With everything thats been happening lately, its inevitable that things get lost in translation. This week, Tazewell County has been in the national spotlight for two separate matters, neither of which reflected positively on our area. First we had the whole Operation Charlie Brown thing go viral. I was pleased to report yesterday that this dog is being well cared for and the hype does not equal the reality of that situation. Secondly, media coverage of the air transport that took 30 of our dogs to Pittsburgh did, unfortunately, miss some of the details that would have contributed to more fruitful exposure of the problems here. Oddly enough--although both these things happened simultaneously--they were unrelated events and did just as much to discourage some members of the community as encourage them. However, one thing that DID NOT happen is friction between Tazewell ARC, the Buffalo rescues, and PAART, the group of pilot transporters who flew in to help. We feel we need to make that clear. At no time have we been dissatisfied with any part of that massive joint-effort rescue. It went off without a hitch, showcased extreme professionalism under pressure, and was utterly and entirely successful. ARC remains in talks with the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society about sending more Tazewell County dogs to them, and we are extremely pleased with the way thats going. Now, as far as ARCs official position on the media coverage: yes. Some of the details got shifted around and what hit the airwaves was not flattering to our area. Sadly, the changes which are right now--this very minute--underway to improve the situation here did not attract national attention. However, being thrust into the national spotlight as being an extremely high kill-rate county serves as one heck of a wake-up call for all of us, including the folks here at ARC. So lets find the positive in this. If we are going to maintain a 62% kill rate at the local shelter and resist any changes to improve that, then we need to suck it up and stop feeling wounded by the bad press. But if we are among the overwhelming majority of residents and community leaders who think the 62% kill rate is an atrocity and MUST be improved, then hey. . . lets just admit we got caught with our pants down before we could present better statistics to the world, put on our game face, come now and reason together, and keep pressing forward. Positive change will come. And one day we will all look back on these events and realize how KEY they were to making Tazewell County a no-kill community and a proud legacy we can leave our children.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:08:15 +0000
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