I like animals.

Well, I guess I should say I like most animals. It’s really hard to feel anything for a cow because they’re just so ugly. Have you ever watched one of those beasts try to run? It’s disgusting!

But I digress.

I thought back over the past 44 years (did I just say 44?) and did a quick, top-of-the-head inventory of the various pets I’ve had. I came up with 6 dogs, 8 cats, 4 guinea pigs, 1 gerbil, 1 snake, and several aquariums full of fish. I don’t want to think about how much money has been spent on these animals for day-to-day necessities, routine medical care, and emergency medical care. I can’t remember a single one of these pets that I wasn’t fond of – certainly some more that others but they were all special in their own way.

I also care for animals that are not my pets. I remember once when a badly injured possum made its way into our garage. It obviously had a broken back and the blood from its mouth and ears strongly indicated serious internal injuries. It was very ticked off, in pain, and decided to make its last stand in our garage. It was dying, possibly rabid, very dangerous, and did I mention TICKED OFF. I had to kill that possum, but because of where it was I couldn’t shoot him. I had to bludgeon him to death. After the deed was done, and as I sat there watching the last of his life pool on the garage floor, I just wanted to cry. That bothered me for a long time, and even now thinking back on the event almost makes my eyes water.

I say all of that partly to take up space and make it look like I’ve done more work on this article than I actually have. The main reason though is to put the rest of what I want to say in the proper context.

If you read the local paper with any regularity, you could come away with the impression that not only is the Humane Society the most important organization on the face of the earth, but also that how to fund them is the ONLY issue that the county government should be addressing. Not the most important issue – the ONLY issue.

The Humane Society says they need more money to continue to provide the same level of service they are now providing. I won’t dispute that because frankly I don’t know whether they need more money or not.

The Humane Society wants you and me (or is that you and I – I never can remember) to give them more money. I don’t have a problem with that either. I’ve voluntarily given money to the Human Society and if you want to make a donation to them I think that’s just great.

The Humane Society also gets some of our money from the county for providing certain services for animals that the county animal control officers collect. I don’t have too much of an issue with that. If the Humane Society is providing services to the county government they should be compensated for those services.

The problem is that the Humane Society wants more money – a LOT MORE MONEY – from the county government and they want the county government to raise your taxes and my taxes to provide this additional money. The county government, in the form of County Council, has considered this on several occasions, and to their credit has rejected the idea so far.

Of course when this happens, the kooks really come out of the woodwork, and write their letters to the editor pondering what a despicable society we have become because we won’t fully fund such a wonderful organization. Then the liberal media jumps on board and the whole thing just snowballs.

Where are our priorities? Is the stray animal population that out-of-control? I doubt it. Would it be out-of-control if the county’s efforts were not only not increased but actually scaled back? I doubt it.

We as a society can’t afford to fund every pet project (pun intended) that some wacko, liberal, feel-good group can think up. We have to realize that there are limited resources and if we want a strong economic base then the tax burden must be kept as low as possible. Another way of saying it is government (at any level) should provide only those services that only the government can provide.

I don’t think that humane, short-term care, and eventual euthanasia of stray and unwanted animals fits into the category of “government must provide” services. I would rather the county spend my money (and it is MY money) on infrastructure and services like roads, police and fire protection. Then, with more of my money in my pocket, I can decide if the Humane Society’s services are important and worthy of my support.

Wayne