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Independence, MO —
It’s just a rumor.
Last week, someone began saying that the Independence City Council had voted to euthanize all of the animals at the Independence Animal Shelter, 875 S. Vista Ave. Fliers also have appeared on the Square, calling City Council members “animal killers.”
And then, city officials were flooded with hundreds of emails about the topic.
“That is totally and completely erroneous,” Mayor Don Reimal said Monday night. “The council has never spoken to that subject. We maintain as close to a no-kill (shelter) as we can.”
As the shelter prepares to move into its new facility in just a few months, the opposite is actually true, city officials say: Independence actually meets the standard definition for a no-kill shelter, which means no more than 10 percent of a shelter’s occupants are euthanized, usually for health-related reasons.
Independence Health Department Director Larry Jones said the local shelter follows the definition of a “no-kill shelter” as established by Maddie’s Fund, an Atlanta-based foundation with the purpose to help fund the creation of a no-kill nation. According to Maddie’s Fund, a no-kill shelter is “a place where all healthy and treatable animals are saved and where only unhealthy and untreatable animals are euthanized.”
According to the city, the Animal Shelter meets the definition of a no-kill shelter for at least the first five months of 2012. From January through May, the shelter accepted 643 dogs and euthanized 30 of them (4.67 percent euthanasia rate). The shelter also took in 573 cats during that time and euthanized 52 of them (9.08 percent euthanasia rate).
In total, the shelter took in 1,216 dogs and cats during the first five months of 2012, with 82 animals euthanized, for a total euthanasia rate of 6.74 percent.
“That rate is very low for a shelter our size,” Jones said. “We were running, a year ago, a much higher rate.”
At the beginning of last week, the shelter had taken in 167 cats in June and had euthanized 29 of them because of space, injury/illness or being too young. Also in June, 100 dogs were taken in and the shelter had to euthanize three of them because of illness and bite/aggression.
A majority of the cat euthanasia, Jones said, took place because the kittens were too small or too sick.
“We have had to do some euthanasia of cats due to space,” he said of the 29 cats that were put down, “but that’s not where a majority of them have taken place.”
It’s just a rumor.
Last week, someone began saying that the Independence City Council had voted to euthanize all of the animals at the Independence Animal Shelter, 875 S. Vista Ave. Fliers also have appeared on the Square, calling City Council members “animal killers.”
And then, city officials were flooded with hundreds of emails about the topic.
“That is totally and completely erroneous,” Mayor Don Reimal said Monday night. “The council has never spoken to that subject. We maintain as close to a no-kill (shelter) as we can.”
As the shelter prepares to move into its new facility in just a few months, the opposite is actually true, city officials say: Independence actually meets the standard definition for a no-kill shelter, which means no more than 10 percent of a shelter’s occupants are euthanized, usually for health-related reasons.
Independence Health Department Director Larry Jones said the local shelter follows the definition of a “no-kill shelter” as established by Maddie’s Fund, an Atlanta-based foundation with the purpose to help fund the creation of a no-kill nation. According to Maddie’s Fund, a no-kill shelter is “a place where all healthy and treatable animals are saved and where only unhealthy and untreatable animals are euthanized.”
According to the city, the Animal Shelter meets the definition of a no-kill shelter for at least the first five months of 2012. From January through May, the shelter accepted 643 dogs and euthanized 30 of them (4.67 percent euthanasia rate). The shelter also took in 573 cats during that time and euthanized 52 of them (9.08 percent euthanasia rate).
In total, the shelter took in 1,216 dogs and cats during the first five months of 2012, with 82 animals euthanized, for a total euthanasia rate of 6.74 percent.
“That rate is very low for a shelter our size,” Jones said. “We were running, a year ago, a much higher rate.”
At the beginning of last week, the shelter had taken in 167 cats in June and had euthanized 29 of them because of space, injury/illness or being too young. Also in June, 100 dogs were taken in and the shelter had to euthanize three of them because of illness and bite/aggression.
A majority of the cat euthanasia, Jones said, took place because the kittens were too small or too sick.
“We have had to do some euthanasia of cats due to space,” he said of the 29 cats that were put down, “but that’s not where a majority of them have taken place.”
Jones pointed to the shelter’s participation in the 2011 ASPCA $100K Challenge as a main reason for the improved adoption/lowered euthanasia rates. Last fall, Independence won the Midwest Region portion of the Challenge to Save More Lives, a distinction that came with a $20,000 grant to save even more animals’ lives.
“We really built up the amount of interest in the shelter and the fact that we have a number of animals for adoption,” Jones said.
The shelter also has worked to improve its website and Facebook page so citizens can see if their lost animals are at the shelter, as well as check out animals that are available for adoption.
In 2009, as planning took place for the new animal shelter, Independence and Jackson County signed an intergovernmental agreement that included the mutual goal of making the facility a no-kill shelter.
While city officials have worked to lower the shelter’s euthanasia rates, Jones said residents should still help out by having their animals spayed and neutered, especially cats. The Animal Shelter does offer low-cost spay/neuter options, and citizens can read more about that program on the city’s website, www.indepmo.org, under the “Animal Services Division” header of the Health Department section.
“We have an immense number of cats, a very large number of cats, more cats than we have cages at the Animal Shelter right now, and a lot of that is because we’ve had very small litters of kittens brought in,” Jones said. Kittens must be at least two months old and must weigh at least 2 pounds in order to be adopted out from the shelter.
Meanwhile, city officials said residents should call a council person or someone at City Hall to learn the whole story rather than relying on rumors. Jones said he would rather have citizens contact the Health Department directly for more information rather than rely on a rumor because city staff spent many hours responding to the emails based on the rumor.
“That was time that was spent away from taking care of animals instead of time being spent with the animals and getting the animals adopted,” Jones said.
District 1 Council Member Marcie Gragg, who owns three cats she adopted from the Independence shelter, said she spent a handful of hours answering similar emails this past week. She encouraged residents with questions or concerns on any city issue to contact the City Council office at 816-325-7022.
Gragg, along with Reimal, say they took the rumor personally and found it offensive.
“This council has not voted on this. We have not talked about this,” Reimal said of the rumor. “… What kind of people do you think we are, to go euthanize all of the animals at the shelter? That is personally an insult to this council.”
