Dear Mayor White

18 July 2009

Dear Mayor White and City Council Members:

I have heard nothing but bad things about the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care (BARC) in the 18 months I've lived in Houston; my sources are knowledgeable on animal and shelter issues, and so am I.

Because the current situation, which I need not describe to you, is intolerable, I second the experts' emphatic endorsement of Bonnie Ford as the new Bureau Chief at BARC. Ms. Ford has the best interests of the animals as her leading objective, something that cannot be said of her predecessors judging by the sorry situation at BARC.

It is embarrassing enough that city officials cannot manage a facility that cities with fewer resources can handle humanely and accountably. But when failure to perform or care costs unending terror and pain, and the lives of the most helpless of Houston's citizens (*), the matter takes a gravity that demands solutions today, not tomorrow. Need I remind you, Mr. Mayor, ladies, and gentlemen, that to the dogs and cats suffering and dying at BARC, every second counts? (* Citizens? They might as well be, because what you do to them you do to citizens like me, and we vote.)

I also join the experts and the compassionate in demanding that BARC be removed from the Department of Health and Human Services whose atrocious performance concerning BARC would, in a just system, have those responsible be fired.

Defenseless, sentient animals are treated criminally with the knowledge and consent of those who have the power to stop it. How can you sleep at night!?

An answer is expected and will be appreciated.

DOLORES PROUBASTA

5634 Sylmar Rd., Houston TX 77081

Tel 713 777-5834