Sense of community responsibility

All of us have suffered the past years through the economic depression this country, state and county has gone through... For each sad story I have heard from a friend who has lost their job or home, it just adds one more 'burr under my saddle' about the REAL reason our friends and family suffer --- a lack of community responsibility.

At one time in this country, you grew up, lived close to your family and friends, probably bought a home not far from where you grew up and although we did not know it at the time, created and built the building blocks of a strong economy... We did business and socialized with those we knew... We patronized local businesses... We supported local causes and if a member of the community suffered a tragedy or major set-back, there were many in the community that jumped to help out... 

And with a strong sense of community responsibility, the local business economy flourished... 

As this mindset changed, so did the strength of the local business economy... So when the economy took a major hit, so did the now-fragile local community... Mom-and-pops went out of business, replaced by larger corporate-owned businesses that had headquarters out of state...

And in the humane community?  This impacted us just as hard, if not harder... People felt no sense of betrayal to their community when they walked into a pet shop and purchased a puppy birthed in Missouri, Oklahoma, Iowa, etc... It didn't matter to the buyer that their hard earned dollars did not stay in the local community, but in fact, was supplying income to communities located out of state...

In particular, the Greater Los Angeles area is the third largest market of puppymill puppies... And because of the HUGE business of the puppymill industry, our hard earned (and highly taxed) dollars flood into other states while our own state suffers to make its budget each year... The puppymill industry is a multi-BILLION dollar industry... That's right - billion, not million...

Between the backyard breeders (who do NOT pay income tax on the sales of their puppies) and the puppymill puppies being sold in pet shops, we ourselves have created the drain on our own local economies, communities and businesses... So when community services are cut --- or that pothole that annoys you so much does not get repaired --- we have no one but ourselves to blame...

Same problem holds true for the shelter and rescue community... Although those cute, adorable puppies were not born here in our state, many of those puppies grow into adults who are then dumped into this state's sheltering system... Someone sent their money out of state, then dumped their adult dog into a shelter for every California tax payer to shoulder the burden of taking care of and/or eventually killing that 'cute, adorable' puppy... It is like a broken water main that gushes money, sending it to everywhere but where it should be - in our own local communities!

This morning I looked at Ventura County Animal Services' website... There are 190 dogs at our local community's shelter right now that are homeless... VCAS' capacity is 200 dogs... So, once again, they are bumping at almost-capacity...

Some of these dogs have been at VCAS since November for goodness sakes!

And for all of us that protested for years at the high-kill rates at VCAS, this is offensive to me... Now that VCAS has committed itself to No-Kill, we as a community have to 'put our money where our mouth is'... If we want this county to go No-Kill, we have to adopt locally as well as stop buying from out of county and/or out of state...

Same, same holds true for the rescues in our county... Rescues that go out of county to save 10-20 dogs or puppies are doing a disservice to their own county... If your local rescue is not saving dogs in our own community, you should be asking "Why not?"... You, as an adopter or as a buyer, have every legal right to ask where that puppy or dog came from... And if the rescue tells you Devore, Bakersfield, Kern County, San Bernadino, etc. you should be asking why they are not supporting their own local community first...

We cannot continue to save dogs from other counties when our own county's pets are dying... That makes no logical sense, and certainly no economic sense... We Ventura County residents and taxpayers have a moral obligation to adopt FIRST from within our own county and help VCAS get to a No-Kill status (90%)... Without our own personal support of the cause for No-Kill, Ventura County will never get to this goal... It takes EVERYONE'S efforts as a team to get to No-Kill status - the adopter, the rescue, the community, the county residents!

Now that you have read this far, I hope I have instilled a sense of community responsibility... Or at least made you aware of why our county is having such a hard time going No-Kill... Just as the 'Shop Simi First' program is designed to keep our own local economic community sound and thriving, we need to bring about an 'Adopt Ventura County First' grassroots movement...

I'm game... How about you?
Linda, Director, TLC