If you are a dog or cat lover, your heart may be on the verge of breaking for the animals in Waco.
In case you weren’t aware, the Humane Society of Central Texas was denied funding and in a matter of just two months, will be forced to put an end to its adoption program, turning it in to a 72-hour kill shelter.
Furthermore, Waco’s Animal Birth Control Clinic has exhausted all of its funding, which will result in a major decline of spaying and neutering of animals in Waco.
After putting two and two together, we face the sad reality that our stray animal population is going to increase, meaning that the number of animals euthanized will also skyrocket.
We at The Lariat are asking how can this be happening in a city occupied by a university so concerned with ethics and philanthropy?
We are helping fix problems thousands of miles away, such as sending missionaries to Ghana or Kenya, but there are issues less than one mile away that we could also dedicate our time to.
Baylor students are known for dog walking at the Humane Society to increase the good quality of our volunteer work on our resume and adopting the cute little puppies and kittens.
This will no longer be an option at the new and improved Humane Society. The animals there will be given a 72-hour window upon arrival for their owner to come and claim them.
There will be no more adoption program. You won’t get to stroll into the Humane Society, venture through the kennels, select the cutest dog with the big eyes and take him home. Any animal left there for 73 hours will be dead.
We are deeply saddened by the thoughts of how many animals will be going to waste. They will be born to die.
Since the ABC Clinic can no longer afford to offer spaying, neutering and various vaccinations for little to no cost to Wacoans, not only will stray animals be euthanized, but many more will die because of diseases. Outbreaks of distemper and parvo could become prevalent again.
This is a disaster in the making. It is like asking for an epidemic of disease and death. All of this is due to a dispute over a mere $75,000 that the shelter asked the city of Waco to contribute on top of the $300,000 in funding that the shelter was already set to receive from them.
In comparison to some of the projects and programs that both the city of Waco and Baylor University have chosen to fund — for example, the new Baylor football stadium — this number is just spare change. $75,000 is .002 percent of the $35 million that Waco contributed to the stadium to be exact. Now that is definitely spare change.
Is this really who we are?
We are frankly at a loss as to what an appropriate solution to this animal injustice should look like.
Therefore, we are calling on Baylor as a nation to rally together to find a solution.
Surely it shouldn’t be too difficult for us to come up with a way to give these animals a chance at a healthy, happy life.
