Claire's Page
My name is Claire Williams. I ‘m a freelance investigative journalist and am currently writing a series of articles on animal shelters in America, the Midwest in particular. These articles will be about cities making changes in the way unwanted pets are cared for and how the use of volunteers and creative resources help to make animal sheltering a top priority. I am including South Bend Animal Care and Control as one of the shelters in this series, and will be writing a book based upon my research while writing these articles.
ACCOUNTABILITY
By Claire Williams
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. It’s not only true but alive and well in the City of South Bend, Indiana. Just because someone is in control of a department or facility does not mean they have the credentials to perform the task. Nor does it mean that they even care about the task they are performing. The corruption sneaks in; power feeds the egos of the leaders, and soon the thing they are supposed to be running is benefiting no one and spiraling out of control. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Case in point; South Bend Animal Care and Control.
It’s time for the community to really question how South Bend, Indiana is dealing with their unwanted pets. South Bend has become a prime example of why killing unwanted, homeless and abandoned pets has become an accepted practice.
I, for one, do not accept the tired rhetoric “its not their (ACO’s) fault, they’re doing the best they can”. I also have no tolerance for blaming the public for creating the pet overpopulation problem. By subjecting the real, animal loving citizen’s to bureaucratic ordinances (i.e. three pets per household), South Bend has drastically reduced their ability to place, rescue, foster, and care for the unwanted animals in this city. Should everyone have a pet? Of course not. Should exceptional pet guardians be limited to the number of animals they can “legally” care for? Only if South Bend Animal Care and Control is satisfied with the 90%+ kill rate.
Why is the city spending thousands of dollars on blueprints and architects instead of relocating and improving the shelter? Does anyone who is overseeing South Bend Animal Care and Control really know anything about animal management? Does the public know how city funds are spent? Since when does installing a crematorium count as a shelter “improvement”?
Over 90% of the animals walking into South Bend Animal Care and Control are killed. They are killed because the animal control officers have been lead to believe that is the only way to reduce pet population. Adopt a few and kill the rest. Blame the public for pet overpopulation. Instead of being horrified at the task they need to perform (killing animals), officers become complacent and just kill countless animals without question. No worries, just burn up the carcasses, and pretend it never happened.
The public needs to stop being complacent and afraid to blame anyone. The blame starts and stops with Mayor Stephan Lueke and code enforcement. Of course it isn’t the employees fault they find themselves working is substandard conditions: the same shameful and wretched substandard conditions South Bend, Indiana’s unwanted animals are living in; the accountability wrests solely with the Mayor, who has not bothered to provide even the most basic necessities a legitimate Animal Control facility would be EXPECTED to have.
South Bend Animal Care and Control is so deeply embedded in bureaucratic red tape, and pushed so far to the back burner that it isn't even close to the stove anymore. The only hope there is for those abandoned and unwanted animals (Catherine Toppel blatantly refers to them as “city property”), would be to close down the shelter and let an individual, experienced person or entity take over the responsibility that the City of South Bend has shirked for almost 14 years now.
The only hope is that the caring and intelligent citizens of South Bend finally get nauseated with the bureaucratic answers they have been blindly fed since the inception of South Bend Animal Care and Control. Hold Mayor Stephan Lueke and his code enforcement gang accountable for their actions, or lack thereof. I will warn you, the Mayor and Catherine Toppel are notorious for ignoring questions about animal control or just plain lying. Well, maybe not lying, but they are certainly ignorant about current events in the Animal Sheltering world.
A good friend of mine found that the most reliable way to speak to the Mayor is to call in when he has his next town hall radio Q&A session. That was the only way she could get a response. It was probably an honest one too, because he had to think of the answer himself. Of course it was the wrong answer.
I hope everyone who has taken the time to read this will take the time to go visit the shelter. I promise that you will be appalled, sickened and angry that a 21st Century City has not had the decency to provide more than it has for the homeless animals in our area. The conditions at South Bend Animal Care And Control are no better than animal shelters were in the 1800’s. They even have a self-important arrogant pound master.
Should the city not be held to the high standards that it would hold a pet owner to? Visit the shelter, Email the Mayor, councilmen, and code enforcement. Contact the ADA and ask why a public building providing a public service is not handicapped accessible.
You don’t have to take my word for it, just visit and see if you can be proud of the conditions the city of South Bend, Indiana is providing for their unwanted animals.
Addresses for Mayor Lueke, Catherine Toppel, and Gary Libbey:
slueke@southbendin.gov, ctoppel@southbendin.gov, glibbey@southbendin.gov,