A devastating account and statistics of an overseas animal shelter, these horrors go on right here in our country too; I have seen and heard this kind of carnage, what is even scarier is when I do the maths - poverty, lack of education, human desensitisation, ignorance etc. I doubt this high percentage of surrendered pets even make it out, here. Let's all protect, not only our own, but all beloved animals from these horrors ? STERILISE YOUR PETS and tell others to do so, train you puppy in order to avoid behavioural problems and if you do have problems, seek help from an expert or an enthusiast. Think ahead before adopting a pet, if you envisage emigrating and will not be able to take your animals, don't get one and in you ever plan to move into a flat don't either and if you do, shelters first please - if you can't find what you are looking for in your local shelter ask me to help you look. Let's love and cherish our animals and please, never, NEVER surrender them.

Much love, always

Davina

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CANTON - The anticipation was almost more than Virginia Corning couldbear.Sitting in a car for more than three hours, she wrapped her hands arounda photo of the chow-mix that would take the place of her Dingo, a memberof her family for 10 years whose name still plays on her home answeringmachine.Corning called the Stark County Dog Pound before leaving her Pittsburghhome on a February morning. She and her husband, Michael, wanted toensure the new family pet would be there when they arrived.But Corning's heart sank when she entered the pound at 1801 Mahoning Rd.NE. The dog she'd planned to name Daisy was not in the cage she wassupposed to be in. A young lab-mix stood in her place.Daisy was dead.More than half the dogs impounded by the county meet Daisy's fate on anygiven day.Last year, nearly 1,600 dogs, or at least 60 percent, brought into thepound were euthanized, according to county figures.Since 1990, nearly 30,000 dogs, or at least 70 percent,! of thoseimpounded have been killed.County officials say that's what goes on at a dog pound - thephilosophy is "round them up and kill them," said Marsha Cimadevilla,personnel manager at the Stark County commissioners' office, whichoversees the pound.Cimadevilla is one of two interviewing the replacement for Dog WardenJeff Wright, who is heading for the same job in Summit County.Some hope the county will change its philosophy with its new hire. Theysay healthy dogs that could be adopted get no chance.'It's a slaughterhouse'Jeanette Morris and Heather Rooney visit the pound at least once a week.They say they often find dogs with no food or water, and with faeces intheir dishes.The smell of urine is pervasive.A trip to the pound by The Repository revealed the same. Only two ofevery 10 dogs had water in their bowls; while up to four employeesgathered in an air conditioned office nearby.Rooney started the Daisy Dog Rescue Web site in December when she andMorris realized getting the dog?s public exposure is often the only wayto save their lives.The pound is a county-run facility and does little to advertise thedogs. Ohio law only requires it keep a stray dog for 72 hours. Afterthat, it can euthanize the dog, sell it to a nonprofit research facilityor donate it to a nonprofit agency that trains service dogs.Most are euthanized, said Rooney, who tracks when dogs enter and leavethe pound.County records confirm her findings.Dogs that bite are put down despite a state law that says it should bequarantined for 10 days to observe the dog for rabies.A few of those put down earlier include a pit bull that was destroyedNov. 19, 2002, the same day it entered the pound; a golden retrieveralso was destroyed that day. A pit bull puppy was destroyed the same dayit entered the pound on Nov. 20, 2002.The practice continued last year. On Dec. 27, a collie that was noted asa biter was killed the same day it came in.Sometimes, no reason is recorded for a dog's death. A dog described as a"mix" and a pit bull were destroyed Dec. 19, the same day they enteredthe pound. A Rottweiler and another dog also described simply as a "mix"were destroyed upon entering the pound Nov. 25.The Repository also found four puppies described as "mix" were destroyedwhen they entered the pound April 2."It makes no sense why some are put down so quickly," said Rooney, whovolunteered at shelters in the Columbus area before moving to Canton.Morris of Osnaburg Township began working with Rooney after she tried torescue a Pomeranian and a Chihuahua from the pound. She arrived todiscover the two small dogs - an average of 2 to 7 pounds - had beeneuthanized for cage space.Wright hasn't been available for comment recently. He starts a new jobas Summit County's dog warden this month.But employees say the Stark pound has no set day it euthanizes dogs.Three days, or, until their cage space is needed - whichever comesfirst.At least two mass kills took place at the pound this year, according tocounty records. On March 16, 15 dogs, including a Sharpei, a chow-mixand an Australian shepherd, were destroyed, but only three dogs replacedthem in their cages. On Feb. 20, 11 dogs were put down! but five of thosecages were filled."Some deaths are needless," Rooney said. "It's a slaughterhouse. Oncethey are there, it's just like death row."No room at the county innWright became dog warden with no experience.The county has a written job description that requires two yearsexperience as a chief deputy dog warden, but Wright had none. Before hewas put in charge of the pound in 2001, he worked mall andamusement-park security, and listed no experience in any animal controlposition."We didn't know that was important," said Commissioner Jane Vignos. "Hehas a couple of dogs."She said the county is looking for administration experience in the nextdog warden; experience working with animals is secondary."The dog warden's job is to get dogs off the street," Vignos said.Some of it comes down to funding, she said. "We are an agency designedto only keep animals for a period of time," Vignos said.Wright echoed Vignos' comments."Primarily, my job is to pick up the strays,"Wright said earlier in response to criticism by rescue groups such asDaisy Dog Rescue.He said he's tried to advertise the dogs; he has a laptop and digitalcamera in his office. But "we don't have the staff to do it."Neighboring Carroll County started advertising dogs on the Internet andhas been successful, said Carroll County Commissioner Bob Herron. Thepound has a full-time staff of two.Wright's staff includes six full-time deputies, a poundskeeper and adispatcher, and his budget - derived from license fees - runs about$600,000 a year.Carroll County's budget is little more than $86,600, Herron said.Wayne County has no pound. Its dog warden, Robert Fischer, said thecounty contracts with the local Humane Society to take the 40 to 50 dogsit impounds monthly. Wayne County gives the Humane Society $80,000 ! ayear to operate.Tuscarawas County, which brings in twice as many dogs as Wayne County,operates with less than $180,000 a year. The county impounds nearly1,200 dogs; and euthanizes fewer than half, about 500 dogs.Wright's new employer, Summit County, has a budget similar to Stark's- just more than $600,000, said Craig Stanley, Summit County'sdirector of facilities.Last year, it impounded 1,600 more animals than Stark did - 2,316 dogsand 1,869 cats. It euthanized just less than 2,900 animals last year."We are euthanizing a lot more animals than we'd like to," Stanley said."But ... we cannot keep stacking these animals on top of each other."Stanley said the pound contacts rescue groups on a continual basis; butthey are full, too.Call for changeLynda Marshall, a volunteer with Second Chance for Animals, wants to seechanges at the Stark pound."It's really sad and pathetic down there," Mars! hall said.A hose, which she likens to a high-pressure fire hose, is used to cleancages - the animals are not removed."They are left there dripping wet," Marshall said. "It is pathetic."Marshall also wonders why the pound refuses to let volunteers help. Shesays no one answers the phone on Saturdays - the day most looking toadopt would make a trip to the pound.Plus, pound workers have turned people away when it is after 4 p.m.,Marshall said."In the back of our minds we are always thinking we have to get to a dogSaturday or it is going to get killed Monday," she said.Martha Ickes, a volunteer for animal rescue group Diamonds in the Ruff,said she was banned from the pound altogether.She went to the pound every Saturday for five years before Wright becamedog warden. Then Wright refused to allow her in.Why is unclear. Vignos said she thinks there may have been complaintsabout the number of ! dogs Ickes housed."There were circumstances there that made us question (her)," Vignossaid, but she couldn't elaborate.Even though Wright left, Ickes said she probably won't step foot intothe dog pound again. "And that's really sad," she said.Much like Ickes, Corning finds the situation at Stark's pound a sad one.She and her husband have since adopted a chow-mix named Emma, but "Ioften think of Daisy," Corning said. "She had such a sweet, sweet face."Corning doesn't regret the trip she and her husband made to Canton thatday - her only regret is she arrived too late.You can reach Repository writer Melissa Griffy at:

PHONE.......(330) 580-8318EMAIL:melissa.griffy@cantonrep.com