By Linda Taggart
Subject: Urgent Concerns Regarding Proposed Cuts to San Diego Humane Society Funding
Dear Mayor Gloria,
I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the proposed 20% cut ($3.5 million) in the City of San Diego’s contract with the San Diego Humane Society, as outlined in the draft budget.
I understand you have publicly stated there would be “no cuts to public safety,” but I, along with many others, respectfully disagree. Humane Law Enforcement is a critical component of public safety, for both animals and people.
These proposed cuts would have devastating consequences for the residents and animals of San Diego. The San Diego Humane Society provides essential services that directly impact the safety and well-being of our community. Specifically, these cuts would eliminate the following:
- No response to animal cruelty or neglect complaints.
- No animal law enforcement presence in our communities.
- No park patrols for aggressive animals.
- No capacity to enforce rabies mandates and other public health protections.
- No ability to respond to calls of wildlife in distress or pets running at large.
- No investigations of bites or potentially dangerous dogs.
These are not merely “animal services”; they are vital public safety functions. The inability to investigate animal cruelty can have direct links to other forms of violence. The lack of enforcement of rabies mandates puts both animal and human health at risk. The absence of response to dangerous animals threatens the safety of our neighborhoods and parks.
I urge you to reconsider these proposed cuts and recognize the crucial role the San Diego Humane Society plays in safeguarding our community. Reducing their funding will have severe and far-reaching consequences, jeopardizing the safety of both our residents and our animal population.
I request you to explore alternative solutions that protect these essential services. Thank you for your time and consideration of this urgent issue.
Sincerely
Linda Taggart
…no more untrained and incompetent uniformed individuals harassing dog walkers randomly, putting their hands on people’s dogs, disregarding common sense and decency, as they try to do the unfathomable work the police have sworn off because it’s idiotic, i.e., ticketing people for walking dogs without leashes when it is largely the community itself that should be tied to a post.
To anyone who actually believes the San Diego Humane Society will miss a few million from the city’s budget cuts, I would urge you to read this article, which accurately details why they do not. They are playing off the public’s compassion for animals to line their own pockets, while failing to abide by the law and to fulfill the services they promised as part of their agreements with a dozen different cities. As a former employee there, I can vouch for their greed, underhanded tactics, and failure to fulfill their mission to protect the animals in their care. This tells the real story: https://animalpolitics.substack.com/p/san-diego-humane-society-weaponizes?utm_campaign=post