CLINTON —
This letter is being written with the welfare of the animals of Clinton as my No. 1 priority.
I was stunned to hear of the childish actions by the Mayor of Clinton to veto the contract between the city of Clinton and the Clinton Humane Society without even having a contingency plan in place.
I was also stunned to hear that he vetoed the approval of an ad hoc committee that was going to work to save the city thousands of dollars, as was reported on KWQC-TV.
This all evidently came as a shock and a disappointment to a lot more people than just the citizens of Clinton as the story was picked up by the Associated Press and Clinton, at the mercy of a mouse click, went national, letting the whole country know that Clinton, Iowa, was now in violation of state law by not having a licensed facility to take stray animals to.
Certainly, Mr. Mayor, I would not consider it a feather in my hat that this even made the San Francisco Chronicle. There are a lot of animal lovers in this area and I am not sure you should have scorned them as you have.
There are many people who spend more money on their animals than they spend on themselves. Do you really think this was a brilliant decision to veto the council’s decision to move foward with a contract and a committee that was planning to meet in good faith to find ways to save the city money?
Or did you do it because you jumped the gun months ago with a press release saying you would veto any increase in funding for the Clinton Humane Society? Do the citizens of Clinton realize that out of the six letters sent to surrounding vets to see if they were interested in becoming an animal holding facility for our city, the only one that is being considered is All Pets. Word has leaked out that this is your own personal vet.
Are you promising her renovations for her animal holding facility with city funding with no dollar amount stated?
You talk about numbers not adding up but it appears you don’t even allow the citizens to see your numbers.
Renovations aren’t cheap and I would think the taxpaying citizens of Clinton, of whom you claim to feel their pain, would rather the council accept a proposal where they know the dollar amount than one where the bottom line is unknown.
Renovations would be necessary as no vet in their right mind would bring stray animals with unknown diseases or illness into their facility where their paying clients bring their personal pets for care. And for those pets having surgery, the risk of disease transmission from stray to pet is even greater.
As I write this letter the citizens of Clinton have nowhere to take the stray animals of Clinton. The ACO is only picking up dangerous dogs, dogs running at large and bite case dogs and I am guessing they are being taken to All Pets, the Mayor’s personal vet for a holding period.
The citizens of Clinton cannot take a stray, hungry, injured animal to All Pets as they are only accepting certain dogs from the ACO. And what about the cats, Mr. Mayor? Do the cat loving citizens of Clinton realize you have nothing in place for cats and have no plans to put something in place? Are we just going to let the cats overtake the city? As the cat population increases, disease will also increase and then how will you get that under control?
The Clinton Humane Society has been doing business with the city of Clinton for many, many years. They have their ups and downs, good times and bad, but at all times, the animals in their care have been treated kindly and with dignity. They have never, before your brilliant veto, turned away a stray, hungry or injured animal. They provide food, shelter, veterinary care, medication, special diets, playtime, etc. for the animals at their facility.
A veterinary facility doesn’t have the time to do this as they are busy taking care of their own clients. They also aren’t going to have time to deal with adoptions. What does that mean for the animals, Mr. Mayor?
It appears you certainly didn’t have the animals in mind when you used your veto stamp on those two resolutions. I hope the citizens of Clinton will pack the City Hall tonight at 7 p.m. to let their infamous Mayor know what a mistake he has made. Please call our Mayor and your council representatives to make sure this is on the agenda for the next council meeting.
Something has to be done before more animals are left in the cold with no place to go. They don’t have a voice so please, speak for them. They need your help.
With the animals welfare in mind,
Robyn Kerr,
Clinton
Top News
February 12, 2013
READER'S LETTER: Show support for the Clinton Humane Society
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