Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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VOL. LXII - NO. 93 University of South Carolina, Columbia, S. C. 29208 Thursday, August 3 1972 Inadequa By MIKE HEMBREE Ten thousand animals are brought ti Richland County's Society for the Prevention a Cruelty to Animals shelter each year. Eigh thousand of those die in the shelter's ga chamber. The reasons for such destruction are varied Sickness is a key factor. Old age is also a gooi excuse to end an animal life. But the maii reason appears to be a lack of space in thi ramshackle group of buildings politely called "shelter" by the SPCA. "Builders have told us that the shelte buildings will not last another winter," explain SPCA president Mrs. Robert Greenlee. "Thi roof leaks and the staff now has to prop up somi of the beams to keep parts of the buildings fron falling. "Putting so many animals to sleep is o course a dreadful thing," she continued. "But i is really better for the animals in the long run Most of them would live a life of misery runnin around the streets." Choosing which animals get the gas is the jol of Anna Hoffman, the manager of the shelter According to Greenlee, Hoffman takes th animal's disposition as well as its health int consideration when it is brought to the shelter If an animal has a habit of chasing cars o climbing fences, it stands little chance of living Those in bad health are also high on the ga chamber list. "No sick animals come through this door, Hoffman proclaimed, pointing out the insid door to the kennel area. "We put the sick one to sleep. We can't afford to gamble with a sic animal. We could start an epidemic here." The shelter was built to house approximatel 75 dogs. According to Hoffman, about 2C animals are brought to the shelter each weel The SPCA operates mainly on membershi fees and donations received from people wh adopt animals or bring animals to the sheltei The SPCA also receives $3,000 per year fror re unds h hI r d s' f I e s k the county and $300 from the city. The group has been conducting a m V bership drive since April which has boosted 0 SPCA's number from 200 to almost 1,000. " drive has brought in an additional $10,00 P revenue. D The SPCA's main concern, according ' Greenlee, is the explosion in the ani n population of the county. Animals which loose tend to breed more often, thus produ, more and more stray animals. "People just don't want to get their fem spayed," Hoffman said. "They just don't gi damn one way or the other. Ninety per cer those we put to sleep are females." The SPCA doctrine encourages the spayir females and the altering of males. "This is soap box plea," Greenlee said. "It is the way we can control the animal population h It is simply impossible to find homes for number of animals we receive every y There is no alternative to putting most of tl to sleep." Ute Huckabee of Columbia recount! somewhat unpleasant experience she and family had with the shelter's gas charr situation. ''We had five kittens we wanted to find ho for, so we called the SPCA and they told L bring them on in, that they would find a h for them. We asked if they might be pu sleep, and the woman said absolutely not "We were unable to catch one of the kitt but we put the other four in a box and took ti to the shelter. Our kids had fallen in love the kittens, so they went with us to see thern the last time. "A man took the box into the back of shelter and we followed him. He dumped kittens into a wire cagea that alrady hel trt SPCA least 100 kittens. They didn't even have room to em- stand side by side. They were rolling all over the each other. And some of them were really The beautiful, not just alley cats. It really upset the 0 in children. "Anyway, we caught the other kitten the next to day and my husband took it to the shelter. He mal went to the rear to check on the other kittens, run but the cage was empty. He asked the man cing what had happened, and he said 'One of the kittens in the cage got distemper so we had to ales kill them all.' My husband came out of there ve a with tears in his eyes. it of "1 think what they do at that shelter is worse than what the Germans did to the Jews in the 9 of concentration camps. I don't have one good our word to say about them." )nly Although Greenlee mentions what a ere. "horrible thing" the gas chamber is, she stands the bhecne nh ea. If naiaInm-aegt ic,w aet le u llteimasiQhtcget le,h 'E d."E c'taeacaconnyfth i te nml acigtedsae hl lase t 100 kitgtein fe days.nhveromt t"he echaber.n isom badf them ee eallyt Tes beaui,nt juslft alley ts. t threally just then "AeVtna,ans caut ththe kittnthe ae p to dayenday nousoverd tookit aou the seter.ion maens, totheer tore," ond "ahd othere kirenas, rem butd the cageasemploty.ng aound the man cing haeto hadhpndckn wih saimad 'Oe examine iafor from therel.' yhsadcmeotohr ~ wThear inets ageesvnyasao.ogv n to thin attedorom that shelter is worsee the berminttion wthat three is ateraie.