James Valley of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas says strays in his town are better off fending for themselves then they are at the local animal shelter. So, he ordered 10 dogs to be turned loose into the St. Francis National Forest.
Apparently, the animal shelter in Helena West-Helena was shut down last January. Since then, stray dogs have been placed in a temporary shelter consisting of four uncovered pens at the city sanitation department.
Local people were complaining that the animals were still not properly cared for, so the mayor decided the animals would be better off in the forest.
Valley says the city couldn't afford to properly care for the dogs and that they were better off free. He adds, "Pardon the pun, but it was just something that was dogging us. So it would be easier for us until we get a facility and have a plan that we just not be in the animal shelter business."
It is illegal to release animals, livestock or abandoned personal property on national forest land. A release from the Associated Press reports, "A special judge has issued an arrest warrant for the mayor of Helena-West Helena on animal cruelty charges after he ordered 10 stray dogs turned loose in a nearby national forest. In a one-page order, Circuit Judge David Henry of Stuttgart also found reasonable cause to arrest Mayor James Valley over accusations that he obstructed the Humane Society from caring for the animals.
Valley says he remains convinced he did not commit a crime when he ordered city workers to turn the dogs loose.
Valley says, "We're caught in a Catch 22. If we continued to do what we were doing, we'd be bad. If we let them go, we're wrong for that as well. But the storyline would have read, if I had euthanized them, 'Mayor Kills All of the Dogs in the City.'"
The Humane Society of the Delta has intervened to help out. Gloria Higginbotham, director of the organization, told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette on July 27 that about half of the dogs had been found, and two or three others were shot by a resident who saw them on his property.
The mayor's moral compass is obviously pointed in the wrong direction. The emphasis should be on the welfare of the dogs and of the people who live in the community. Not what the headlines will read.
The picture in this blog is a snap shot of St. Francis National Forest. Sure looks like a great place for dogs to run free, get in touch with their instincts, get eaten by bears (or wolves), become tick-ridden and die of starvation or exposure.
Comments
This is another example of
This is another example of how people view pets in other parts of the country. What an idiot ...
Other parts of the country?
Other parts of the country? What is that suppose to mean? Please don't separate yourself from other people in this country. Crap like this happens everyday and in every place. We're not any different!
I work in animal rescue and
I work in animal rescue and know for a fact that there are definite cultural differences in certain geographical areas. For example, nearly 100% of the dogs in Louisiana and Mississippi were unneutered and unspayed. I was there after Hurricane Katrina. I also know for a fact that there are people in MN who abuse and neglect their animals. I was just making a statement that there are differences in culture and the way people view animals.
I came across this article
I came across this article on a google search. This Mayor should be let loose, defenseless in those woods and to see how he could survive!! When he serves his time, he should be held in an uncovered pen, the same as the dogs were, to see how cruel the treatment truly is. These poor dogs should have been placed in a foster home until permanent placement could have been found.
This Mayor is a joke. He
This Mayor is a joke. He should be replaced in his job by someone who has a heart and a BRAIN!! Why not put them in foster homes until permanent ones could be found!! You do not turn domesticated animals loose and expect them not to adapt and become wild like wolves. Soon he's going to have humans and animals going missing because these dogs have to survive somehow. He is going to have more to worry about in the future than a few homeless dogs... Jodi G. Lancaster, PA.
I think he should be shot
I think he should be shot like the dogs that wandered onto someones property, probably looking for food because they're domestic animals! They aren't prepared to provide for themselves right out of a cage.. excuse my language.. what a PRICK
You also have to realize
You also have to realize that the Humane Society would have KILLED the dogs if they couldn't find a home for them. They are not the solution either. I don't think you can do what this man did and have any success, and it was very ignorant, but come on--the Humane Society kills more pets per day and year than anyone. You have to admit their system is flawed, and sometimes just as cruel, too.
Yes, the Humane Society
Yes, the Humane Society euthanizes dogs every day but don't forget that it's done humanely. They are not starving, tick ridden, flea ridden and being killed by other animals or shot by humans. Perhaps shot and not killed..but shot and injured having to suffer until death blessedly comes. There is a big difference between this and being humanely put to sleep.
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