This article about Houston's animal cruelty police is excellent, but has some case descriptions that are disturbing, so I thought I'd share just this excerpt here.
I thought Officer Timmer's sympathy for the single 'cat ladies' was interesting. Later in the article it is revealed that he is single and has accumulated 4 rescued Chi's. (So far.)
http://itchmoforums.com/against-animal-abuse-and-cruelty/houston-animalcruelty-police-t5663.0.html"Timmers insists he's got "the big picture on all of this," and between calls, sat down in the Starbucks on Montrose to discuss his work. Despite his tough exterior, Rushe had said that he's "a total bleeding heart for animals on the inside," and sure enough, he was greeted warmly in the coffee shop, as the officer who distributes pictures of pitiful dogs available for adoption. Timmers explained that he was simply the enforcer of new standards of civilization. When he began wearing the blue 26 years ago, even spouse abuse was essentially condoned, and now it seemed to him only right that people are prohibited from abusing either their families or their animals. Other cops kid him for being "bowwow police," but the people Timmers meets now are far worse than those he commonly encountered as a patrol officer, responding to victims. He divides the abusers among several categories.
The most decent are probably the cat ladies — over-40, well-educated, single women who probably care too much about animals. Understanding what it means to be alone, they seem always to find room for one more stray until, as the house fills with strays, they become insensitive to the stench and filth. Timmers arrives typically when the neighbors notice, sweeping in to take the animals away, 45 at a time, leaving a mental-health professional behind to consult."
