I don't know if I got the whole story here but the part about the Animal Control officers shooting the dogs and cats got my attention because I've seen this before. When I lived in Portales, NM I visited the Pound to adopt a dog. I found out later from my local vet that the way they "put the animals down" over there was to shoot them. I was horrified and went back to the pound to ask about it. I ended up feeling even worse because the officer told me that it was the only way for them to kill the animals that were not adopted. The city refused to pay for euthanizing the animals but forced animal control to "get rid of" excess animals because of a limited facility. The officer, a huge Hispanic guy, was almost crying as he told me how they had to shoot the excess animals every Tuesday. I felt so bad for him. He told me he was a good shot and made sure they died instantly. I didn't know what to do. I contacted the local paper and the city council and the uproar was just starting when my husband (Military) got orders and we had to move again. I don't know what eventually happened but I just wanted to say that the Animal Control officers are usually not the bad guys. It's the idiots who won't take responsibility for their animals and allow indiscriminate breeding or dump their animals so they end up someone else's problem. A city council who doesn't give a crap and won't pay to humanely put the animals down doesn't help either.
