Animal neglect widespread

Thank you for printing Tia Rosetti-Mills’ Sept. 12 letter, “Breed insistence deadly.” Like Tia, I am sickened by the 5 million to 8 million homeless animals that die in our shelters every year, and I am haunted by the picture of the neglected labradoodle mother and her puppies that accompanied your Sept. 2 article, “47 dogs rescued from kennel.”

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. It is the tip of the iceberg. This same abuse and neglect is widespread in breeding operations. The only reason that so many of these breeding operations are not being shut down is that there is no safe haven for these sick and helpless animals to go to, even if they are rescued.

We are fortunate to live in a community that has SCRAPS and the Spokane Humane Society, two wonderful organizations that are willing to step in, but these shelters can only do so much with their limited space and decreasing funds. Tia is correct – if we want to stop the neglect, the abuse and the death of millions of helpless animals, we need to stop buying from breeders and pet shops, and we must start adopting from the shelters and rescue groups.

Bob Anderlik

Liberty Lake