Local residents invited to to help ill-fated Bartow animals at Bartow Animals Deserve Better Rally Sept. 20

Although more and more of Bartow County’s taxpayers’ dollars are being poured into animal welfare…some $1.8 million this year alone…the numbers of adoptable animals being euthanized at Bartow County Animal Control are rapidly climbing. More money is being spent, but fewer healthy animals are making it out alive.

Bartow residents and animal lovers everywhere are invited to come meet their neighbors, show off their pets and learn how the system is failing and what they can do to put an end to taxpayer waste and improve animals’ lives at the Bartow Animals Deserve Better Rally Saturday, Sept. 20 at 11 am adjacent to the public (free) parking lot at 135 W. Cherokee Ave., then a later procession to intersection of Main St. and Museum St., two blocks from the Bartow Courthouse, in downtown Cartersville. Attendees are urged to wear a blue shirt and bring their pet, if pet- and people-friendly (and poop bags, please).

This peaceful rally will include organizers’ remarks that highlight the urgent concerns about the operations of Bartow County Animal Control and its partner, the Etowah Valley Humane Society (EVHS), which have together violated Georgia law, banned rescue groups, blocked public access to animals at this taxpayer-funded facility, failed to follow the law requiring public communications about animals in their care, received numerous unanswered complaints against the shelter vet for injuries and deaths caused during routine spay and neuter surgeries and are responsible for rising euthanasia rates despite available shelter space.*

“A significant number of adoptable animals are dying unnecessarily in Bartow County. The county has an unheard of situation, unlike anywhere else in the state, where the public is not allowed into the publicly-funded animal shelter, ever,” said a spokesperson for Reform Bartow, the grassroots group organizing the rally. “Only pre-approved rescue groups are permitted limited access into the facility for rescue purposes. But now, even those rescues working hard to save these adoptable Bartow animals have been banned for asking for positive changes to help save animals’ lives. Now, the animals sit helplessly in the cold confines of the shelter until their required hold period, at which time they are eventually euthanized with no lifeline to save them.

“Our county’s animals - and taxpayers - deserve transparency, compassion and accountability,” the spokesperson continued. “We’re here to say enough is enough!”

Everyone attending the rally will have the opportunity to ask questions, offer input and hear remarks from key individuals spearheading the calls for reform.

Specific Urgent Reforms

The Bartow Animals Deserve Better Rally is calling for urgent reforms at EVHS and BCAC:

1. Comply With Georgia Law & Open Facilities – Post strays promptly so owners can reclaim pets, and open taxpayer-funded shelter to the public for a minimum of 30 hours per week
2. Ensure Transparency & Accountability – Show the public how $1.8M of taxpayer funds is spent, investigate the shelter vet for numerous injuries and deaths from routine spay/neuter
3. End Unnecessary Euthanasia – Stop killing healthy animals when animal kennels at the shelter are open and report all outcomes honestly
4. Reinstate Rescue Partnerships – Lift bans on rescue groups and restore communication with advocates so more animals can be saved
5. Restore Community Access – Host adoption events, foster programs and allow adoptions, volunteers and public access to BCAC
6. Boost Trap Neuter Return (TNR) Efforts – Recognize the county’s own progressive TNR ordinances and promote TNR as the humane approach to community cat colony management, as well as the management of owned outside cats that are not getting sterilized and vaccinated. Fund low-cost TNR appointments and assist residents’ TNR efforts
7. Review & Reform the EVHS–BCAC Contract – Launch an independent review, address conflicts of interest and consider replacing leadership that has failed animals and taxpayers

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