Editor:

I am writing in response to Todd Sperry’s letter regarding building an animal shelter in Brentwood. I agree that Brentwood should look into the possibility of building its own animal shelter, as Antioch has done.

The Antioch shelter is funded by the City of Antioch and so, although residents of other cities can adopt pets from the shelter, only residents of Antioch can surrender pets there. Residents of Brentwood who need to surrender an animal must go to the county shelter located in Martinez. It seems to me that if a shelter were located here in Brentwood, those who are forced to give up a pet would be more likely to do so in a responsible manner by taking it to the shelter rather than dumping or abandoning it.

Due to the economy, Brentwood, like other cities, has had a large increase in the number of homeless animals, and building a shelter here, especially with a low-cost spay/neuter program, would certainly be a big step toward alleviating the problem.

Heidi Vaughn, Brentwood