The Asheville Humane Society estimates that between 8,000 and 10,000 cats and dogs wind up in the Buncombe County animal shelter every year, and those that don’t get adopted get euthanized. Now, a collaborative effort by area organizations is aiming to put a stop to it.
The Save A Life Campaign sprung forth from a 2006 Buncombe County Board of Commissioners resolution to end the euthanasia of healthy animals by 2012.
“It’s a huge undertaking,” says Shelly Moore, President and CEO of the Asheville Humane Society. “Not just one person or agency or organization can accomplish it.”
The campaign is pushing a five-point educational strategy that focuses both on preventing animals from going to the shelter and getting those that do into good homes:
• Spaying or neutering pets.
• Adoption of shelter animals.
• Fostering shelter animals until they can be adopted.
• Feral cat trapping and neutering.
• Behavior training for pets before they end up in the shelter.
The campaign officially kicks off on Saturday, Jan. 24, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Asheville Mall, with booths at most mall entrances giving out educational materials and coupons for spaying, neutering and animal adoption.
For more information on the campaign, go to www.imalifesaver.org.
— Brian Postelle, staff writer
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