This is a guest opinion column

Two recent heartbreaking headlines about abused and abandoned dogs highlight Alabama’s inexcusable animal welfare crisis. In one situation, several dogs had been left in a hot car in this broiling heat to die miserable, inhumane deaths. In another case, a dog was simply left in an abandoned house locked in a basement to die after his food and water ran out. Once Allison Cornelius, executive director of Greater Birmingham Humane Society (GBHS), became aware of the starving dog in the feces-ridden basement, she tried to act. The Tarrant police chief, however, refused to issue a warrant to save the pitbull, Abner.

Thankfully, in both cases, she and her staff were only able to save at least one of the dogs trapped in the oven-like conditions while the emaciated dog on the verge of death will make a recovery. This is not always the case. Too much of the time, dogs and cats in our state suffer unnecessary deaths. And now, unbelievably, Cornelius could face prosecution from the Tarrant District Attorney for doing the right thing.

In this scenario, there’s a turf war between the police chief and mayor who says he will pardon Cornelius if she’s arrested. Meanwhile, politicians in Montgomery continue to lack the political will and heart to implement successful programs to tackle overpopulation and animal cruelty. Instead, politicians kowtow to the ethos of corporate agriculture, specifically the ALFA lobby, and Alabama’s “don’t tread on me” mentality when it comes to animals they view as property, not as sentient creatures. As long as the insurance lobby keeps its stranglehold on legislators, we will have insufficient laws protecting animal welfare, and the senseless abuse and suffering will continue. As long as politicians follow the Christian theology that interprets Biblical teachings as one in which man has dominion over the natural world instead of kinship with other creatures, innocent animals will continue to suffer from legislators’ neglect.

There’s no typical day for someone working in the animal rescue business in Alabama. It’s just a question of what degree will your heart be broken. To what degree will you lose all hope and belief in people’s inherent goodness when you’ve witnessed the most ignorant cruelty, the most calculated evil, and the casual callousness against a defenseless animal. How demoralizing it must be to fight to save abused bait dogs, mange-ridden strays, family pets left at shelters when they get too old, dogs disposed of on the side of the road by owners, who for whatever unknown reason, discard them like trash. To see what vets, professionals working in the animal rescue world, and volunteers see must take a serious toil on their mental health. Right now, the whole country is experiencing a national veterinarian shortage.

Wendy Montealegre, the founder of Tails From Alabama, a rescue organization based in Blount County, posted on Facebook recently a happy ending to a situation in which two dogs, one a bait dog and the other a mange-ridden stray, had both been rescued after being dumped. She convinced the shelter not to euthanize them when they arrived and miraculously was able to find them a loving home. But in another recent post, she speaks about pulling over in the Dollar General parking lot to cry because she was overcome with grief and frustration after spending the day filming fifty puppies who need homes. In the past, shelters experienced what was called the “puppy and kitten season” after the breeding season in spring and early summer, but now shelters experience an influx of too many animals and not enough space all year round. Her shelter is overwhelmed, and she faces more dogs coming in soon from a disastrous hoarding situation.

In her post, a plea to raise awareness about what we need to do, she reminds us that Alabama is ranked 5th in the nation as highest kill rate for cats and dogs. To tackle this problem and others, she believes we need a centralized companion animal task force that has the authority to overcome issues like pet overpopulation and animal cruelty. A statewide pet registration could generate revenue and curb out of control, irresponsible breeding practices. Want to breed? Then pay the fine, she suggests.

She also points out we need an educational campaign because Alabama ranks 47th in the country as far as education. Many here also have deeply ingrained beliefs that spaying and neutering goes against God and nature, helping fuel the population explosion the shelters aren’t equipped to handle. In addition, pet owners must have access to low-cost spaying and neutering services. Alabama is the 5th poorest state in the entire nation, and yet we only have five low-cost spay and neuter clinics in the entire state, she says.

If we don’t protect animals for the sake of the animals, then at least think about the safety of children, Montealegre urges. Too many children cannot play outside for fear of packs of roaming dogs, she says. What about strays and their impact on public safety and property values, she asks? We’ve had too many dog maulings in Alabama in recent years, and yet nothing is changing, and it’s only getting worse, she says. This past June, two people in Tarrant Park were mauled by dogs who had been tethered, a practice which makes them more aggressive. If there were a city ordinance against it, that would be part of the solution.

RELATED: Authorities bust suspected dog fighting, breeding operation in central Alabama

In 2017, The Animal Legal Defense Fund ranked Alabama 37th, the bottom of the list, as far as animal protection laws. Addressing the animal welfare crisis in Alabama isn’t complicated. Public awareness campaigns are key, but legislation is also important. More than 25 states have “hot car” laws, but Alabama doesn’t. It’s past time for local officials and politicians to step up and stop expecting overwhelmed, underfunded organizations without adequate legislative support to solve a community crisis most other states have already tackled with reasonable and compassionate leadership.

Let us not forget as the novelist Milan Kundera said, “Humanity’s true moral test, its fundamental test…consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals.” So far, Alabama has failed the test while animals continue to suffer.

Lanier Isom, of Birmingham, is co-author of Lilly Ledbetter’s memoir “Grace and Grit: How I Won My Fight at Goodyear and Beyond.”