AR-News: (US MO) Town Euthanizes Stray Dogs By Shooting Them

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/3278588/detail.html

TheKansasCityChannel.com

Mayor: Gunfire Cheap, Humane Way To Deal With Strays
POSTED: 9:50 pm CDT May 6, 2004
UPDATED: 10:32 am CDT May 7, 2004
IBERIA, Mo. -- A small Missouri town has a tough answer to the question of 
stray dogs. 
Video
 
 
Watch KMBC's Report  
 

 

Law enforcement in Iberia, Mo., shoots them in the head. 
Missouri law allows law enforcement officers to euthanize some stray animals, 
KMBC's Lara Moritz reported. 
"According to state statute, if an animal is vicious, we can take and dispose 
of it in any means available. And so, the means available is, we use a .22 
(caliber) rifle," Iberia Mayor Bob Crawford said. 
Crawford upholds the policy of shooting dogs whether they are vicious or not, 
Moritz reported. He recently posted a letter stating that the stray dog 
problem will be handled by the way he sees fit. 
Crawford said he believes shooting an animal is "more humane" than other 
methods of euthanasia because the animal "doesn't know what hit him." 
Sharon Smith, who makes her living grooming animals, has saved dogs from 
being shot in Iberia. 
"He was going to be shot -- that's what the officer said -- he was going to 
shoot him because he had nowhere to take him," Smith said. "I worry about the 
dogs, the pets that I groom. What if they got loose and got picked up and got 
shot? It would be horrible." 
After a dog is picked up, officers take it to a vacant lot in the middle of 
town to shoot it. The lot is directly behind Kim Downing's business on Main 
Street. She says she can hear the gunshots, and she's against the policy. 
But other residents support the way Iberia deals with stray animals. 
"I think it's helped -- you don't see any dogs running the street now," 
resident Larry Martin said. "The city police, they're just doing the best they can. 
If they was out here shooting dogs just, shooting dogs for the fun of it, 
it'd be a different story." 
The mayor says the Iberia city budget is so small, it's not possible to build 
an animal shelter. And there is no dog licensing in the city, which could 
help to fund a shelter, Moritz reported. And not having a shelter makes it 
difficult for the city to tell the difference between a stray dog and a pet. 
Copyright 2004 by TheKansasCityChannel.com. All rights reserved. This 
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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    "The day may come when the rest of the animal creation may acquire those 
rights which never could have been withholden from them but by the hand of 
tyranny. The question is not can they REASON, nor can they TALK, but can they 
SUFFER?" 
Jeremy Bentham 1748 - 1832 



         
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