FW: URGENT ALERT! Tell City Council to Stop Killing Pittsburgh Wildlife!

August 3, 2007

FYI

Voices for Animals <voicesforanimalsURGENT ALERT! Tell City Council to Stop Killing Pittsburgh Wildlife!Fri, 3 Aug 2007 08:29:05 +0200

ACTION ALERT

THEY’RE AT IT AGAIN!

TELL CITY COUNCIL TO STOP THE POINTLESS KILLING OF PITTSBURGH WILDLIFE!

Please:

1) Call, email and fax your council member Friday and Monday

2) If possible, attend Tuesday’s Council meeting

This summer, City and County officials have had us all working overtime. From feral cats to the North Park geese, animals have been under administrative attack through a variety of measures and proposed ordinances.

Unfortunately, it isn’t over yet. We need your help again. This time City wildlife are under threat… of being sent to be killed at an animal facility with a bad reputation, or possibly of death through Carbon Monoxide poisoning at the hands of the City.

Scarcely had his cat licensing bill been laid to rest than Councilman Jim Motznik attempted at a council meeting this week to transfer the task of killing wildlife trapped in the City of Pittsburgh to Triangle Pet, an ill-reputed company based in McKees Rocks. The Council vote on Wednesday was tied, with one abstention. They will vote again on the issue next Tuesday, August 7.

The previous week, a key Animal Control official suggested that the answer to the City’s problems in disposing of wildlife could lie in gassing them with Carbon Monoxide, a method of killing that is inhumane and unacceptable.

They really don’t get it…

More details of the Triangle Pet situation can be found below. What we are asking you to do is to call, email or fax your council representative (list below) and demand that the City of Pittsburgh change its antiquated wildlife policy, which encourages and enables the public to capture and kill wildlife for conflicts that could be easily resolved with education, even if apparently healthy. A representative for the Animal Rescue League (ARL) told a VFA coordinator that before the ARL stopped doing the City’s dirty work, the City brought them over 1,000 woodchucks and raccoons every year to kill – many of them babies. This situation is inhumane, outdated and inefficient. Please ask your council person:

· To respond to the offer made by Laura Simon, Urban Wildlife Field Director for the Humane Society of the United States. Ms. Simon sent all council members a complete information pack a month ago and offered to meet with them to review wildlife policy in the City and work on finding a more efficient solution. To date, not one council member has responded to that offer. Demand that they do so and that they start paying serious attention to the non-lethal alternatives being used elsewhere.

· To vote “no” to contracting with Triangle Pet at next Tuesday’s Council meeting. It is unnecessary and the public doesn’t want it.

· Not to even consider resorting to Carbon Monoxide poisoning as a means of killing Pittsburgh wildlife.

Council needs to stop focusing on “who does the killing and where” and start considering a new and progressive approach to handling wildlife issues.

Our city kills thousands of healthy wild animals a year.

Trap-and-Kill and Trap-and-Relocate methods are cruel and ineffective.

Help us stop them!

The Triangle Pet situation

A “yes” vote for Triangle Pet would be bad news for City wildlife and here’s why:

· As an animal control facility, Triangle Pet has developed a bad reputation. One Animal Control representative testified to Council in June about the neglectful treatment of wildlife he and other ACOs had witnessed at Triangle Pet earlier this year. See the related article in the Post Gazette at:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07165/794037-53.stm

· Triangle Pet has been insisting on a 5-year contract until now. If the City is locked into a long-term contract with Triangle Pet, this will dramatically impact our efforts to introduce a more humane wildlife policy in the City.

· There is no need to resort to the services of Triangle Pet at this time. Pittsburgh Animal Control Officers are currently completing euthanasia training with the Animal Rescue League. In the meantime, the ARL has graciously agreed to handle wildlife “euthanasia” on behalf of the City until ACOs are able to carry out the task themselves.

Council meeting Tuesday August 7th

If you can attend the Council Meeting on Tuesday and speak up for Pittsburgh wildlife, please do so:

Tuesday August 7th, at 10 a.m. (sign in by 9:50 a.m. if you wish to speak).

5th floor, City County Building, 414 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

Please Contact Your Council Members:

District 1: Darlene HarrisEmail: Darlene.HarrisTelephone: 412-255-2135Fax: 412-255-2129District 2: Daniel DeasyEmail: Daniel.DeasyTelephone: 412-255-8963 Fax: 412-255-2821District 3: Jeffrey Koch Email: Jeffrey.KochTelephone: 412-255-2130 Fax: 412-255-8950District 4: Jim MotznikEmail: James.MotznikTelephone: 412-255-2131Fax: 412-255-2821District 5: Doug Shields (President of Council)Email: Doug.ShieldsPhone: 412-255-8965Fax: 412-255-2821District 6: Tonya PayneEmail: Tonya.PayneTelephone: 412-255-2134 Fax: 412-255-2821District 7: Len BodackEmail: Len.Bodack412-255-2140412-255-2821District 8: Bill PedutoEmail: Bill.PedutoTelephone: 412-255-2133Fax: 412-255-2821District 9: Twanda CarlisleEmail: Twanda.CarlisleTelephone: 412-255-2137Fax: 412-255-8658

For more information:

voicesforanimals

1-877-321-4VFA

Please send us any responses you receive!

***Please Forward Widely***

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Voices for Animals of Western Pennsylvania

Post Office Box 7181

Pittsburgh, PA 15213

1-877-321-4VFA

voicesforanimals

www.vfa-online.org