T^ie executive director of the
Lane Humane Society is quite
blunt about the animal papulation
problem.
“I’m not going to pick any
bones about it,” says Everett
McVicker, “We put 24,000 or
more animals to sleep each year.
We do it every hour of every day.
It’s a dirty job. It’s not fun put
ting animals to sleep. And if
people don't get their animals
spayed, it’s their own damn
fault.”
McVicker says the Lane
Countv animal population ex
By BOB GALVIN
Of the Emerald
plosion is creating some serious
problems for the Humane
Society’.
He says the Humane Society
will have to be enlarged and that
he would like ttHiave an extra set
of kennels to put stray animals in,
keeping the gift animals which
the public brings to the society
separate, mainly for disease
control. McVicker says he must
keep the stray animals separated
from the gift animals because he
doesn’t know what diseases they
may have.
With the amount of kennels the
Humane Society has now, Mc
Vicker says they are handling
more strays and holding them
longer. The society has to hold
county unlicensed strays for a
minimum of four days, and on the
sixth day McVicker says the
stray is put to sleep if nobody in
the community has shown an
interest in it.
As more strays are brought to
the Humane Society, the gift
animals are being crowded out,
which causes McVicker to
question the philosophy of the
Society.
“A Humane Society is a home
for homeless animals, we take
them in but twenty four hours
“The money we want from the
county is just to meet our
operational demands out here,”
he says. But enlargement plans
complex is completed, however,
McVicker says the problem of a
growing society with more
animals to take care of will still
'If your
animal
isn ’t
spayed,
24,000
deaths
are your
fault ’
Photo by Nick Lacy
later we re {Hitting them to sleep.
It’s just not fair,” says McVicker,
who concluded that enlargement
of the Humane Society would
solve a big part of the stray
animal overpopulation.
have not been earned out due to a
lack of funds, so, the society has
applied to a foundation to get
necessary funds to build the new
kennel, he says.
When the new Humane Society
remain.
There is “a dire need” for an
animal shelter on the coast, he
says, and hopes the Humane
Society can function with the
county so that an animal shelter
can be built on the coast to take
care of the stray animals.
According to McVicker, the
county commissioners and the
budget committee have refused
to give the Humane Society any
funds for its expansion. This will
cause McVicker to cut back on
operation costs at the Humane
Society.
He says both he and the em
ployes will not receive a raise this
vear as a result, and pointed to
increased fuel costs, gas costs for
vehicles and rising food costs for
the pets as the main reasons for
the cut-back
The Humane Society receives
large amounts of money through
donations and through the
society’s sendees which include
sale of animals, cemetary
burials, private cremations and
picking up sick and injured
animals for people who dispose of
them, he says. The Humane
Society might take in nearly
$50,000 a year for these services
but it needs more money to
adequately cover them, he adds.
“We need animal control in this
county,” says McVicker. “Money
has to come from the general
county fund in order to do an
adequate animal control
program.”
McVicker speaks of a great
community misunderstanding
about the Humane Society and
Lane County Dog Control. He
says, many people think the
society is part of Dog Control and
vice versa.
“Both agencies want to clarify
that they are separate agencies.
Dog Control is under the Office of
Public Safety and the Humane
Society is under the supervision
of the county,” VMcVicker says.
(Continued on Page 14)
oi Oregon
general
catalog
1973-74
now
available
at the
coop
and the
erb
memorial
union