I haven't been to a city council meeting in forever, but Oakland is as broke as the next city and tomorrow they want to discuss cutting three staffers from the already thin payroll at Oakland Animal Services. That can't happen. Oakland has finally dug its way out of one of the worst reputations in the county for shelter nastiness and there's no room for moving backwards. If you want more details on the plans to cut, feel free to email me. And better yet, if you're a resident, consider adding your two cents at the city's Open Forum - Thursday, Oct 16 at 4pm.
Speaking of City Councils - love'em-hate'em?
Well, we're still buzzin' ... Our faith was so very restored by how well Vallejo represented this past weekend. Members from their city council and animal services gave up their Sunday to help us the facilitate the Celebrate Your Pit Bull Day Event (see Christine's blog below) and over a hundred people gathered in one place to do one thing: Support pit bulls and their people.
One city rep even hoofed door-to-door to distribute event literature and connect with dog owners...
...Read this blog entry from Council Member Stephanie Gomes.
It seems like easy math, but it just doesn't happen often enough: Animal control, city gov't and dog owners all need to be on good terms so all sides can work on the issues that affect our pets.
Above: David Sidie, director of animal services at the Benicia Vallejo Humane Society, embraces pit bulls both literally and figuratively by assisting with a vaccination.
If you aren't sure where your local gov't and/or animal shelter stands on dog issues there's no time like the present to introduce yourself and offer your thoughts on public safety and responsible ownership. Extra points for offering to help make them look good by initiating an event that brings dog owners and politicos together for the common goal of evolving ourselves as better dog stewards. Being a middle man was never so rewarding.
Right: Owner Pride, Vallejo.
