Hamden, CT Dog Dumping Controversy

I have been holding off on posting about this subject since it's had both regional and national coverage. Plus, it's somewhat of a morbid subject. However, since I grew up in this town, I have been following this story and it is just disgusting.

A story was revealed by a cyber paper called the hamdendailynews.com, which brought to light the fact that dead dogs and cats were being thrown into the town dump. Not buried, not cremated, not even hidden...just there, dumped in plain view at the local transfer station.

As the story has unfolded, it was revealed that a change in policy was made....all in the name of saving money. Apparently it was costing the town over $2,000 a year to cremate and dispose of the dead animals. Dumping them, of course, would be free. The blame game started and no one really knew who changed the policy, or when, or how. It just suddenly changed. Plus, it's still unclear where these dogs are coming from....are they dogs found on the side of the road? Or are they homeless dogs that are being euthanized after not finding a home? There is also rumor that the town doesn't go above and beyond in trying to find the owners of lost dogs. They keep the dog for the minimum amount of time (1 week), and then have them put to sleep if no owner comes forward.

I would hate to think that if my dogs ever got loose, that any town would not do the best they could to find the owner of the pet....especially that of a tax paying citizen.

After much public outcry, the policy was changed back to cremation. But, there are still plenty of letters to the editor and public war of words, since there are some people who spoke out in favor the town dog dumping, caring more about a measly $2K.

You can read the original article at http://www.hamdendailynews.com/town_gov.html#dd. There are plenty of other articles and letters to the editor -- just go back to the home page.