Animals are treated better
... The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that the children in the former Walmart in Brownsville are allowed outside for two hours a day — one hour for physical exercise, one hour for free time.
At the Roanoke Valley SPCA, each dog is taken out “a minimum of three times a day for a walk.” At the Regional Center for Animal Control and Protection — which serves Roanoke, Roanoke County, Botetourt County and Vinton — dogs “are walked usually up to three times a day.” At the Franklin County Humane Society “all dogs are walked several times a day and are rotated in and out of exercise yards and play groups.” The animal shelter in Salem has “two secure exercise lots” for dogs: “Weather permitting, they are let out during the day in the play yards either with staff or volunteers.” At the League for Animal Protection in Fincastle, dogs “are out from 7:30-11:00 playing in the yard and then back out at 2:00-5:00.” So, yes, some of the dogs in our animal shelters get more outdoor exercise than these children incarcerated by the federal government.
Colleen Kraft, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, visited one detention facility and said she was told that staffers were not allowed to touch the children, even to comfort them. Kraft saw one girl “no older than 2, screaming and pounding her fists on a mat.” The girl had been taken from her mother the night before. “The really basic, foundational needs of having trust in adults as a young child was not being met,” Kraft said. “That contradicts everything we know that the kids need to build their health.”
By contrast, animals held at shelters routinely get petted as part of their socialization. Rebecca Custer, manager of the Salem Animal Shelter, tells us: “One of our priorities at this shelter is to ensure each animal gets attention every day. We have various enrichment programs for the animals. Even the ones that cannot be safely handled still get talked to and given attention every day.” So, yes, animals in our animal shelters are being comforted more than the children the federal government is holding ...
http://www.roanoke.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-we-checked-animals-are-treated-better-than-the-children/article_f126dd04-500f-5235-b58b-0ce96bd4d075.html
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