Misplaced Blame

As one of the administrators of a new Facebook page that features professional photos of the dogs at Tipton County Animal Control, I have noticed an alarming trend. I have had to remove hateful and inflammatory posts, by the public, criticizing the staff at Tipton County Animal Control.

At first, I paid the comments no mind. Animal welfare and the harsh realities of overpopulation and euthanasia can yield some pretty emotional rhetoric. I attributed these rare comments to an irrational and misinformed fringe segment of the population. However, I realized just how damaging these comments were when I spoke with one of the shelter employees. She expressed her fear to publicize the names of animals scheduled to be euthanized because of the horrible harassing comments and phone calls that would ensue.

_I started to imagine how awful it would be to spend your whole day caring and feeding for these animals, desperately seeking rescue groups and adoptive homes to save them, and being called a “murderer” for your efforts.