Susanna Mendoza Continues Comptroller's Critters Program Started By Her Late Predecessor
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Illinois Comptroller Susanna Mendoza, a longtime animal welfare advocate, is reviving an animal rescue program started by her late predecessor.
The late Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka started the Comptroller's Critters animal adoption program, and current State Comptroller Susanna Mendoza said there is no better way to honor Topinka then to continue that effort to find homes for sheltered animals. WBBM's Political Reporter Craig Dellimore reports.
It is a win-win-win, she said.
"It is a win for the animal that needs to find a loving home, it is a win for the family that now has a new member of their family who can really channel their love and their energies towards something that is so productive, but it is also a win for the state's bottom line, as it is for the city of Chicago's bottom line," Mendoza said.
The resource is to help the state of Illinois find permanent homes for four-legged animals, "heck, even three-legged animals or animals with one eye," she said.
Susan Russell, Executive Director, Chicago's Commission on Animal Care & Control said animals that are adopted find good families, families get good pets and animals don't live out their lives in shelters.
"I'm happy to report that euthanasia has decreased during those years because, again our partners have stepped up to the plate and helped transfer many, many of these animals out of here," Russell said.
On average city officials said, it costs $25 a day to shelter a dog, $20 a day for each cat.