THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 26, 1994 TAG: 9410250095
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARLENE FORD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
Workers at animal shelters know people discard their unwanted pets in a variety of ways - leaving them tied to shelter doors, packed in boxes by the front steps or even wandering loose in the parking lots.
Last week, Animal Control workers were called twice to cases where people tossed their unwanted cats from cars onto busy Virginia Beach streets.
One cat was killed immediately when it was struck by another vehicle. In another case two kittens were rescued by other motorists and brought to the Animal Control shelter.
``I feel there's no excuse for this when it's already so easy to get rid of cats in a humane way,'' Mabel Packer, staff member at Animal Control, said. ``We're open from 9 to 5, seven days a week. Even if people can't bring in the animals they don't want, they can call us, and we'll send someone out to pick them up.''
Janet Grissett, caretaker, snuggled up with one of the surviving kittens, a healthy, affectionate female tabby. She said, ``A few weeks ago I picked up three kittens right on Virginia Beach Boulevard. They never made it here, by the time I got to them they were dead.''
It is against the law in Virginia to throw an animal from a moving car.
Animal Control is at 2665 Leroy Drive. For information about animal pick up, call 427-5000. To learn about adopting a pet, call the shelter at 427-4158. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on Holland Road also has pets for adoption. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARLENE FORD
Janet Grissett with one of the kittens tossed from a car.
by CNB