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Huffington Post
August 28, 2013
Among Detroit’s many problems, this one tugs at the heart strings: thousands of wild dogs roaming the streets, many abandoned because their owners could no longer afford to keep them.
“Every day, an owner is calling to surrender an animal,” rapper Dan “Hush” Carlisle, who started Detroit Dog Rescue in 2011 with Monica Martino, told The Huffington Post. “Struggling financially makes it hard for them to keep their animals. It’s very sad to see. That’s where you really see the impact of what’s going on in the city.”
Last week, Bloomberg News reported that up to 50,000 dogs are roaming in packs around the city. Though other outlets picked up and circulated that figure, many with working knowledge of Detroit’s animal population have asserted that estimate is too high.
The Detroit Free Press points out the figures would average out to a dog for every 14 residents, or 360 per square mile.
To put an accurate number on the problem, dozens of volunteers will participate in the Canine Survey and Treasure Hunt next month, for two days of systematic data collection on the city’s strays.
But animal lovers like Carlisle say exact numbers aren’t the point.
“Whether we have 10 dogs, 100 dogs or 50,000 dogs, there is definitely a problem and that needs to be addressed,” he said.
There are other hard numbers: Detroit ranked sixth last year for dog attacks on U.S. Postal Service letter carriers. According to Bloomberg News, the city’s Animal Control unit has just four officers, down from 15 in 2008.
The department is beset with problems fueled by the city’s fiscal crisis. In July, dog carcasses accumulated in Animal Control’s freezer for more than 100 days, because contractors hadn’t been paid to remove them. In October, the department went without a legally required veterinarian on staff for three weeks when the city let the contract lapse.
That’s why the many rescues and organizations working in the city are crucial.
“I’ve taken more dogs off the street that are sweet animals, that are gentle, kind, that just want to be loved, that absolutely know that you’re rescuing them,” Carlisle said.
