A meaningful pledge

In times of recession and economic woe – 2008 and, according to financial analysts, a good part of 2009 – pets and animals often become an afterthought. Some pets are abandoned; others are abused and even killed.
Unfortunately, some people are forced to choose between pets and family – and the choice there is obvious. Some, such as Bob and Debbie Shearer of Reidsville, step up to help, as evidenced by their $50,000 pledge toward construction of a Rockingham County animal shelter.
A fundraising campaign is under way to raise nearly $1 million for the planned 10,000-square-foot shelter, which is scheduled to open in Wentworth in 2010. It will include a spay-and-neuter clinic and a wing dedicated to animal adoption. Debbie Shearer also volunteers for the campaign.
“Over the past eight months,” CNN.com reported in December, “shelters around the county have seen more animals turned in because their owners have lost their homes or jobs. The shelters are also straining to meet a sharp increase in requests from people who are struggling just to provide food for their pets, says Stephanie Shain, director of outreach for the Humane Society of the United States. A spokesman for the Humane Society of Douglas County in Georgia said the abandonment rate is tenfold what it was two years ago, before waves of foreclosures started hitting neighborhoods around the county. With more animals coming in and fewer people with the resources to pay for a pet, nearly all shelters there are overrun.”
The problem is even worse for Rockingham County, which lacks a viable shelter and a well-staffed adoption program. It’s always full. To make matters worse, during the last part of 2008, county authorities responded to several reports of injured and abused animals, which may point to an even bigger and more troubling problem.
Times are indeed tough, especially in regard to raising private donations. On the flipside, governments are strapped and struggle to find money to provide basic services, which makes the Shearers’ pledge that much more meaningful.
For more information about the shelter campaign, visit rockinghamcountyanimalshelter.org, or call 342-8342.