Dear Editor,

I simply have to go on record with my opinions on irresponsible pet ownership, in an effort to improve the lives of some of the animals who live in our community.  I have been a professional animal care worker for my entire life and know whereof I speak.  In this day and age, it is imperative that people who wish to have a pet or pets, must have a social conscience as well as a moral conscience about this.  Our animal care systems are overwhelmed with unwanted animals, millions of them are euthanized yearly because there simply are not enough homes for them.  In my mind the careless and thoughtless breeding of animals which end up either diseased or starving or abused or euthanized after a pathetic life, is simply not acceptable.  Pets should and must, be vaccinated, neutered surgically, fed and housed in decent and humane circumstances.  That's the least we should do. If a person cannot afford to do that much, dare I suggest they should probably not have pets in the first place, and certainly should not be contributing to the production of more?  Dogs should not be allowed to roam freely, they can do a lot of damage in a neighbourhood, and that highway is far too dangerous, and cats of course end up as coyote dinner or killed on the highway regularly.  When humans allow indescriminate breeding especially of larger type crossbreed dogs, especially when these humans do so to try to get some extra cash in their hands, they tend not to be careful of who exactly is getting these puppies.  Often they are sold cheap, and people who buy puppies cheaply usually  have ulterior motives for their little lives in spite of what they may tell the seller of the pups.    Puppies and kittens  can be and are, used to train pit dogs to fight, and I know that  around the Laidlaw area, there are some sick  humans  who use bows and arrows to shoot bears.  Dogs and puppies are used to bait the bear traps to draw the bears in.  Woe betide the hapless dog if the poor bear is not hit and killed first.  I have heard of the dogs being killed by the bear, or in fact by the arrow, who knows if by accident or some sick human's want to use them as target practice.  If a person is depending on selling cheap puppies for some money, usually neither the parents nor puppies are fed properly, nor housed properly, nor are these puppies vaccinated, not to mention that often the parents can be of a temperament not suitable for breeding in the first place, and in fact sometimes very, very close relatives are bred together just because that's convenient and cheap  to do.  Wolf crosses, by the way, are usually highly inappropriate animals to be used as family pets.  If there is too much wolf in such a puppy, they often are skittish, nervous, unstable as to temperament and suitability for family pets.  I know, I know, some people will argue this point, I insist that this is so..Cats can and do often have a hard, tough life, often mercifully short if they are just " out there " to fend for themselves.  At the very least, people should have tom kittens neutered and females spayed, to help keep the population of wild cats down.  Diseases run rampant in a wild cat population and their lives can be hard and pathetic.  Have a moral and social conscience people, do the right thing for your pets.  Don't help contribute to the problem and the misery, there's more than enough of that as it is. 

Sincerely, Sheila Hall