10/12/2026
Yes! Rescues and independent trappers shouldnโt be the only ones educating the public and working to control cat populations. This is a community-wide responsibility. Allowing colonies to grow unchecked leads to more suffering for cats and creates significant challenges for people, wildlife, and the environment. Prevention and proactive intervention are essential to making a lasting difference. Animal Control needs to be empowered and supported at the community level, even if that means euthanasia has to happen.
Post credit: Carolina Street Cats
Animals are animals. People come first.
๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ๐ป'๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐. But in the world of animal welfare, ๐ฌ๐'๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐๐๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฃ๐. And ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ.
๐ช๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ at animal control for decades.
๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ. Some of those demands were justified.
But then we kept pushing.
Every euthanasia brought a wave of outrage on Facebook calling it a moral failure. People condemned the shelter and swore they would never volunteer, donate, rescue, or adopt there again. Animal welfare advocates trotted out euthanasia statistics like a public indictment, as though the number alone told us whether animal control was doing its job.
๐ค And what did we teach them?
That an animal you never take in can never become a euthanasia statistic.
But that animal doesn't disappear.
๐งIt can still be dangerous. It can still reproduce, adding litter after litter to an already overwhelmed community. And the person asking for help may never get the education, resources, or intervention that could have prevented the problem from continuing.
And eventually, a lot of agencies seemed to learn the lesson:
โDonโt make anybody mad.
โDonโt write the citation if you can talk your way around it.
โDonโt make the difficult call if somebody will complain.
Find a rescue. Find a transfer. Find somewhere else for the animal to go. Get the animal out alive and let everybody call it a success.
NO.
When did protecting an animal become more important than protecting the people who have to live with the consequences?
We donโt need animal control to make everybody feel better.
๐ช๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น.
๐Be compassionate.
๐Be fair.
๐Know the law.
๐Seek justice where itโs needed.
๐Educate people.
๐Help animals whenever you reasonably can.
โผ๏ธBut investigate the complaint.
โผ๏ธEnforce the ordinances.
โผ๏ธTake dangerous animals seriously. Intake the animal.
โผ๏ธGet animals back to their owners when you can.
โผ๏ธMake the hard call.
And if, after all of that, euthanasia is the necessary outcome, then so be it. Keeping an animal alive at the expense of public safety isn't a victory.
โผ๏ธDo the paperwork.
โผ๏ธProtect the public.
โผ๏ธMake the decision nobody wants to make when that is the decision the job requires.
The shell of animal control still exists in most communities.
โ๏ธThe trucks are there.
โ๏ธThe uniforms are there.
โ๏ธThe ordinances are there.
๐๐ผ ๐ช๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ.
We want officers who understand that keeping an animal alive cannot be the only priority.
โPublic safety doesnโt require animal control to be cruel.
๐ช๐ผIt requires animal control to have a spine .
Bring back animal control.
โผ๏ธAttention: We appreciate our work being shared! ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ญ๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐. ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐.
