City takes right steps to ensure dog safety

The city of Porterville’s animal control staff got burned recently by a rescue group in Oregon, but their efforts to find dogs homes should not waiver.

Turns out a community-effort to send off more than 50 small dogs to a rescue organization in Oregon was not such a good idea after it was learned the Oregon folks kept the dogs in deplorable conditions with little food, bad water and several dogs packed into cages designed for just one.

Information on the Oregon dog group surfaced after the city sent the dogs there by airplane in December. Many people in the community donated money and cages so the dogs could be sent. It should also be noted that about 30 dogs were also sent to a rescue home in Canada and by all accounts, have been well taken care of and most have found loving homes.

Porterville, and much of the Central Valley, has an abundance of small breed dogs. So much, that other areas are seeking those dogs because they do not have as many as there is a need for small dogs. If not for the efforts of local animal control officials, those small dogs — to numerous to house — would have to be euthanized.

Augie Gonzalez and his team have been good in going the extra mile to find dogs homes.

We have often heard of trips to Southern California with dogs to be given to good homes.

There are simply not enough homes here for all the small dogs taken in weekly by the local shelter.

Since the story surfaced about the Oregon group, the city has instituted a plan to better check those so-called rescue organizations to ensure dogs are not simply going to puppy mills. In the future, organizations will have to prove they are legit and will properly house and handle the dogs sent there.

The bottom line — Porterville needs to continue to be proactive in finding homes for as many dogs as possible. We are confident the measures put in place will ensure that in the future.

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Editorials in The Porterville Recorder are the opinion of the editorial board which consists of publisher Paula Patton, editor Rick Elkins and managing editor Brian Williams. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily of The Recorder.