08221987 - News Article - Citizens can help alleviate problem of stays

Citizens can help alleviate problem of stays

Post-Tribune (IN) 

August 22, 1987

www.newsbank.com

In reference to strays injured in Gary:

The Gary Pound truck being out of commission is no excuse for an injured animal not being picked up immediately. Hobart Humane Society's van is frequently down. When we get an "injured" call, we go immediately. No van, we use our personal cars. Lake County Animal Control has done the same.

Hopefully the Post-Tribune articles and photos will enrage more people than the same few who over and over try to fight the animal injustices in Gary.

The pound doesn't have the same priorities as the Hobart Humane Society, which also does animal control for Hobart. Our priority policy is: No. 1 is always an injured animal, 2) a dog in a school yard, 3) bite case, 4) confined stray (before it's set loose), 5) stray, 6) DOA, 7) complaints.

Until the Gary Pound changes its policy and upgrades its service, there are things the citizens can do to help many of the injured strays.

Be a responsible pet owner. The strays come from someone's home. If you no longer want your cat or dog, turn it in to your local shelter or animal control. Someone may want the animal.

Don't wait a week or even one day to report your lost pet. The Hobart Humane Society keeps a lost and found file, containing descriptions of hundreds of cats and dogs. Depending on the facility, animals are kept 3-5 days before being put up for adoption or euthanized. Call all shelters and animal controls in Lake and Porter counties. Some animals travel very far and fast. Put posters in supermarkets, the post office, laundromats, veterinarians's offices, anywhere people permit.

Offer a small reward to children in the area for information about pets. Kids are outside a lot and see much we don't see. Run ads in your local paper and the major paper in your area.

Visit the shelters and animal control centers every few days. Our descriptions may vary from yours.

Don't give up. Dogs and cats have been gone weeks, even months, and then been turned in to us. A woman lost her dog four months ago - never reported it lost to us - came in to adopt a pup and found her dog in our kennel. The dog had been with us five weeks.

Do all you can to prevent your pet from becoming a "lost" statistic. Collar it with city and/or rabies tags. The animal can then be united with its owner immediately. Hobart alone took in 6,001 animals in 1986; 966 were strays. Only 168 were redeemed. Who lost the other 800?

Spay or neuter your cat or dog. A female in heat will stray looking for a male. Males will break chains, windows and gates to get at a female in heat. Packs result. Injured animals. Injured children. Lastly, unwanted litters.

Carol Konopacki, supervisor

Humane Society of Hobart Inc.

03111987 - News Article - Name on the rolls is the same at the polls

Name on the rolls is the same at the polls

Post-Tribune (IN)
March 11, 1987

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.proxy.portagelibrary.info/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=AWNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=10853A946DE5ED8B&p_docnum=16&p_queryname=4

What's in a name? 

Plenty for many of those running for public office. 

Some candidates are very particular about how their names appear on voter registration rolls since the names appear on ballots the same way. 

Former U.S. Rep. Katie Hall of Gary has always appeared on the ballot as Katie Hall. That's how she filed her candidacy with the Indiana secretary of state's office when she ran for state or national office. 

But Hall this year is running for Gary city clerk, and her name will appear on the ballot as she is registered to vote. While she signed her declaration of candidacy as Katie Hall, she is registered as Katie Beatrice Hall. 

Lake County Clerk Kenneth R. Peterson, who said the law is silent on how names should appear on the ballot, said he uses voter registration to maintain a uniformity. 

Hall couldn't be reached for comment, but Peterson said he understands she plans to change her registration to Katie Hall. She and other primary candidates have until April 6 to do so. 

Most people know Lake County Commissioner Atterson Spann by that name. 

But in 1978, Spann was on the ballot as Noah Atterson Spann Jr. In 1982, it was changed to Noah A. Spann Jr. In 1986, he was Atterson Spann Jr. 

State Sen. Carolyn Mosby, D-Gary, was Carolyn Brown Mosby on the 1980 ballot. In 1984, Mosby was simply Carolyn Mosby. 

Lake County Clerk-elect Robert C. Antich, who is known to most as Bob Antich, appears on the ballot as Robert C. Bob Antich. There was Robert L. Bob Freeland who appeared on the ballot as such when he ran for Lake County commissioner in 1978. He lost the race. He also is a former Gary councilman. 

This year there is a Robert Bob Warner running for East Chicago councilman. 

Byron "Duke" Florence, another East Chicago candidate, used his nickname on his voter registration. The nickname will be included on the ballot. 

Then there are the married women who don't want voters to forget their maiden names or different names from former marriages. 

Lake County Auditor Anna Anton uses Anna Nuzzo Anton on the ballot. There will be a Phyllis Flick Yates on the Hobart primary ballot running for City Council. 

There will also be a Frances Juzwiak Kegebein running for Hobart clerk- treasurer. 

In Highland, Marguerite Lant Montgomery is running for clerk-treasurer. 

Griffith Trustee Marthann Hanrath today has a name different from the one on the ballot in 1983. She is now registered and will appear on the ballot under her married name, Marthann Gatlin, which could be confusing for those looking for the Hanrath name. 

Geraldine Leek-Thomas, the Gary city clerk, will be taking advantage of the popular Leek name just as her late sister, Barbara Leek Wesson, did. The longest name on either ballot this May will be Michael Jarrett Whittinghill, a candidate for Lake Station councilman at large. That's 26 letters. 

There will be a Joseph McCarthy on the ballot in Hammond, seeking a City Council spot. There's nothing especially different about the name, but those who remember the former U.S. senator by the same name may just vote for him. Or they may not.

Caption: PHOTO - 2 NOAH ATTERSON SPANN JR., KATIE BEATRICE HALL 

02051987 - News Article - Humans to blame for pet deaths, say Shelter officials - Thousands euthanized each year

Humans to blame for pet deaths, say Shelter officials

Thousands euthanized each year

Post-Tribune (IN) 

February 5, 1987

www.newsbank.com

Charlie, a friendly black and white tomcat with a penchant for "people" food like roast beef and chicken, purrs with pleasure when his soft, silky coat is stroked by visitors to his cage at the Hobart Humane Society.

Adopted as a Christmas gift, the long-haired cat was brought back to the humane society on New Year's Eve.

His only crime: "Those who adopted him told us he was 'too affectionate'," said Carol Konopacki, Hobart Humane Society supervisor.

Fortunately for Charlie, the odds of the healthy feline finding a permanent home are stacked in his favor.

"They (the animals) stay here until they are adopted if they remain healthy," added Konopacki.

But that's not the case for many homeless animals. Although the adoption policies and procedures at humane societies and shelters differ throughout Northwest Indiana, the fact remains: Thousands of the animals, including those who are old, sick or just not wanted by their owners for a variety of reasons, will be "put to sleep" this year. In more blunt terms, they will be killed - either through a lethal injection or by placing them in a special decompression chamber that removes oxygen from the air.

And most shelter officials agree that the number of stray or unwanted animals being brought in is on the rise, possibly because of the high number of jobless people throughout Northwest Indiana.

Kay Kuntz, head of the Gary-based Lakeshore Humane Society, said emotions run high there most days, especially when a beloved pet that the family can't afford to care for anymore is brought in.

"People, men and women both, will cry when they bring the animals to the door, but they explain that they had to choose between their kids or their animals going hungry. Then the kids start crying because they have to give little Suzy (the pet) up," said Kuntz, adding, "We cry and pray a lot around here."

Kuntz said that the poor state of the economy not only means more animals brought in, it also means fewer adoptions.

Although the cost to adopt is low there - about $10 for cats and dogs - there often just isn't enough money in the family budget these days to feed and care for a pet, said Kuntz.

The Lakeshore Humane Society, which accepts strays from all over Northwest Indiana, has a reputation as a place that will make a good attempt, up to several months, to adopt healthy animals instead of putting them to sleep, said Kuntz.

"We have no set cutoff time as long as they are healthy and we have the room," she said. "You'd have to have a building the size of the Empire State Building to keep them all, but we do give them a fair shake." She noted the humane society has a capacity for about 50 animals, depending on their size.

Kuntz added, "But it still costs money to feed, care for and house the animals, and we can't keep them forever. Financially we receive nothing from the city (of Gary) even though the biggest portion come from there."

Instead, the humane society relies on donations and fund-raisers such as the Shaggy Dog Ball, an annual event usually held in Merrillville, to keep it financially afloat, said Kuntz.

Donna Smith, director of Porter County Animal Control, handles an average of 300-500 animals per month.

And the numbers are on the rise, Smith said. In 1985 her shelter handled 3,596, while in 1986 that figure was 3,755.

Smith calls her shelter's adoption rates "very good." In November, for instance 79 were adopted versus 128 killed. The average stay of most cats and dogs is about five to seven days before they would be "put down or put to sleep," she said.

"I kill animals, yes, unfortunately," said Smith, adding, "I would rather be doing it to their owners. It's not their (the animals') fault."

Irresponsible people who let their pets run loose and who don't have them neutered, thereby producing even more unwanted animals, are the ones to blame for the increase in strays, said Smith.

"This shelter is a product of people's irresponsible behavior. They (the people) have created the demand. If we got to the point where the shelter wasn't needed and we could level it, I'd be thrilled," Smith added.

Neutering of animals is encouraged at the Porter County shelter by rebating a portion of the adoption fee to those who later show certification from a vet.

At the Lake County Animal Control site at Crown Point, neutering is required. "We have a form and they (those adopting) must take it to their vet to verify the procedure has been done and then they must bring the form back to us," said Debra Rafacz, Lake County animal control director. If more people would take responsibility for their pets, she said, it would cut down on "hundreds of thousands of unwanted animals."

She added that too many people believe that pets should be allowed to run around at will and to reproduce in the same manner. "They see it (reproduction) as an act of life. But these are domestic animals and they need supervising."

In addition, animals that are altered are generally healthier and not as aggressive. "They (altered animals) make much better pets and companions," said Rafacz.

Although there is no set cutoff when animals are killed at Lake County Animal Control, Rafacz said those strays that are "healthy and neutered would be the last to go."

The age of the animal, its temperament and health are all taken into consideration before an animal is killed by injection.

Although Rafacz was not able to provide figures on the numbers brought into the shelter in 1986, this past year did seem somewhat busier, she said.

"But I really haven't noticed a big surge," she added.

Konopacki of the Hobart Humane Society perhaps best put into words the attitude at Northwest Indiana animal shelters.

Konopacki, who brought in her own 15-year-old dog to have it put to sleep in the Euthanaire, the brand name of the decompression chamber used there, said animals "are handled lovingly and will not suffer."

She said those who are against euthanasia methods used by humane societies and shelters should "come down and work there for awhile."

"They (those who complain) shouldn't be against us. They should complain instead about those who let their animals run loose, mate and get hit."

Animals adopted, euthanized in '86 

SHELTER                ADOPTED                EUTHANIZED

Porter County          *1,013                        **2,152

Animal Control

Lake County            **284                         ***2,942

Animal Control

Hobart                         1,369                           3,039

Humane Society

*Includes 30 assorted animals other than cats and dogs.

**Includes 347 owner requests.

***1985 figures.