She stood there shaking and said, “𝗜’𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘁. 𝗜’𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗲. 𝗜’𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽. 𝗜’𝗺 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗸 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿.”
𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝘀 “𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲.” She is everyone. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗿. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂.
Catherine came to the Commissioners asking for help 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻. She, too, was ignored.
She went to 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗸 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 looking for her cat. Holding onto the hope that the system meant to 𝗿𝗲𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝘁𝘀 would do exactly that.
Instead, she learned the truth no one warns you about until it’s too late.
That in 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗸 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆, 𝟵𝟴% 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 as stray 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, and 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝟮% 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 back 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲.
That families don’t just lose their pets—they 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 without knowing 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻, 𝗵𝗼𝘄, or 𝘄𝗵𝘆 because this system 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
Then comes the part that 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲. Learning about 𝗶𝗻𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝘀. 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗢𝗡𝗘’𝗦 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲.
𝗜𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲.
𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴.
Time for a THOROUGH house cleaning of Polk County Government. Long overdue.