Animal shelters will never control pet overpopulation

TO THE EDITOR:

Before you write a check in support of animal control or any local rescue, please consider a few facts and myths.

‘ Myth No. 1: Rescuing dogs will make a difference in the pet overpopulation problem.

‘ Fact: Rescuing will only make a difference for a few ‘lucky’ dogs, and they are not lucky unless the rescuer is very careful when finding homes for them. Being placed in a bad home is worse than being put to sleep.

‘ Myth No. 2: It is acceptable to rescue puppies/dogs and release them before they are spayed/neutered.

‘ Fact: This is the most irresponsible thing a rescuer can do and a good rescuer would not even contemplate doing this. No rescuer can, or will, follow up on each dog released. Therefore, many rescued dogs will never be spayed/neutered. Because of this, the rescuer is contributing to the very problem they are claiming to help solve.

‘ Myth No. 3: It is OK to confine dogs to pens or runs for months or years while trying to find homes for them.

‘ Fact: Dogs that receive little socialization do not make good family pets. No-kill shelters are good in theory, but when they house dogs for extended periods of time without adequate socialization and human interaction, they do the dog a disservice and as cruel as it may sound, the dog would have been better off put down.

‘ Myth No. 4: Kill shelters and animal control facilities help solve the pet overpopulation problem.

‘ Fact: These facilities never have and never will solve the pet overpopulation problem. Over 90 percent of the animals entering most shelters are put to sleep and there are always hundreds more waiting to be brought in to occupy the space vacated by the ones that were just put down. This needless slaughter of animals will continue forever unless people are responsible and have their pet spayed/neutered.

‘ Myth No. 5: Each person should be allowed to decide whether to have his or her pets spayed/neutered.

‘ Fact: We don’t let people decide if they should drive while intoxicated. Many people need to be encouraged to make the right decision. Many will need encouragement when deciding whether to spay/neuter their pets. This encouragement may be in the form of financial assistance or perhaps spay/neuter ordinances.

‘ Myth No. 6: Our elected officials should continue to ignore the impact that spay/neuter has had on the pet overpopulation problem in regions where spay/neuter has been encouraged for decades.

‘ Fact: Our elected officials need a wake-up call. Animal control, as we have it now, is an outdated idea and only serves to waste taxpayer dollars, kill innocent animals and solve nothing.

How can we solve the pet-overpopulation problem? SPAY and NEUTER is the only solution.

We can all do our part by:

‘ Each pet owner having his/her pet spayed/neutered.

‘ Elected officials holding citizens responsible for their pets. Our officials can do this by passing pet registration and spay/neuter ordinances. Funds from pet registration can be designated for spay/neuter programs.

‘ Supporting the new low-cost clinic, PAULS Clinic, Inc., that will open soon in Warren County.

PAULS Clinic will:

‘ Provide financial assistance to anyone needing help having his/her pets altered.

‘ Provide reduced-cost spay/neuter for everyone.

‘ Encourage citizens to establish a relationship with local veterinarians so that their pets will receive yearly examinations and adequate health care.

‘ Work with county officials and animal control to assure the right approach to pet overpopulation control is taken.

Villa Mitchell
Crisp Springs Rd.
McMinnville