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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Norco SPCA: It Stinks!

I was only there once. Once was enough. Last fall, I was looking for a dog. I first visited the Lehigh County Humane Society, which is very clean and well-maintained. Then I went to the SPCA in Williams Township. What a disgrace!

The smell is lethal. They should bottle that air and sell it to the military. The people who accompanied me were gone in minutes, physically ill. One started vomiting, and remained sick the rest of the day.

Yet charges were just tossed against SPCA exec director Sandra Loch. She had faced safety and cleanliness infractions, but the dog warden screwed up by charging her instead of charging the SPCA directly.

So there you have it. The supposed protectors of animal welfare are its biggest violators.

I'll bet GreenDog is pissed.

12 comments:

Greendogdem said...

so just go in there reinspect it and site them again, the right way.

Anonymous said...

I have been the NSPCA several times and too have smelled the rancid stench you speak of. However, I will not sing praises for the Humane society, who frequently kill animals after only a short stay. Area animal lovers will tell you, if you value an animal, do not send it to the Humane Society as the likelihood that that animal make it to adoption is slim. The NSPCA moved to be no-kill shelter last year. However, NSPCA is consistently disorganized, poorly run, and horrible to their volunteers. (I can speak from personal experience.) So it should come as no surprise that they didn't seem to have a contingency plan in place for a no-kill shelter, which is where the citation originally came from, overcrowding. Here's hoping a no kill shelter crops up that can handle the volume of animals in this area in a responsible, humane manner.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Anon, The reason I went to the SPCA is bc the Humane Society's small dogs were mostly placed with new owners. I left impressed that those folks care deeply. Until very recently, the SPCA was a killer, too. I don't think its problems come from its recent decision not to euthanize its animals.

Anonymous said...

one of the other problems organizations like these face is the shortage of $$.

Contribute.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Ms. Ruth, You're right about that. At the courthouse, there are regular bake sales and raffles for the SPCA. But unless your sense of smell is gone, I think you'd agree things smell pretty bad there.

Anonymous said...

Maybe it does stink to high heavens there at the Norco SPCA. But they're a No Kill shelter & thee ONLY SPCA anywhere in the region that offers absolutely free spaying & neutering for stray & feral cats. And for that alone they have mine & my wife's support.

We live in a wooded Pocono development that, like many of 'em, is over-run with throw away cats. My wife, catwoman that she is, habituates these felines & gets 'em to the point where we (mostly she) can handle them & get them to the Norco SPCA for "fixin'."

Neither the Monroe, Carbon or Lehigh SPCAs offer this invaluable service. Since the time we've discovered Norco's free spay/neuter clinic for stray & feral cats, we've probably taken 20 cats there...an undertaking that woulda' cost us a small fortune by now elsewhere, hasn't cost us a dime at the Norco SPCA.

The "biggest violators" aren't the SPCAs, they're the irresponsible pet owners out there who neglect, abuse & throw away their animals. Spay & neuter is the key!

Anonymous said...

I don't disagree that the shelter may "smell". People could volunteer to help out rather than just complain about it. I have nothing but good things to say about a shelter that is trying to rectify a problem that people have created due to not spaying and neutering and taking their responsiblity as a pet owner as a lifetime commitment. Too many people get a pet for the wrong reasons and when the pet doesn't fit into their lifestyle they throw them away, which is what the SPCA is dealing with. I agree with anonymous, the problem is not with the shelter or their lack of help but with the people in society that doen't take pet ownership seriously.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Anon 2:49, And what are you?

Bernie O'Hare said...

Anon 2:44, What you do is very nice. I applaud you and catwoman. But the place does stink. I'm not an animal volunteer. I care enough about animals to have them as pets, but I'm no animal rights crusader. For those who are, they should have a place that doesn't smell sso bad it knocks you over. If I had to live there, I'd ask to be gassed.

Anonymous said...

Gettin' gassed...ain't that what cost you your law license?

Bernie O'Hare said...

Yep. But I'm still cute.

Anonymous said...

U R cute. Love ya, Bernardo!