Speaking for those who cannot

I wanted to thank the Daily Pilot for its consistent support of

animal causes and for the feature articles regarding animals and the

quality and joy that animals bring to people’s lives. The recent

Saturday feature in “Boomers and Beyond” regarding the “restorative

power of pets” was excellent (“The Older Crowd,” Aug. 9).

Joseph N. Bell’s column regarding the loss of his beloved Coco

brought tears to all who read it (“For now, it just hurts,” Aug. 7).

My condolences to Bell and his family.

In reading Bell’s column and the “Boomers and Beyond” section, my

thoughts were of one thing. For all that animals give to us humans,

we sure do not do our part to give back to them. Million of animals

are discarded as yesterday’s trash and are euthanized in county-run

shelters everyday.

In a recent visit to the Orange County Animal Shelter, I saw a man

with a beautiful Dachshund about 3 years old, on a leash. The man was

bringing the dog there to give it up. I asked him why he was doing

this to the dog. He said his wife was allergic to it. I reminded him

that very few animals find homes from the shelter, and that most are

euthanized. I suggested he try to find a home on his own, but he said

he didn’t have time. He didn’t have time to give that sweet little

dog a chance.

Row after row of beautiful pure and mix-breed dogs and cats are at

the shelter waiting for someone to take them home, but most of these

beautiful creatures never get adopted.

A friend said her large apartment complex here in Newport Beach is

inundated with stray cats because people leave them behind when they

move. We welcome these beautiful creatures into our homes as our

family members, but when we have no more need for them, we turn our

backs and treat them as garbage to be left behind.

Our homeless animals are very fortunate here in Newport Beach. We

have wonderful, caring animal control officers and we have very

little overcrowding at our city shelter, so we have few animals that

end up euthanized.

I ask al the readers to please spay and neuter and always consider

adopting an adult pet from a shelter or from a rescue organization.

Please make provisions in wills for pet care. Please also write

letters to elected officials asking for change in the way the county

and city shelters are run.

Thank you again to the Daily Pilot for publishing articles on

behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves.

KRISTY NEUBO

Newport Beach