This was my 2 cents about BCAC, that I wrote on the WBAL site: (Sorry a little long:)) I, as many people, have been disturbed by the conditions at BCAC and the stories that many of the volunteers have told. But I think the most disturbing thing to me is that they appear to be simply a repository for animals. They make little to no attempt to inform the public of the stray animals that they have so they can reunited with their owners nor do they promote, advertise or even attempt to find homes for those pets who can be adopted. 20 years ago, before the age of social media sites, this was the norm. But I think it is inexcusible and negligent that in this day and age of FB and craigslist that they do not use these sites which are FREE and readily available. It does not take an IT expert to load a pic to FB or craigslist and give a brief description of a found pet or an available pet. Especially given the location of this facility. Again, I like most people wasnt aware that this was THE Animal shelter for Balto. Co. I thought it was the Balto. Humane Society in Reisterstown. I agree that the location is quite inconvenient for most Balto Co Residents to easily get too, especially with limited hours. That being said, making the trip out there would be easier if people knew what they were coming for. My personal experience with animal control came when I adopted a cat that was brought in as a stray while I was at BCAC with a friend. He was sweet and I felt bad for the guy so I put a deposit on him and after the required wait time I returned to adopt the cat. I was not surprised that they had not neutered him in advance, I was aware that this was my responsibility, but what I was frankly shocked at was the fact that they do not test for Feline Leukemia. I wont go into a long definition of what it is, etc. but suffice it to say that it is highly contagious and deadly disease. As a Veterinary Tech I knew this, to the average joe adopting a cat, they probably would not nor would they know to ask. The test for this is a simple SNAP test that requires a small amount of blood and gives almost immediate results. If you are looking for a reason not to adopt out a cat, Feleuk would probably be it. (there are rescues, and people who would take the cat but not in a household where other cats live who are negative). They cited the cost of the test as the reason they did not do the test, but they did microchip and vaccinate the cat. Microchiping seemed crazy given that they did not test for this disease. This cat happened to be positive unfortunately but I knew enough to keep him separate until he was tested so he did not infect my other cats. (I did pay to take him to a rescue where he could live with other FELEUK + cats). After writing to both Mr Kamenentz and Dr Branch with my opinion that this test was a must and that it not only should be done but was essential they conceded to hanging out a pamphlet telling people that the cat should be tested, etc. which I guess was better than nothing. But they need to do better! We need to make them do better!
Posted on: Sat, 05 Apr 2014 23:51:25 +0000