Animal-Control Training Is a Must

It now appears as though the long-held stereotype of the stalking dog-catcher, tracking down hapless strays with a net over their shoulder, is alive and well right here in the city of Pasadena.

But now it seems that the stray dogs are not the only ones who are being pursued by Pasadena’s Humane Society officers, but the owners as well, if only for allowing their dogs to frolic unleashed on their very own property.

I can only hope that I will never have to be subjected to the same mindless harassment as Willard Pugh or B.J. Rack were by overzealous Humane Society officers in recent weeks. (Owners’ Hackles Rise at Animal Control Policies” Times San Gabriel section, April 15).

The officers who serve the public while working for the Pasadena Humane Society are not (police), since they obviously would be a little more concerned with far more pertinent issues that face our community today than whether an individual was napping with his dog on their front lawn, or whether a homeowner was transferring pets from one yard to the next without using leashes.

Just as the members of the Pasadena Police Department are responsible to serve and be held accountable to the public trust, so should the officers of the Pasadena Humane Society who are funded by the taxpayers in the city: and in doing so, the Humane Society field officers should learn to exercise a little good judgment when assessing whether a dog and its owner are a threat to the public.

I can only hope that Steve McNall of the Pasadena Humane Society will see fit to invest some of his organization’s licensing fee revenue in providing sensitivity and situation-assessment training for all of his field officers who serve the citizens of Pasadena.

E. DONALD MCNEVIN

Pasadena

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