They say that dogs are man's best friend. They love unconditionally and ask for nothing in return but a warm place to sleep, food to eat. In Kokomo Indiana there are three pit bulls living in the backyard of a residence on Union Street. They live in muddy and deplorable conditions. The only time they get straw is when I speak up and complain. The owner will let care of them lapse if I don't keep complaining.

We, the signers of this petition, request that the City of Kokomo and Howard County begin to levy stiff fines against any homowner who has their dogs living outside in deplorable conditions. These three dogs, to the best of my understanding, are not alone in living in deplorable situations as the pet rescue organizations tell me that dog and animal cruelty is happening in many areas of Kokomo, Indiana. Dogs are being kept in cages, allegedly for breeding or fighting purposes and we need to stand up for our town and say "NO, not in Kokomo. Not here!"

We ask the governing individuals to meet with animal rescue groups and with the humane society to devise firmer laws against animal cruelty.

Hopefully there will be some brainstorming about what to do and how to approach the county to enforce some stiffer fines for allegedly abusive situations for dogs. Kudos to Pals for Paws and the Humane Society for all they do. Their hands are tied sometimes due to laws in place and it's time to ask for a change of those laws to help our dogs, so that every buddy has a person who loves him or her. Our buddies are our unconditional friends and should be loved by us humans as much as we can, with all of our hearts. All of our hearts.

In Hamilton County, those who abuse dogs are arrested. Hamilton County also has a no kill animal shelter. We are asking for the compassionate handling of animals in this county. We can start with a mandatory spay/neuter program, following the guidelines of successful Hamilton County regulations. Too much money is being spent killing animals when we can get corporate sponsors to step in and help with the cost of spaying and neutering pets. Furthermore, the responsibility of having an animal should include cleaning up their feces and making sure they get food and water and if they don't. there should be consequences.

To the best of our understanding, the picture of one of the three dogs you see in this photograph, the dogs do not leave their cage. They are in there all the time. The owners go away for the entire weekend and leave the dogs unattended. On one weekend, the water bowls were completely empty. The writer of this petition took her garden hose and filled up the bowls across the fence. there were two bowls and they were filled up by me FIVE times and the dogs drank it all. They were dehydrated.

On the 4th of July, they were in the dark, surrounded by fireworks. Until we complained, they lived in muddy conditions with piled up feces. This needs to stop and the owners need to understand, as well as many other owners of pets that in Howard County, animal cruelty is taken seriously. Every person signing this is asking Howard County and the City of Kokomo to make strict ordinances that protect man's best friend. No dog should live like this. To the best of my understanding, the owner of these dogs has a problem with alcohol and this was documented in the local newspaper with arrests for OWI. Please save these dogs so they are cared for. Because dogs should never be treated so badly.

Not in Kokomo, Indiana. Not anywhere.