Feb 21, 2012
It takes a certain amount of coldness of heart to tell someone they must give up their pet.
Moncton's 'Turkey Lady' Sue Stulz may not appear at first glance to have the credentials, but she is proving to be among the coldest of them.
Last week it was seniors being forced to give up their pets. Today we read of a 19-year old man with cerebral palsy being Posted to Moncton Free Press, February 21, 2012
forced to give up his dog.
What does it take before someone realizes that there's something wrong with this policy? Even someone with a cold cold heart?
You can't claim that the policy has been 'in place' for 25 years when, for that duration, it has been ignored. This is a new policy, offered under the cloak of a long disused rule.
We are told the department has received "complaints." Most likely, it is one complaint. One person who may actually have a problem with pets, or may simply have a grudge. We'll never know.
We are told "there are people that had slipped on feces." Seriously? The centre has no custodial staff? Actually - these days, with government cuts, it probably doesn't. Maybe that's the real reason for the policy.
Whatever the problems are, they are minor, and the government should just deal with them, like adults, rather than telling everybody they have to get rid of their pets.
It's a small-minded policy made without even a thought given to the consequences. "Pets are an inconvenience? Then get rid of them!" The calculations of someone who doesn't care.
Come on Sue Stulz. Do the right thing. Find a way to make it work. People need their pets. And we need someone with at least some heart watching out for their interests.
