Reading, Pennsylvania is located in southeastern part of the state. The city of Reading has been named one of the poorest cities in the United States. It has a population of nearly 88,000 citizens as of 2013. It is the fifth largest city in the state with 29,979 households and 19,257 families residing in the city.
In 2010, Reading had the highest share of citizens living in poverty in the nation. In 2012, the New York Times called Reading “the nation’s poorest city.”
Within the city limits lies many households with pets. Let me rephrase, within one of the poorest cities in the nation are many unwanted pets running the streets.
While working for one of the two main shelters in Berks Counties, I already knew about the dogs and cats running loose within the city limits. My husband works in Reading and was always the chosen one among his co-workers to pick up animals others had found and to take those animals to the shelter for which I worked. I guess you could say my husband recieved his “position” by association.
My husband also found many dogs running in Reading where he tried and succeeded at catching dogs to save them from possible death. He was always looking to save lives.
The shelter at which I worked was not responsible for taking care of any strays in Reading. The other main shelter had full responsibility and a contract to do so. However, a time came when the first shelter took over the contract for Reading and all surrounding communities within the county. This shelter was now on overload.
After I left the shelter, the situation increasingly got worse within the city. In time, it was and still is mainly pit bulls and chihuahuas that were picked up or dropped off at the shelter. Even today, as my husband and I strolled through this shelter searching for a new sibling for our dog, Jazz, we weren’t shocked when we saw almost all chihuahuas in the puppy room except for a couple of dogs and mainly all pit bulls in their larger kennels except for a few exceptions.
This is not an indictment of the shelter. They have an open-door policy which means they will take any animal that comes through their doors. The other shelter has the luxury of turning away any dog or cat they don’t want or don’t see adoptable, in my opinion.
But, this isn’t about the shelters directly. This is what’s happening within the city of Reading.
At any given time, you can drive through the city and see dogs and cats roaming and running free. While the city always had problems with animals, it is simply out of hand now.
My husband used to go out of his way to save any dog or cat if he could. Now, it’s exasperating to see the large number of animals out there with no one being responsible for their animals.
No longer does my husband go out of his way to save the animals. He sees many chihuahuas that are lost or abandoned walking the pavements or streets. He knows if he takes them to the shelter that is already full of this breed, their chances of finding a home are not nearly as great as it was years ago.
He knows if he finds a cat, the cat will, most likely, be euthanized due to the high intake of these frisky felines at this shelter. According to their website, they currently take in approximately 900 cats per month. For a small shelter, it isn’t difficult to understand the percentage of cats that will leave in a body bag.
I find it disgusting and deplorable that these dogs and cats who once had a home are now spilled into the streets of Reading wandering aimlessly until they are either picked up by others who want them or by the shelter.
If Reading is one of the poorest cities in the nation, why do the people want a pet in the first place? If they can’t afford housing, food, their children, why add an additional member to the family? Pets are costly; although, I’m sure many pets never have visited a veterinarian. I know such people. They allow the pet to be sick and die a horrible death because the expense of care isn’t within their budget.
When they abandon their pet, how do these people live with themselves knowing their former pet may be killed, shot at, run over by a car or starve to death? Have they no empathy for their pets they originally wanted but now have discarded because they don’t give a damn?
Or is it apathy at the core of unwanted pets in the city of Reading? If so, why does it exist? Do they simply not care about animals?
How do we change this situation? In Harrisburg, PA police officers were told via a memo in 2012 not to bring stray dogs to shelters because they were too full. The police were told they could get rid of starys dogs outside of Harrisburg, adopt them, or they could shoot the dogs! While many denounced this absurd memo and some officials found it to be illegal, police officers were told they were allowed to drive them to another area and dump them or shoot them if they appeared to be aggressive.
Will Reading get to this point? If so, we need to start making changes now! We need to start educating children at a very young age that we must show compassion and kindness toward animals.
We need to teach people that dogs and cats are members of our families and not disposable like yesterday’s trash.
People have to learn THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR PETS!
Come on, people of Reading, PA! Take responsibility and stop pushing this problem onto other people, rescues, and shelters where many will be killed. If you can’t afford a pet, do NOT get one, under any cirumstances.
The apathy must end and change must begin.
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Sure seems like it.
This occurs in so many cities across the nation. People can’t afford their pets and they discard them with no regard for their lives. It’s getting worse with people not giving a damn about them.
This is a pervasive problem all across the country. The economy has played a role with people dumping their pets or abandoning them. The problem also lies with irresponsible owners who never should’ve had pets to begin with. Lower income people are more apt to abandon their pets as well. Sad, but true.
I cant blame your husband for not saving the animals anymore. They will inevitably kill them. At least they`re alive. It·s not right that shelters will not take animals and push the problem onto other shelters. How r they part of the solution? Answer; they`re not!
yes
I don’t dislike pit bulls or chihuhuahs but that’s all it seems the ARL has. I go there and that’s basically all you see. How many people realistically want pit bulls? As I said, I don’t dislike these two breeds of dogs but I need a variety to look at. It’s not fair to the dogs either. tHeir owners should be punished if they abandon them. Reading is getting worse and worse. At one time, Reading was known to have money. Not anymore. With the bulk on assistance, I don’ t see how they afford any dogs at all.
the answer is yes!
This is a very poorly written article. I’m a little upset I wasted my time reading and even moreso I feel obligated to leave a comment. I currently live in Reading and have lived here for about 2 years now. While I do agree that this city was named one of the poorest cities in the nation I do not agree there is any correlation between that and the amount of animals you claim to see running the streets “at any given time”. Do you live in Reading? There are a rudiculous amount of cats and that is because they no longer get picked up (which I also agree on) but because of that they breed constantly making their number evergrowing. All of the cats have not been abandoned to the streets. As for the dogs, not once have I seen a stray dog running the streets nor heard of it from anyone elae who lives around here. This city already has a bad rep and it doesn’t need people like you trying to give it a worse name with articles like this that hold a great lack of supporting documentation for their claims. Why don’t you speak with the officials running this city? Arent they under investigation right now for financial reasons? Maybe thats where all the money has gone to help this city thrive. Oh wait. That really doesn’t have anything to do with stray animals, does it?