Dogs Should be Allowed to Stay

Embattled animal-rescue operator Jonean Crowle said this week she will apply to have her land rezoned, but it is still unclear what the future holds for her and more than 120 dogs on her property.

Aldermen voted earlier this month to enforce the law on Crowle's center, South Mississippi Animal Rescue Team and Refuge.

Crowle has kept dogs there for nine years and traditionally has had about 80 at a time. After Katrina that number went up substantially when she began taking in dogs left homeless by the storm, and she said she has adopted out or reunited nearly 200 of those. Many of the dogs were taken to her by the city because they had no animal-control officer and few resources to deal with strays for a period after the hurricane.

"I know it looks like we are kind of ungrateful for what she did for us, but we don't have any choice. We have to enforce our ordinances," Jones said.

You seem more then ungratefuly you seem heartless, everyone has choices, certainly it wouldn't be beyond the aldermens ability to find a solution.

Crowle said she would consider sending the dogs only to agencies that do not kill animals that go unadopted. She said many of the "no kill" rescue agencies that could normally take some of the dogs off her hands have no room now, because they were overwhelmed after Katrina. She said Friday she has placed photos of the dogs on the popular networking Web site MySpace.com in hopes of finding them homes.

Jones said the dogs' welfare is not an issue presently, as their environment meets minimum legal standards. The animals appear to be content and well-fed.

"Nobody is skinny here," Crowle said, explaining the dogs eat about 240 pounds of donated food per day.

Read the rest in The Sun Herald and do what you can to support Crowle.