Every year in America, between three and four million dogs and cats are euthanized by animal shelters, according to the Humane Society of the United States. Left to starve, be abused or to die violently by a busy highway, their homeless counterparts on the streets suffer an even worse fate. There is no data that reveals how many domestic animals end up dying tragically because of human neglect or abuse. However, it is safe to say that the number is staggering, the suffering immense. A drive through McDowell County easily reveals that stray animals abound. Left to fend for themselves, the dogs and cats scavenge in garbage and wander from place to place in search of sustenance. Most of the time, they don’t find it. Their health declines steadily. Mange and other parasites invade their bodies. Their eyes matt. Their hair falls out. Sores develop over protruding ribs. Finally, after weeks of malnutrition, they stagger off to die, unnoticed and unwanted by the unkind pet owners who are solely responsible for their demise. No animal should be treated that way, but it is a scene that is repeated daily in southern West Virginia.  That’s why McDowell County’s new dogcatcher Thomas Cox is one of the county’s busiest employees. Except for the thirty minutes from  9 - 9:30 a.m., Monday through Friday when he’s at the County Commission accepting calls, Cox drives from one of the county to the other collecting the strays that irresponsible humans throw away. A few of the animals have grown vicious from abuse, but the majority is pitiful, their sunken, sad eyes pleading for assistance. Weakened by starvation, many don’t have the strength to resist when Cox gently hooks a noose around their necks and then moves them into the cage for the ride to death row at Mary Town. They’re kept at the Mary Town holding area for five days and then placed in a concrete box and gassed. After their death, the animals are placed in a bag and stored in a freezer. When the freezer is full, the animals are taken to their final resting place at the landfill to be heaped with all the other refuse that man discards.
Cox’s job is difficult, to say the least. The Army veteran feeds and waters the animals daily and he takes comfort in the fact that he treats them

DOOMED FOR DEATH - These gentle strays, pictured with dogcatcher Thomas Cox, were picked up July 2nd and joined their many counterparts at the Mary Town holding facility. Cox notes that the unwanted animals are held five days and then gassed. (Photo by Cathy Patton)

as kindly as possible during the few days that they are under his guardianship. However, he doesn’t see the over-population of unwanted animals diminishing anytime soon. Being a responsible pet owner and spaying or neutering all pets is the only way to stem the over-population of animals, Cox said. He also reminds the public to have all their animals vaccinated and to provide them adequate food and shelter. Cox insists that the problem with abandoned animals won’t improve until all pet owners begin to do the right thing. “I tell people that if we could put all the unwanted animals on a happy boat and sail them to happy land, that the problem would soon be solved. That’s never going to happen, so what we’re all going to have to do is work together to change things.” “Do the math, County Commission President Gordon Lambert said. A fertile cat will have three litters a year, delivering from four to six kittens with each pregnancy. A female dog will have two litters a year, giving birth from six to 10 puppies each time. There are not enough homes for the animals. The ones that make it to adulthood begin the reproduction cycle over again and it doesn’t take long to be overrun with animals. That’s what’s happening in McDowell County. That’s what we’re facing.”