Please allow me to provide your readers with some additional information concerning the Animal Shelter of Pell City, Inc. (ASPCI) and the animals we received in July of this year.

The report published in your paper on August 30 gave statistics for dogs and cats that were brought to us by the Pell City Animal Control Officer. The shelter received a total of 623 animals in July. This includes animals from other animal control agencies in St. Clair County and Lincoln, strays brought in by the public, and animals brought to us by owners who had too many or could no longer care for them. Of these 623, 117 were placed, either through our adoption program (84), transferred to rescue organizations (15), or return to their owners (18). Our adoptions for 2012 are more than 70% higher than they were at this time last year.

It is heart breaking for ASPCI employees to euthanize adoptable animals because of overcrowding in the shelter or lack of money to treat injuries or diseases. Unfortunately, as our experience over the last 12 years has shown, we are able to find homes for only about 20% of the animals brought in to us. Housing large numbers of homeless animals is not the answer; responsible pet ownership is. We desperately need the help of the public to bring down the number of unwanted animals in our area. We ask that owners prevent their dogs and cats from roaming, and spay and neuter their pets. This is the only solution to all the unwanted puppies and kittens that are brought to our shelter every day. Until more owners take responsibility for their animals, we will continue to deal with receiving more animals than we can place.

ASPCI has a low cost spay/neuter program that is open to all residents of St. Clair County and the City of Lincoln. Rather than being part of the problem, please become part of the solution and have your animals altered. Call the shelter at 205-814-1567 to get details of our program. We look forward to the day when there are no stray animals that have been abandoned by their owners, no unwanted litters and no need to euthanize healthy animals due to lack of space.