JUSTICE FOR BELLA

What happened to Bella was tragic

By Jeff Daniels
Photo by Jeff Daniels

What is a tipping point?

In sociology, a tipping point is defined as an event in which a previously rare phenomenon becomes dramatically more common. In epidemiology, it is the concept that small changes will have little or no effect on a system until a critical mass is reached. Then a further small change “tips” the system and a large effect is observed.

Simply put, a tipping point is about change. According to Malcolm Gladwell, change is marked by an “epidemic.”

In Cabbarus County, North Carolina, we reached a tipping point. A year ago, our beloved Isabella Blue was 
unlawfully shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy working in animal control. Even though the officer admitted that she showed no aggression towards him, Bella was shot in the back as she ran away. He chased her in between two houses and gunned her down in front of neighbors and children.

Sadly, we learned about this epidemic the hard way—by losing our seven-year-old daughter’s best friend, by losing Jaxson’s companion, by losing an ambassador to the breed, by losing a member of our family.

But we did not stand by quietly and accept this injustice. We went to the animal control department the next day to get answers. That is when we captured the officer on tape admitting that she showed no aggression, and that he shot Bella after only twenty minutes on the scene because “he had other things to do.”

And that is when we learned about another epidemic: the needless and inhumane killing of 80 percent of all incoming animals at our shelter. Our investigation uncovered a dirty little secret. Our animal control department is part of a status quo in the U.S. where four million companion animals are needlessly killed every year simply for being lost or temporarily homeless.

But there is hope. We are approaching a critical mass, an increasingly more common phenomenon. All around the country, citizens are demanding change, and communities are taking killing off the table. And they are being rewarded with great results. No healthy or treatable animals are being killed in their shelters, officers are reuniting 65–85 percent of all lost animals with their families, and non-lethal methods of capture are the norm.

The ugly truth is that there is an epidemic in our country, an epidemic of companion animals being killed in our shelters and on our streets. But the buck stops here. The change begins with us. We are the tipping point!

If you don’t know what is happening at your shelter, ask questions. See whether they are following the No Kill Equation. If you do know that your shelter is killing (most shelters kill 50 percent or more of all incoming animals), and you know it is wrong and needs to change, then you are their best hope. The change begins with you!

To see the video of the officer who shot Bella and to learn more about her story and our campaign for change, please visit: www.justiceforbella.org.