Ignorance...stupidity...or both?

A vigil held August 15th outside the Lehigh County Humane Society linked "National Homeless Animals Day" to the thousands of animals dying inside this Lehigh County shelter.


I arrived to video tape the protest in an effort to bring attention to this shame of the Lehigh Valley. As I entered the shelter, I was greeted, or should I say "hounded" by Connie Fritch, wife of board president, Bruce Fritch.

Connie and her 'partner-in-crime,' (and I do mean crime) Eileen O'Keefe, apparently felt it necessary to follow me during my tour while attempting to convice me of the shelter's praises and good-doings.

A statement made to me by Eileen still disturbs me as I write this and is probably the single most indicator of the shelter's ignorance and stupidity - all factors that are helping to keep the status quo of 6,000 animals killed each year.

I asked Eileen why the shelter doesn't organize 'meet and greets' in pet stores or other public locations. This is an event most every other shelter, no- kill or otherwise, takes part in.. Why?? ...Because it greatly helps find homes for animals, which after all, is supposed to be the main mission of any compassionate shelter.. Right?

Apparently, not so right -
Eileen: 'It's too stressful for the animals."

Me: "So you would rather kill the animals than have them be stressed out for a few hours trying to find a loving home?"

Eileen: "Yes."
She actually said that they would, in fact, rather kill the animals than take them to meet and greets. I just can't wrap my head around that one.

Besides the obvious disturbance of this comment, if you talk to any animal group who takes dogs to meet and greets, they will tell you the dogs love it! The dogs love being out of the shelter. It gives them a chance to socialize, which greatly increases a homeless animals' chance of being adopted. .

Lehigh County Humane Society either doesn't get this or doesn't care. I can only ask, why, if there are actions they can take which will increase adoptions and thereby reduce animals killed, why aren't they doing it? It certainly presents a whole different dimension to their ignorance which makes it that much more difficult to reason and work with them.

I'm personally concluding that the Fritch's are lazy and ignorant, in both their thinking and their actions. And this brings us to yet another aspect of their ignorance which is their refusal to work with volunters.

Any high- kill shelter that really works to find homes for their animals will tell you they could not do it without the help of volunteers. Volunteers are the back-bone of any compassionate and successful shelter. Lehigh Co. Humane Society works very little with volunteers and has stated many times to former employees that they would rather not work with volunteers. One long term volunteer was told to leave after she started a program to help find homes for their animals.

Other former employees have recounted over and over again situations where humane, compassionate action was denied to animals at the shelter.

How many animals have to suffer and die at the hands of Connie and Bruce Fritch?

How many animals have to be denied humane, compassionate care because of ignorance and stupidity?

This won't stop unless all of us stand up for the animals dying right now behind shelter walls.

We can change this shame of the lehigh valley to a pride of the lehigh valley.


Contact onevoice4animals@yahoo.com and find out what you can do.
For the animals,
Cheryl

VIGIL FOR HOMELESS ANIMALS - LEHIGH CO. SHELTER

In memory of all the thousands of shelter animals who have been killed inside Lehigh Co. Humane Society under the direction of Bruce Fritch..........and in commemoration of National Homeless Animals Day, please come join us to be a voice for the animals.

When: Saturday, August 15th
Time: 11:00 am - 1 pm
Where: Lehigh Co. Humane Soc.
640 Dixon St.
Allentown, PA

For more information, please contact me at onevoice4animals@yahoo.com

Hope to see everyone there - the animals need us to be their voice....

Thanks,
Cheryl