Please Support Pet Owners on the Firing Line!

A group led by Diane Amble paid the expenses for Lassie, 'Timmy' (Jon Provost) and Rudd Weatherwax, Lassie's trainer, to come to
Sacramento to testify against California's AB 1634, the mandatory spay/neuter bill. The total was over $3500. Diane
will take donations by PayPal at brianamble@sbcglobal.net

or send a PayPal donation

The Purple Apron Project

Grooming Aprons and Towels embroidered with 'Fight Anti-Pet Legislation. It Affects Us All"

An Approach to High Shelter Euthanasia Rates

In the past, the job of animal pounds and shelters was promoting public health and safety by removing free ranging animals from our streets, and second to that, the prevention of unnecessary suffering. Euthanasia was the key tool of the trade and a necessary final kindness to sick, aged, and unwanted animals.

It is no longer so simple. Across the country, citizens' groups are asking officials to reduce euthanasia rates, even demanding that they be reduced to zero -- the 'no kill' idea. Many of these initiatives take a strongly moral tone -- "STOP THE KILLING!" Unbalanced budgets, domestic security, immigration-related issues and health care problems are on every agenda but never mind, the most loudly argued and contentious issue may be the number of animals euthanized by the local animal shelter.

Why All the Outrage?

The motivations are twofold: First our rising standard of living has made it possible to give better care to our animals; it is entirely reasonable to want to reduce unnecessary deaths. Most people in the crusade to reduce shelter euthanasias simply love animals and don't like to see them born only to die in shelters.

But second and increasingly prominent is the animal rights motivation. This is a worldwide movement with the goal of eliminating all domesticated animals via a strategy of making animal relationships steadily more costly and difficult. Bludgeoning animal pounds with "STOP THE KILLING" seems contrary to that goal but is actually a key tactic because it can be used to promote laws that both disrupt human/animal relationships and increase euthanasias.

Community Response

Making sound animal policies now requires far more time and effort than one would expect -- or (considering the seriousness of other issues facing society) even want. The best policy depends on local details. Data adequate for decision making may not exist when the issue arises in a locality, and there will often be strongly promoted but conflicting 'right answers'' It may be necessary to conduct a narrowly defined and closely monitored study to understand the situation in each area. The problems in New York City are not the same as those in Dalton, Georgia.

Mother told us there'd be decades like this, right?