Imagine finding a mortally wounded animal seeking help on your doorstep. You do the right thing—you call an emergency vet. But instead of a healer, you find a gatekeeper. You are told it will cost $4,000 to save the animal, and when you ask for the simple mercy of euthanasia to end its visible agony, the clinic hangs up on you.

This is the "Mercy Gap"—a systemic failure in Morristown, Tennessee, where unowned animals are left to die in pain because basic compassion has a price tag that many Good Samaritans cannot afford.

My name is Richard Stanzak. I am a former ICU/Hospice nurse. I provided a peaceful at-home passing for my late wife, yet I was forced to watch a "backyard execution" by a neighbor's firearm because a local 24/7 emergency clinic refused to even discuss a humane end for a dying cat named Meower.

We are calling on Senator Marsha Blackburn and the Tennessee State Legislature to pass "Meower's Law" to:

Mandate Stabilization Through Mercy: Require 24/7 emergency veterinary clinics to provide humane euthanasia for unowned animals in catastrophic distress, regardless of the rescuer's ability to pay.
Establish the Tennessee Mercy Fund: A state-supported fund to reimburse clinics for these basic procedures so the financial burden doesn't fall on vets or Good Samaritans.
End Professional Abandonment: Update the veterinary code of conduct so that refusing to assist a citizen with a dying animal is recognized as professional misconduct.
Scripture tells us: "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." (Proverbs 12:10)

Let’s ensure no animal is ever again left to die in agony because of a credit card balance. Sign today to demand a "Mandate for Mercy" in Tennessee.