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That won’t happen now. Sheba, a German Shepherd mix who was young and healthy, according to Claudia Schoener, her would-be adoptive owner, died at the city animal control center — euthanized along with others as Hurricane Ike approached the Coastal Bend.
Schoener has wept bitter tears for the dog she had wanted so badly as a companion for her other four-legged friend at home. She had told a shelter employee she wanted Sheba, and was told to come back after Sept. 15 to claim her. But then, after reading in the Advocate that the animals would be put down because of the storm’s threat to our area, Schoener called to assure officials there she still wanted to adopt Sheba.
She got no answer, so she loaded up her pet carrier and headed for the shelter, only to find it abandoned and locked up. She figures the animals, including Sheba, were already dead at that point.
Then, upon her visit after the storm, she was told Sheba (and the other animals at the facility) had been put down so that employees could take appropriate safety precautions for themselves and their families in advance of the storm.
Now, her sorrow has turned to anger.
“I want the health department held accountable for this,” she told Advocate reporter David Tewes. “You don’t put animals to death just because there’s a storm coming.”
She can’t understand why the shelter workers didn’t just leave two days worth of food and water for the animals, instead of killing them all.
Bain Cate, the apparently media-shy director of Victoria’s public health department, chose to communicate with the Advocate only by e-mails, while not returning phone calls.
He expressed “regret” for Sheba’s death, but said all the animals put down had to be euthanized to assure the safety of his employees at the animal control shelter. He also came close to saying Schoener’s account of the events was simply untrue, and her statements would be hard for any ordinary person to believe.
We don’t agree on either point. We think Schoener’s account is very believable, and we see no motive for her to lie.
And, on the matter of shelter employee safety, we agree that leaving food and water for the animals would have allowed workers to evacuate safely and would have kept at least some of the animals alive. Workers at the nearby Dorothy H. O’Connor Pet Adoption Center found short-term adoptive “parents” for many of their animals. And the Calhoun County animal shelter transferred many of its animals to New Braunfels.
We would remind the county health director that he is a public servant, and part of his job is clear and open communication with the public. That includes the news media. Next time, please pick up your phone, sir.
And please remember that the spirit of your city’s animal shelter is the humane treatment of the animals in its care, not a predisposition to putting them down.
We do, however, feel gratitude for the dedicated workers at the city shelter who probably felt as bad as Schoener over the death of those dogs and cats.
A last word should go out to pet owners. Let’s cut down on the number of animals being born in Victoria by spaying and neutering our pets. Responsible pet owners could solve most of this tragic problem.
This editorial reflects the views of the Victoria Advocate’s editorial board.