Stop sending Bay Village, OH dogs and cats to kill shelter
The residents of Bay Village, Ohio (suburb west of Cleveland) are outraged that Mayor Deborah Sutherland has made a decision to eliminate the Animal Control Officer position, close the city's kennel and start sending all stray or unaccompanied pets, to a kill shelter in another community where close to 40% of dogs and close to 80% of cats will be euthanized. There will no longer be a place for pets to be held in Bay Village while the owner is notified and reunited. Bay Village residential pets who are lost or stray will now be handled by individuals outside the community and taken to shelters where a very high percentage of pets are euthanized within days of arrival.
The animals need your help. Please sign our petition letting Mayor Sutherland know that we want our animals safe. They need to remain within the confines of our own city and not outsourced to other locations where their lives are in jeopardy.
We the undersigned, petition to stop stray and unaccompanied pets, dogs and cats, in Bay Village, Ohio, from being sent to kill shelters in other communities. Historically, Bay Village has had a small kennel that has housed such pets. When pets in the past have not been reunited with their owners, these dogs and cats have found new homes through the work of the Bay Village Animal Control Officer and residents. Bay Village residents are outraged that their pets could end up in a kill shelter within 8 hours of being lost. We demand that this new policy be revoked. Bay Village residents have volunteered and started raising money to support the construction of a new shelter that would house a small number of pets in Bay Village while they wait for their owners to claim them and take them home. If this is purely a financial decision, we ask that you take another look at the Bay Village finances and re-prioritize with compassion. You are elected officials, have acted irresponsibly, and it has been noticed by your residents. You have not acted in the interest of your residents. We show you with this petition that Bay Village residents want their lost pets to stay in Bay Village where their owners can readily find and claim them. Bay Village residents also want an Animal Control Officer who will compassionately capture and harbor the pets until they are claimed.
We ask that you either continue to use the existing kennel or build a small shelter partly or fully funded by donations, in Bay Village where our pets can be housed until we are notified and have the opportunity to claim them. We also ask that you re-employ our Animal Control Officer who aids in capturing our pets and keeping them safe until they are reunited with their owners.
