Not to be a wet blanket, but I would advise cautious optimism here. I've been involved with a couple of articles in the Indianpolis Star and they weren't totally factual when they came out (1976 & 1977). It is good that they are going to look into the situation, but recommendations and actions may be miles apart. I went to the board meetings when they first proposed new laws about Animal Control and it was really strange to see what goes on there. There were major discussions on the exact wording of things in the laws and several dog people were there to help "advise" on how things are and aren't. I know the woman from Feline Friends (got my cat Monocle from them) and she's pretty sharp. I have also adopted from IHS and their practice is to give certificates to adoption families for spay/neuter of animals. Usually covers total cost of the operation, but not necessarily shots. I still have two animals we adopted from there, Shiloh, JRT mix, and D'Artagnon, cat. They microchipped D'Ar, but we got Shiloh before the technology was available. On an overall basis, IHS is a very clean facility and fairly modern. They frequently have obedience classes there and an annual contest of photos.

What I believe needs to be done is for the Indianapolis Star to give more room to issues like training animals from early on, socialization of pets, enforcement of leash laws, why it isn't a good idea to breed your pet for "educational" purposes, etc. They could easily be a strong forum for educating the public about animal awareness, if they so chose.

Yes, LizBud, I am a native of Indianapolis. I moved to Tennessee to be with one of my daughters who then moved back to Indy. I'm staying in TN because it doesn't get as cold here for as long and when you have arthritis, that makes a difference to your quality of life.

Most of the people who say stupid stuff on those forums are the same bored people who have never learned to take proper care of an animal. They consider everything, including people and animals, as "throw away" and have little idea of life values. Most are the offspring of people that have a lot and have more money than sense (in my opinion) and, therefore, can "replace" whatever is not working for them. Lord, I could go on for pages.

Anyway, it is good to support the no-kill groups and to make places like PetsMart aware of how you want to see the Adopt a Pet centers run. Let's all pray that something really positive comes of this task force and that Indianapolis becomes a model of animal education and care.