What if I told you that our local animal shelter is no longer going to allow their dogs and cats to stay indoors this winter?
I can hear the cries of cruelty to animals being shouted from the roof tops. It would not be tolerated, would it? And yet that is going to be the fate of some of the homeless population in this city this winter.
Our cold hearted city council is going to force those people to fend for themselves against the cold this winter. We won’t tolerate cruelty to animals and yet some are OK with cruelty to humans.
And where do those council members think those humans are going to go this winter? Do they think they will just hop on a bus and head for a warmer climate? No! They will still be here in Red Deer. They will be forced to seek whatever shelter they can find, whether it is by breaking into buildings, vehicles or sleeping in building entrances.
Closing down the shelter before a suitable alternative is found is cruel and will only make the downtown problems worse. More crime, more policing costs. and Increased cost to the hospital.
I appreciate the problems business owners and citizens have put up with but this is not a solution, this will only make matters worse.
As for those council members who voted to close the shelter….you won’t be getting my vote.
Edward McBeth, Red Deer