WE KEEP HEARING THAT YOU DON’T KNOW THAT THE CITY OF COLLEGE PARK MAINTAINS AN ANIMAL SHELTER AT DAVIS HALL, AND AN ADOPTION SHOWCASE AT THE PETCO IN BELTSVILLE ON ROUTE 1.
The Animal Control Officer and a small core of dedicated volunteers with the Animal Welfare Committee have worked diligently to protect as many dogs, cats and rabbits as we can from going to the County facility. You may or may not know that the MOST LIKELY OUTCOME for even healthy animals at the relatively new Prince Georges County facility is still euthanasia. The kill rate for felines approaches 85%. This may occur as quickly as the same day a healthy animal is admitted to the facility.
Our City Shelter is modest, not fully accessible to the public, and can protect only a dozen or so animals from an irreversible County fate. We have been working actively with the members of the City Council to highlight the need for improved facilities for rescuing the animals found lost or abandoned on our city streets. (We also respond to many owner give-ups, due to the death of a long-time human companion or loss of the family home.)
We need your help to politely tell your City Council representatives, by letter or e-mail, that local care for lost and abandoned animals is a small price to pay, rather than continue the senseless killing that takes place at the County level. Please ask your friends and neighbors to do the same.
We fully understand that there are many pressing issues before our beleaguered City Council. Presently, however, the City has a more robust program for recycling materials, than it does for recycling the helpless animals that are discarded as trash in our neighborhoods.
If you are an animal lover, we need your personal commitment to volunteer your time as a member of the Animal Welfare Committee or in a more hands-on way, to care for the animals at Davis Hall or Petco.
Call Animal Control at 240-487-3570, (and bear with us if our singular Animal Control Officer for the City does not get back to you immediately.)
Both steps help us in our campaign to rescue animals from a sad fate on our streets or an even more distressing fate with our mismanaged County Facility.
Co-Chair of the College Park Animal Welfare Committee
