Did you and your family start your day with a wagging tail greeting you? Or a warm, purring kitty? Wonderful, isn't it?
But what happens when you come home to find your four-legged friend has gotten out and is running free? What to do? The #1 thing to do is to call the Cheyenne Animal Shelter and see if your beloved pet has been found and taken to the shelter.
You need to know your story could end very differently in the future because the City of Cheyenne and Laramie County are canceling the longstanding contractual agreement with the shelter. These elected officials intend to provide a far lesser version of animal service by having an impound facility.
An impound facility is what we used to have more than 30 years ago because, as a lifelong resident of Cheyenne, I remember it. I cannot believe there are plans to return to a cold, dank concrete building that held forlorn, dirty, skinny, sad animals in filthy cages before they were put to death.
Mahatma Gandhi said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." To the mayor, City Council members and county commissioners: Please help keep our city great and our progress on track by not canceling the agreement with the Cheyenne Animal Shelter. Please work to find a resolution in the name of animal welfare and in service to the wonderful community of pet lovers in Cheyenne.
Please don't let a "lost" animal or the many other animals in need have a terrible ending. It will be the animals who will ultimately pay the price if those in charge cannot negotiate and work together to solve this challenge.
