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PAGE I
THE MERCER CLUSTER
MAY 28, 1»73
At The Macon Pound
Gassing’s A
Macon, like every other city in
the U.S. has problems with its
dog population. For this reason,
we have leash laws, dog catchers,
and a dog pound. The city of
Macon is determined to restrain
people's pets in every way
possible. A dog, by law, is
obligated to remain on his
piaster's property at all times,
unless he is in the company of the
master and is leashed. Any
animal found in the streets or on
another person's property is
eligible to be picked up and taken
to The Macon Animal Control
Commission (dog pound).
The Animal Control facility is
located at the foot of Poplar
Street, near the fairgrounds.
Under the direction of Mr.
Charles C. Stinson are a staff of
10 dog catchers, a secretary and
a maintenence man. Animal
Control takes calls seven days a
week. 24 hours a day. The cat
chers are sworn In and have the
right to enter private property in
pursuit of an animal. The center
has a board of directors in
cluding: the Chief of Police, a
health officer, a kennel operator,
a yet, and an M.D., with a City
Councilman as Chairman.
In the course of a month, some
six io eight hundred dogs pass
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through the kennels of the Macon
Dog Pound. Of these, less than
150 find homes, the rest are
gassed. The procedure used for
killing the dogs is efficient and
economical. The animals are
placed in a concrete cubicle.
After the chamber has been
sealed, exaust fumes from a
truck are allowed to flow into it
through a pipe. The oogs pass out
shortly and die in about five
minutes. The gas is kept on for 10
to 15 minutes to insure that all
the dogs are dead. In actuality,
this seemingly barbaric method
of execution is comparatively
humane. The exaust is cooled in a
water jacketed tube before it gets
inside the chamber. Some
smaller towns kill dogs by
shooting them as they stanu in
groups in a mass grave, burying
them as they fall, frequently
before they are all dead. Cyanide
and chloroform have been tned
at the Macon facility but it was
found that the animals suffer a
great deal while dying. Elec
trocution is an equally un
satisfactory method of killing.
The Macon Animal Control
facility is very proud of its gas
chamber.
When a tagged dog is picked up
and brought in to the shelter, an
immediate effort is made to
contact his Jwner. If the owner
cannot be reached, or cannot
come immediately for his pet, the
dog is placed in a private cell for
seven days. After the seven days
pass, he is released into the
compound with all the other dogs.
If he remains another week, he is
executed. Untagged animals are
allowed one week in the com
pound, before being killed. Every
attempt is made to make ‘he
dog's stay in the kennel com
fortable. The kennels are kept
Gas
clean and are stocked with a
constant supply of food and
water. In the winter, wood
shavings are placed on the floor,
and the building is heated.
The Macon Animal Control
Commission does more than
catch dogs and kill them They
provide medical care for dogs
whose owners can't afford it.
They prosecute in cruelty cases.
In a recent victory, a man was
fined $150 for tying hisdogtohia
truck with a length of wire,
nearly decapitating his pet
The Animal control is not en
tirely for dogs. There are many
cats there, not to mention oc
casional horses, chickens, and
cows. The livestock are sold by a
sealed bid process, almost
always finding a home.
The City of Macon is pouring
money into this bottomless pit
that is known as the dog pound. It
is a bad arrangement because
nothing is being done to alleviate
the problem. What is needed is a
program of sterilization. This
could be accomplished easily
through the use of a medicated
dog feed, eliminating any need
for surgery. Savannah has such a
program; Macon has none.
Unless the overall dog population
is reduced the problem will
continue and worsen.
Although constant efforts are
made to let the public know that
animals are available, the
kennels are always full. As long
as people go to pet stores for their
dogs and no programs of
sterilization are implemented,
nothing will change. Dogs will
still be gassed by the hundreds
each month.
BSU Holds
State Meeting
By Lisa Benson
The state Baptist Student
Union convention was held this
past weekend in Covington,
Georgia at the FFA-FHA camp
there. Baptist Student Union
members from all over the state
assembled for a weekend of
learning, fun, and fellowship. A
very interesting Bible Study on
the Beatitudes was held by Dr.
Harold Songer, professor of New
Testament at Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary. In
preparation for next year, new
state officers were elected.
Saturday, students had an
opportunity to attend seminars
on "Christian Answers to Human
Problems, "Presenting Christ
Through the Printed Word,"
"Strengthening Wholesome
Family Life," and "Missionary
Education in the Academic
Community,” The chapter of
ficers were also able to attend an
officer's training seminar.
The highlight of the weekend
came Saturday night, when the
Georgia BSU summer
missionaries were recognized
and charged with their mission.
These missionaries will serve for
a period of 10 weeks on home and
foreign fields. They are totally
supported by Georgia Baptist
Student Unions.
Dr. and Mrs. Howard Giddens,
who sponsor the Mercer BSU,
and eighteen Mercer students
attended this convention, which
is held each Fall and Spring.
For A Complete
Selection Of
Graduation Gifts See
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745-1055 520 Mulberry
By the time this article reaches yon. these dogs will be dead. Photo
by Ash Williams.
Charles C. Stinson, director of animal control stands by the cooling
tubes for th e gas chamber. Photo by Ash Williams.
A Tatnall Tech
Retrospective
1958-1973
By Willard Clutchmeyer
Now almost a forgotten chapter in the annals of Mercor History
are the days of Willard Clutchmeyer. A column which appeared in
the Mercer Cluster during the late I950't, Bob Steed is now on the
Board of Trustees and is a practicing lawyer. This article was
sent to the Cluster following the recent meeting of the Board,
That the class of '58 departed the ivy and kudzu covered walls of
the Mercer Campi fifteeen years ago strains ona's credulity. (It
should be noted at this point (hat Dean Featherfelt Shaftwell strained
his credulity in 19M listening to a Phi Delta Theta explain how a coed
was found in his room. The strain was so severe the good dean was
forced to wear a double truss for the remainder of the school year
and was eventually placed in the Georgia Baptist Home for the
Terminally Strained). But 1 digress.
In I960 in a secret laboratory in Dr. Louis B. Newton's basement, a
research team discovered that, contrary to established Baptist
dogma, dancing did not cause cancer. This startling news was
released in a Cluster exclusive in 1961 but the Mercer administration
delayed permission for dancing on campus until 1962 so as to allow
ministerial students time to prepare for the shock. During this
period. Mercer students, though not allowed to actually dance, were
allowed to move from side to side in time with gospel songs approved
in advance by the Baptist Student Union. WMAZ-TV produced a prize
winning Dews special on this period called "Swing and Sway with
George Beverly Shea."
In 1965, the administration, noting that Wesleyannes had defeated
Mercer coeds for 40 consecutive years in the Miss Macon Contest,
finally eliminated a requirement that Mercer girls wear raincoats
during the bathing suit competition. Soon coeds were allowed to go to
gym classes without raincoats. However, several ministerial
students were so terrified at the huge expanses of epidermis that
they fled to the woods behind Porter Stadium and stayed for several
days until they were finally lured out by Dean Joe Hendricks with
soft words and fig'newtons. *
In 1966, Penfield was eaten by boll weavils thus fulfilling a 1956
prophecy by Mercer ministerial student, Norman Vincent Pheigm
upon receiving an F-from Dr. McManus in Faith Healing 101.
In 1968, beloved long time Mercer professor, T.P. Haines, was
struck with terminal baldness. Within six months his condition was
so acute that he was forced to carry his dandruff in his hand. Today,
in a hysterically hirsute age, when males young and old affect manes
and sideburns to make Prince Valiant twitch in unrestrained envy,
Haines looks as though his shoulders are blowing a bubble. Despite
this, he continues to hold his head high (except on bright days when
glare is a problem.)
In 1970, a copyrighted news story by the New York Times alleged
that North Vietnamese interrogators were forcing confessions from
captured UJS. prisoners by making them look at filmed replays of
Mercer Chapel programs of the late 1950's.
In 1972, Mercer announced plans to build a nedical school. The
school will be named for famous Mercer Alunuus, Dr. J. Alvarez
Adenoid, discover of nostrils and inventor of the now famous
Nasagraph. Dr. Adenoid is also author of the best selling "People
Who Live in Gall Bladders Shouldn’t Throw Stones" and the widely
quoted Reader’s Digest article-’ Death is Nature's Way of Telling
You to Slow Down."
A final personal word to my fellow mates of the Class of ’58 Your
reporter after a brief and colorless career as a chiropractor (I just
got started off on the wrong foot) gained great success in my current
occupation as a stunt man in stag movies. Many of you may have
seen my agile performance in "Mondo Porno” which won top honors
in the Tijuana Film Festival and is now showing on fraternity house
walls across the nation. Though rich, handsome and successful
beyond belief, I have never forgotten my tragic, bleak and humble
background, i.e., Mercer, and every year on Founders Day, no
matter where I am, I face PenfieJd, take out mv wallet size photo of
Graydon Ware and pledge $3 to the Alumni Fund Some day I plan
to actually pay one of those pledges.