Keeping A Compassionate Animal Shelter

As a part of Newtown’s efforts to upgrade its animal control program and facilities with a new dog pound on Old Farm Road at Fairfield Hills, the Board of Selectmen last week reviewed a two-page proposal called “Policy and Procedure, Impounded Animal Euthanasia.” The first selectman explained that the document was an attempt to formalize and codify a set of de facto practices that have been in place for more than a decade. The use of the word “euthanasia” in the title of the proposal, however, set off alarm bells in the town’s dedicated corps of animal protection advocates, many of whom showed up at the selectmen’s special meeting January 19 to insist that Newtown not abandon its recent tradition of maintaining a “no-kill” animal shelter.

Representing the board of directors of the Canine Advocates of Newtown (CAN), Virginia Jess told the selectmen, “Perception is reality, and Newtown residents’ perception is that the town takes a humane stand on euthanasia.” She noted that the long-held unwritten policy has been that no dog would be euthanized unless it was under “extreme medical duress.” CAN has some standing in this discussion, if only for its remarkable fundraising campaign for the new pound, which will save the town about $237,000.

What may have been missed by Newtown’s animal protection advocates is that by continuing with unwritten rules and understandings about how the animal shelter operates, the perception may one day hide a very different reality. Unwritten policies are not actual policies; they are simply inclinations and intentions. Circumstance and expedience have undone too many honorable inclinations and intentions in our experience to continue to rely on policies that are not actual policies. We need to make it formal. We need to get it in writing.

Even Newtown’s unwritten no-kill tradition at the pound had its exceptions. No devoted pet owner would ever stand by to watch an animal suffer in pain, nor should the town. Euthanasia has its place in even the most compassionate animal shelter. And that appears to be exactly the point of the policy proposal now under review of the selectmen. It attempts to define the restrictions on its use and to establish a process that ensures that any decision to euthanize an animal is made only as a last resort by experts, including a veterinarian, who have the safety and well-being of the affected animals as their first priority.

The Board of Selectmen has indicated that it will give the public more time to comment on the new animal shelter policies and procedures before they are formally adopted. (The proposed policy is available for review in the “Source Files” section of NewtownBee.com in the Board of Selectmen folder.) If you are concerned about how we as a community will treat the animals left by unfortunate circumstance in the care of our shelter, take the time to read the policy and let the selectmen know what you think.