Sad, disgraceful, but true. And this has a major effect on the animal shelters in the Inland Empire.
"About one in four children in the Inland Empire are living in poverty, according to recent statistics, said Gregory Bradbard, CEO of Inland Empire United Way."
Who would adopt when they can't feed their children? If they have pets, they don't have the money to have them spay/neutered and more come into the world. They can't provide medical care and then abuse sets in. They dump, they abandon.
The City of San Bernardino is hit hardest. Do the activists care? Nope. They are filing a lawsuit against a City in bankruptcy, when programs for children are being cut, these activists expect animals to be treated better than children or the elderly.
"It’s seen in the numbers for the city of San Bernardino, which according to the Census Bureau’s American Communities Survey had a poverty rate of 31.1 percent and an unemployment rate of 17.5 percent in 2012, the year the city filed for bankruptcy."
Despite the downturn in the economy, the County of San Bernardino's animal control/shelter has continued in the quest to be the best they can be for animals. The County has a 35% euthanization rate when many shelters are well over 50% and higher.
"In 2012, 20.4 percent of San Bernardino County residents lived below the federal poverty line, an increase of 1.1 percentage points from the year before and 6.0 percentage points from 2008."
So at least 21% of the population of the County would probably not be in the market to adopt pets from the shelter, and probably contribute to the shelter population because neither can they afford to alter their pets. It's a vicious circle.
http://www.sbsun.com/social-affairs/20130919/census-inland-empire-has-nations-highest-poverty-rate
http://www.sbsun.com/social-affairs/20130919/census-inland-empire-has-nations-highest-poverty-rate
I congratulate the County of San Bernardino and the Devore shelter for continuing on against these striking odds. They deserved more praise than condemnation.
I've been to both the city and the county shelter many times. Both seemed to be clean and well managed. There are lots of pit bulls and Chihuahuas, but that is the case with many shelters across the country. Are there sick and thin animals...yes, because they are STRAYS. This is a largely Hispanic community, by and large, Latin American countries do not have the same values about letting animals wander, and about spaying and neutering. We need to look at ways how to reach and educate this community. I know there is also a wonderful education program through the Humane Society, perhaps they will reach the youth and we will see an improvement for things in the Inland Empire. I don't understand why people from out of state are trying to rescue stray dogs, especially pit bulls bred and raised by some of the criminal and gang element from the Inland Empire when surely there are animals locally that need homes. It seems like a waste of resources to ship animals from out of state. They are transorting unknown if not dangerous breeding as well as disease and virus. This is not altruism, this is insanity.
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