The Devil is in the Details not the Shelter

courtesy spcaLA

The latest salvo to reduce euthanasia in animal shelters is to increase the number of pets legally allowed in households. The theory is to increase output thereby reducing the population inside and presto - problem solved. Though spcaLA neither tolerates even one pet per household who is not properly cared for nor worries about those with an excess number of pets who are, the issue is one of responsible pet ownership, the maximum number of which varies in conjunction with the available resources of the adopters. In other words - some can handle 10 while others should not be allowed even 1.

That said, it is critical to understand the source of the problem before crafting a solution. Unregulated breeding, lack of sterilization and irresponsible owners cause pet overpopulation and high euthanasia rates in this country - not the shelters. The question, therefore, is whether increasing the number of pets per household will help. In a perfect humane world the answer is yes. Not so much in ours. First, this fix does not address the need to reduce the number of animals coming into shelters. Therefore, there will always be more unwanted pets than homes for them. Second, lack of pre-adoption screening, record numbers of pets being turned in due to economic pressures, and those unable to adequately care for the animals they have, suggests potential quality of life worries. For example, one might take 5 cats out of the shelter to "save" them only to leave them outside to be hit by cars. Or one might take 5 dogs but cannot really afford the food and veterinary care for them so they suffer slowly until they die or are rescued by us and returned to the shelter.

Glib sounding solutions - have more pets, leave cats in the street like wildlife, and refuse to take owned pets, without studying whether they address the root of the problem are simply catch phrases to politicians and catnip to the uninformed who seek credit and comfort in presenting an illusory fix to a tragic problem. We must legitimately stop the influx of animals in the first place by eliminating puppy mills, reporting back yard breeders, adopting from shelters, sterilizing along with ensuring pets are safe at home, wearing identification and retained for his/her natural life.

If not – do we increase the limit to 10 next year?

Why Animal Transports Work

There has been a recent assertion that transporting animals from one place to another simply reassigns the task of euthanasia to the receiving entity. That is not the case with our program or any reliable program that I am familiar with for the following reasons.

The receiving entity must be legitimate and actually want the pets. We send small dogs to locations that have none, but, do have a demand for them. The result is that there is usually a line at the shelter waiting to adopt them before the plane reaches the gate, and, that they are in homes very quickly.

The arrival of these dogs has not been found to accelerate the euthanasia of existing large dogs at those locations. The new arrivals are placed too quickly to affect space challenges and/or the organization has planned the request for the dogs to coincide with the availability of extra space. Those shoppers seeking the smaller dogs have come specifically for those dogs and may never even have been to a shelter before this event! Those partial to larger dogs will continue to visit those dogs at the shelter and rarely convert to "small dog people". A few of each will cross over which helps all the dogs! Some will become new fans and supporters of that organization.

We, as is the case with legitimate supply shelters, are sending very adoptable dogs that are simply not in demand by our demographics, which affords our remaining dogs more time and resources to be rehabilitated and placed.

Finally, many of those who adopted small breed dogs from the airlifts did not have to go to a breeder, puppy mill or an internet retailer to get a dog that could not be found at a local shelter. What could be better than that?

The caveat, as always, is to work with credible and ethical partners so that the end result is not relocation but reduction in pet overpopulation and euthanasia with an increase in permanent adoptions.

To see my original transport business idea see http://bit.ly/gZMy1B   Since the plan was written, we have sent more dogs to Colorado, Houston and Florida with several more flights in the queue!