Hands join for Animal Welfare

Celebrating animals, confronting cruelty these are the people who are working for the health, safety and welfare of pets and people in America. In an alliance of its kind, the Humane Society of the United States and Indianapolis Animal Care & Control (IACC) organization joined hands on Sunday. The merger would mean a combined effort towards pet welfare and adoption in America.

The humane society of United States was established in 1954 and is the nation’s largest animal protection organization. They are America’s one of the most trusted voices that have been strengthening the human animal bond for years through various activities. They have been leading a large number of disaster relief agencies for animals, sanctuaries and rescue facilities, wildlife rehabilitation centers, and clinics. Their campaigns target barbaric activities like dog fights, cock fights, puppy mills, clubbing of baby seals for fur, killing of horses for horse meat, etc.

The IACC too has been working on the same lines encouraging the adoption of pets from animal shelters, enforcing ordinances and laws regarding animal-related issues, housing the city's homeless and neglected animals and educating youth and citizenry regarding responsible pet ownership.

Speaking on the occasion of the merger, Steve Talley, administrator of Indianapolis Care & Control said that the main aim of the merger was to join hands in doing something for the welfare of the homeless pet animals that have been abandoned by their owners. He said that older pets face more problems in being rehabilitated and eventually many of them have to be put to sleep every year.

Martha Boden, CEO of the Humane Society of Indianapolis said that they would now try to change the philosophy within the country that pet welfare starts before they reach the shelter. They consider nothing new in such a merger, consider it common in the animal control, and care business. As municipal budgets for such causes are tight and people’s donations are not sufficient. Thus the merger would help the two organizations to best utilize their resources to help the society benefit most.

The merger aims at-
•Promising to streamline the search for pet owners that have lost animals
•Both agencies hope to save money through the merger by better utilization of resources
•The agencies plan to organize counseling classes for pet owners
•In order to dissuade people from surrendering pets there is a plan to increase the fees for surrendering an animal.
•To break down the barriers and to best educate the next generations of pet owners
•Putting people in touch with resources to handle their animals during times of crisis
•To bring a change in attitude before a family adopts an animal.
•The agencies aim at a better use of the veterinarian resources and facilities
•It will also provide better options for animals and families looking to adopt an animal.

As Americans continue to abandon pets on the streets for reasons like change in the animal’s behavior, low family income, diseased pet, moving to a new place and what not, here are a sensible and sensitive few who are trying to help these animals get a safe and secure home. Moreover, by doing so they are not only giving a new life to the animals, but to some humans too.