I was born and raised in Savannah. It will always be home in my mind, no matter where I live. Coastal Empire was the title of my first novel for a reason. Savannah is in my blood. But today, that blood is boiling. Last weekend I was back home, visiting friends, when an article in the Savannah Morning News caught my eye. The story was about a dog named Barkley, Savannah Chief of Police Willie Lovett, animal control, and a "volunteer" named Diane Abolt. I'll briefly summarize the salient details to be found in the article. Diane Abolt legitimately had first claim to adopting Barkley by virtue of being the first person to fill an application. No favoritism was shown. No argument from me on this point; she had dibs on the dog. However, Abolt failed to adopt Barkley within the standard time frame, forfeiting all claims under the shelter rules that apply to everybody else. This is pretty much universal, standard animal shelter procedure. As the saying goes: you snooze, you lose. People change their minds all the time, so you never hold a dog for one particular person. You certainly don't hold a dog after the waiting period has expired, especially when another fully qualified adopter is patiently waiting in line. The goal is to place as many healthy animals as possible into loving forever homes, not play favorites. A kennel run occupied by a dog that ought to be in its forever home takes up valuable space and could cause an otherwise adoptable dog to be euthanized simply due to overcrowding. It's how the animal rescue and adoption business … [Read more...]