Dear Editor:

I read the recent article about an adoption that took place at the Animal Shelter in Berkely Springs. As I started to read I thought that somehow I had missed this shelter and there was two in the county. Then upon further reading I realized that the writer was talking about the Humane Society of Morgan County Adoption Center and that sadly they did not know what they were talking about.

The letter was full of erroneous statements, outdated and misleading facts and worse yet that same old diatribe promoting Euthanasia, or the killing of innocent and healthy animals. This is the same drivel one hears from the Washington “Elite” and the rest of the radical “Better Dead than Fed Crowd”.

In the article the writer talked about the $75 fee she paid. I can tell you that I was about to have the very same animal adopted here in Fairfax County for $150, the regular price we get for such cats. The fact is that $75 is a bargain especially considering the cost of veterinary services, vaccination, and everything else these wonderful cats routinely receive.

The writer also talked about the cats in a highly negative way, again all the stated facts were completely wrong. Once again the writer does not have a clue. I take a large number of cats from shelters like the HSMC from a 5 state area and I can tell you without fear or favor that the cats from HSMC are the absolute best, BAR NONE. They are fully socialized, friendly, healthy and always current on their shots and Spay/Neuter.

As a result of the high quality and consistently well cared for cats I have been able to implement a series of adoption fairs in Fairfax County that will go a long way in assisting HSMC in reducing their inventory. These are not pie in the sky plans for the future, we are doing them now and have just completed the third in a row, reducing the HSMC inventory by more than 12% in the last event alone. In addition by the end of this week we will have done the same thing with their dog population, and we are a “Cat” rescue.

In addition I found the reference to the “Trailer” is another example of the “Snobbish” mind set of the Washington Elite that consistently look down on the people of West Virginia and use such terms in order to create a derogatory image.

Finally I have had the pleasure of several visits to the shelter and as a responsible rescue group I cast a careful eye on every detail. I have found everything to be exemplary in their care of animals. The facilities compare favorably with almost all of those in the “High Income” Washington DC area, and in addition the HSMC is fiscally sound, and well managed.

The citizens of Morgan County have much to be proud of in HSMC, they are doing a wonderful job with limited resources, and their leadership should be recognized for what they are, First Rate Leaders.

Chris C. Haslam, President.
Commonwealth Cat Rescue, Inc.
Fairfax VA