WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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This is the WFHB Local News for Tuesday, March 22nd, 2022.
Later in the program, WFHB Correspondent Kai Fitzgerald speaks with Virgil Sauder, the Director of the City of Bloomington Animal Care and Control about a new pet ordinance.
Also coming up in the next half hour, WFHB Correspondent Nathaniel Weinzapfel reports on a fire at a Walmart distribution center in Plainfield, Indiana.
Bloomington Redevelopment Extends Contracts for Hopewell Site and Trades District Tech Center
At the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission meeting on March 21st, commissioners discussed the redevelopment of the old hospital site.
Commission member Randy Cassady proposed to extend a contract with J.S. Held to find adequate developers for the Hopewell neighborhood.
Crowley clarified that this contract would help to ensure that developers propose projects that fit within the city’s master plan for the former hospital site.
The commission voted unanimously to extend the contract with J.S. Held.
The commission also discussed a contract with Axis Architecture for design work on the new Trades District technology center. Crowley, provided some background knowledge on the agreement.
One commission member asked what the timeline looks like for the agreement. Crowley replied that there will be a gap in funding that the commission should prepare for.
The resolution passed unanimously. The next Redevelopment Commission meeting will be held on April 4th.
The Truth About Pet Breeding in Bloomington
By Kai Fitzgerald
Bloomington City Council voted in late December to prohibit the sale of cats and dogs from local pet shops. Ordinance 21-45 to amend Title 7 would fine each store $500 per violation taking effect January 1st of 2023, in a hope to allow local pet shops to adapt to the ordinance, mainly affecting local shops “Anthony’s Pets” and “Delilah’s Pet Shop.”
Virgil Sauder, Director of City of Bloomington Animal Care and Control, speaks with WFHB News regarding the contents of Bloomington Ordinance 21-45.
One of the complications or concerns with this ordinance was its timing. It was possible if the ordinance was immediate the current animals were going to be dumped or disposed of with haste in order to comply with the sudden policy. To combat this, the City Council voted to postpone the enactment of the policy until January 1st of, 2023. Luckily, this allowed enough time for these businesses to rethink their business and marketing strategies. The owner of Delilah’s Pet Shop has spoken at Bloomington City Council meetings this past year, speaking out against this ordinance. Sauder goes on to discuss the specificities of this issue.
Pet breeding has only been a widespread practice within the last 100 years. In fact, humans created breeds as a means to entertain the wealthy in Victorian England. Beforehand, dog and cat breeds were nonexistent. Pet breeding is the genetic selection for specific characteristics within the animal that are considered desirable. This often leads to breeders -including puppy mills- to breed within the family. This means that most purebred animals are actually a result of inbreeding. This causes these animals to have very little genetic diversity, making it difficult for them to fight off genetic disease or infection. In fact, the average lifespan of a bulldog (a common purebred dog in modern-day) is seven years due to the breed’s inability to combat disease and infection. Now while most animal shelters or humane societies are either required to spay or neuter their animals or to simply prevent more strays, pet shops -at least in Bloomington are not required to do so. Virgil elaborates on this.
This can cause overpopulation in mills and shops, leading to more strays and less available space in shelters.
Most non-shelter animals or purebred animals are a result of years of inbreeding, leading them to have mutated genes that disfigure particular “desirable characteristics.” For example, Corgis were bred for their short and cute legs, leaving them to have unnaturally short legs compared to a disproportionate torso. Pugs often have genetic or pre-existing breathing conditions that often lead to their deaths due to their overbreeding for the short and small snouts. Breeding is simply the result of people performing science experiments on animals because they want them to look a certain way. Puppy & kitten mills, genetics aside, also often ignore the needs and comfort of both the mother and their litter to maximize the production volume and, therefore, profits.
Ethically speaking, the safest option for both you and your pet’s health is to adopt from shelters because those animals have much more variety in their genetic diversity, allowing their natural genes more room to combat disease, leading long and healthy lives, and less medical issues in the future. From a moral and ethical standpoint, this ordinance is the saving grace for animals in Bloomington
Fire Breaks Out at Plainfield Walmart Causing Environmental Implications
By Nathaniel Weinzapfel
A week ago, employees at the Walmart Fulfillment Center in Plainfield Indiana just outside of Indianapolis were surprised that the fire alarm was ringing throughout the building. Having just had a fire drill a few days earlier, another one so soon did not make much sense. Nonetheless, the employees did as they practiced and headed towards the exits. It wasn’t until 911 was called did the workers realize that this was not a drill.
This fire was the start of a multi-day blaze that engulfed the 20 football fields sized facility in flames and smoke. The scale of the fire could be seen from space, with the smoke being seen by meteorologists on satellite imagery. Plainfield Fire Territory Chief Brent Anderson was quoted as saying that it was the largest fire he and his fellow firefighters had ever fought during his over 20 year career fighting fires. Anderson is still unsure as to how the fire started, but there are reports that flammable clothes and packing materials were found near where the fire likely originated. All of the employees made it out safely and only one firefighter suffered from minor burns.
Serious concerns have arisen concerning the pollution caused by the fire, specifically related to air quality issues and toxic debris around the area. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been monitoring the air and water quality since the fire began, with a specific focus on the area around the Walmart Fulfillment Center and the region downwind of the smoke. At the current moment, the pollutant of most concern is fine particulate matter, which takes the form of microscopic soot or dust particles. These have the ability of layering inside human lungs and lead to breathing problems, including asthma and even cancer. High levels of exposure in the youth and the elderly could be particularly dangerous.
The Friday after the fire began on Wednesday was particularly rainy, and researchers with the EPA suspect that a lot of the particulate matter exited the atmosphere and came down to the surface in the rain. The EPA plans to remain vigilant in its monitoring of the water quality.
For Hoosiers living near the facility or in the path of the smoke direction, the EPA has offered up a few guidelines to help keep you safe. Fallen debris and ash should be removed and the area clean, but not without proper protections. Recommendations include the wearing of N95 masks and gloves to help keep the contaminants off of the body. Another piece of advice is to clean the coated surfaces with a hose instead of a leaf blower, as the blower could cause more of the pollutants to enter the air. Pets should not drink from contaminated water sources, including puddles on the street.
If any citizen is still concerned about the environmental and health effects of the blaze, the Hendrick County Health Department has set up a new hotline to receive questions from Hoosiers. That phone number is 317-718-6052.
Credits:
You’ve been listening to the WFHB Local News,
Today’s headlines were written by Nathaniel Weinzapfel, Noelle Herhusky-Schneider and Kade Young, in partnership with Cats – Community Access Television Services.
Our feature was produced by Kai Fitzgerald.
Our theme music is provided by Mark Bingham and the Social Climbers.
Engineer and Executive producer is Kade Young.
