Pet issue missed the mark

Gotta say I’m a little disappointed by your pet issue [“Animal Magnetism: The Pet Issue”]. I had been excited about seeing our local animal-welfare folks showcased for their avant-garde programs and positive, progressive thinking. Instead we got infomercials on couture pet clothes for your new Christmas-present puppy. Come on, a papillon? The Asheville poster-pet is a rescued dumpster kitten or an 85-pound mutt.

Aside from the ads they purchased, there was little [mention] of some of the many amazing and influential people and organizations making great strides in WNC. Heck, we’re actually becoming a no-kill community! One where no healthy pet dies because there isn’t a good home for it. Where pets are not disposable, and a commitment made is taken seriously. Where abandoning and neglecting is never OK and where we do something about the neighborhood cat who keeps having kittens every year or the dog you drive by who never gets off his chain. One where we can stop thinking that someone else will deal with these problems because we don’t want to get involved, or we’re too busy, or it’s too depressing. You can help, and there are resources to help you!

Asheville has a lot more to excite the pet lover than trendy accessories. There’s a thriving and positive animal-welfare community here, and it deserves the spotlight. The Humane Alliance Spay/Neuter Clinic offers low-cost spaying, preventing countless unwanted births (and therefore deaths) every year; rescues exist just to help owners find new homes when they can’t keep their animals; Pet Harmony—a pet store for adoptable rescued dogs and cats—opens soon; the list goes on and on.

There’s a way for every person to help out any way they want. Yeah, we all love to pamper our babies, but in Asheville it’s easy to open our hearts to the unwanted ones too and make real change in their lives, without feeling like we’re fighting a hopeless battle. What pet parent doesn’t want that?

— Jackie Teeple
Asheville

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One thought on “Pet issue missed the mark

  1. MARLISA MILLS

    Excellent letter – Mountain X cannot get caught up in the exclusive, “gated-community” way of writing. Remember the down-to-earth regular people who are maing a differece!

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