On Not Supporting PETA: A message from Ellen J. Myers, founder of The Green Pet Community
After seeing a recent PETA ad with the attention-getting slogan “Buying Animals is Killing Animals. Always Adopt”, I feel compelled to comment. Imagine an activist group – let’s call them People for the Ethical Treatment of Children – thatsought to outlaw human reproduction and oblige would-be parents to obtain their children from orphanages. How many Hollywood superstars would lend their names and faces to such a vile initiative? Admittedly, it’s a hyperbolic example, but then so is PETA’s campaign to transform the purchase of a dog into a shameful thing.
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Five Things to Know About the Animal World Outside the Home
One of the outlets for acquiring companions in the pet animal world is shelters and rescue organizations of which there are many. Fine breeders actually seem to be less common these days than shelters and rescue organizations of animals in need of homes. They are not to be compared as they are quite different. For those interested in rescuing and adopting a needing pet, often mutts but even pure breeds are sometimes found there here are things to know.
ONE; Types of shelters
There are several types of animal shelters from governmental to sanctuaries. The one most people are familiar with is the pound, another name for a government animal shelter. There also are private shelters that have contracts with governments that perform the same functions as the public shelters. For instance, the Pasadena (California) Humane Society and SPCA is a private shelter with a contract with the city to provide many public shelter services. Registration of pets is with the city; housing, adoptions, etc. are handled by the shelter.
Then, there are the nonprofit rescue groups. One type of rescue group takes all kinds of dogs and cats from public shelters and animals turned in to them from anyone who finds a dog or domesticated cat. These pets are either placed in foster homes or in humane kenneling with lots of outside time. Most of the people who work with these groups are volunteers. Another kind of nonprofit rescues purebred dogs. These rescue groups are often times sanctioned by the American Kennel Club as part of its outreach and sometimes not. Today as a way to watch out for their breeding of fine pure breeds, most dog breeds that have clubs within the AKC have rescue people within each club who volunteer to help re home needing dogs of their breed. Some of these groups will take mixed breeds as long as an animal has the breed’s dominant characteristics.
Finally, there are sanctuaries. Sanctuaries are also nonprofit and provide a home for animals that will never fit in a domestic home environment. Sanctuaries are usually for large animals from horses to tigers.
TWO; Shelter services
Governmental shelters have many functions among which are registration of pets; rules and regulations regarding animals in a city, county or region; adoptions; mandatory spay/neuter facilities for adoptions; micro-chipping for adopted pets; picking up stray and dead animals and euthanasia.
Nonprofits of either kind offer medical treatment and behavior assessment as well as socializing opportunities and some training. They also handle micro chipping and spaying/neutering. For their adoptions most of these groups take applications from prospective adopters, and require information about their vets. They may do a home check to make sure the pet has a safe and secure environment.
They do not kill pets — ever. Every pet that comes to a rescue group will stay with the group until the best home is found. For those pets lucky enough to find their forever home an adoption donation of a certain amount is usually requested. Often enough the donation comes nowhere near what it costs to get a pet that’s rescued from the streets or government shelters ready for adoption. Even purebred dogs in the wrong hands or abandoned to government shelters will need a lot of care before they’re ready for a new home. Dogs from puppy mills (people who look at the animals as income property, do not have responsible breeding knowledge or care for any breed, and keep dogs in stressful and often dirty conditions, maintaining over-bred, often exhausted stock that is fed as cheaply as possible) especially need attention and medical help before they go to their new homes. (There are movements now in many parts of the country to ban puppy mills dogs from being sold in their areas.)
THREE; Euthanasia
Animals are killed in shelters for many reasons. The dogs are sick or aggressive, and the shelters can’t afford to treat or train the dogs. Consequently, they’re put down. Also, when the shelter becomes overcrowded, the dogs that have been caged the longest are killed. Sadly this time frame is often just several days. The Humane Society of the United States recommends a hold period of about five days. Essentially that means, the dog has a few days from the time he enters a shelter to “get lucky.”
Most urban areas now euthanize their animals by lethal injection, which is considered at this time to be the most humane way to kill an animal. Other ways are used, however, such as shooting, gassing and electrocuting. Euthanasia rates have been declining throughout the country for some years now, but still the kill rate is extremely high. Millions of pets are put to sleep every year. For example, the Alachua (Florida) County animal shelter in alliance with rescue groups and monies from Maddie’s Fund brought its 2001-2004 dog kill numbers down from 3794 to 2660. That’s still a lot of dogs put down. When alliances are struck, the kill rate does decrease, but more is needed. Southern states are more vulnerable to lots of shelter dogs because when dogs get pregnant and it is not wanted, the dog can have puppies outside that survive due to the weather. In colder climates, dogs giving birth to pups in cold do not have survival opportunities as puppies are born with no body fat.
FOUR; Shelter funding
Taxes fund most governmental shelters, but the tax money is far from what they need, so these shelters also accept gifts, donations (monetary and in kind) and grants. The nonprofits, including sanctuaries, are completely dependent on donations, grants, fundraisers and gifts. Gifts and donations usually come from the general public and the suggested donations for adopting a pet.
Also, there are organizations that give grants to animal shelters and rescue groups. For example, Maddie’s Fund gives grants to any groups in the U.S. that adopt a no-kill policy. At this time it offers 14 different kinds of grants ranging from $500 to community groups that have alliances with each other and with governmental shelters and veterinarians to $23 million to New York City for a 10-year project to reach a no-kill goal. Maddie’s Fund does not give to ancillary projects, such as new buildings or animals other than dogs and cats.
In addition, The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the HSUS give grants to various areas within the animal rescue world. However organization such as HSUS and PETA are not so animal friendly as they like to paint. In fact, they create a lot of problems and false propaganda about responsible breeding and care given especially to pure breeds in the dog and cat fancy world. They are also beginning to create some havoc in the faming world. Much of their advertising is misleading to a generous public,
The ASPCA’s grants range between $500 and $5,000. Petsmart, as part of its commitment to the communities they serve, also give grants for spay/neuter programs. Their time is better spent when they look at puppy mills, which as described briefly above, is a very different circumstance for breeding than those in the Dog Fancy world.
FIVE; Advocacy organizations
There are several national organizations that are primarily advocacy groups. Some of them give monetary support to groups that are in the trenches. Others aim their funds and energy in different directions. The ASPCA, for example, not only gives grants but also runs the New York City shelter as seen on Animal Planet’s Animal Precinct. It also has a fleet of vehicles dedicated to mobile spray/neuter programs in New York City.
Along with the ASPCA the HSUS helps to set standards of care for animal shelters. It also offers evaluation services to the shelters so they can improve services. The HSUS also is heavily involved in supporting legislation and pursuing litigation when necessary. HSUS however rarely gives money it raises through advertising as a shelter supporter. They insist local shelters find their own support. HSUS does euthanize animals. There is controversy as to where the millions of dollars they raise goes. They spend a lot on advertising, and their high-ranking employees get large salaries. Local shelters and non profits do not have the corporate structure or slick Madison Avenue type advertising, and they do not have the money to complete with HSUS or the other current giant in advertising about animal welfare. PETA is the other giant organization that helps virtually few animals and has a very extensive euthanizing program.
Animals that end up in shelters often make loving pets and seem to know kind people have saved their lives. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals advocates for all animals- wild and domesticated, as well as veganism and other social behavior issues. PETA makes no grants or gifts to any organization. PETA is also opposed to dog breeding of all kinds. The essence of this thinking if allowed to run free would be the extinction of all dog breeds, and perhaps all dogs altogether. It does not differentiate between responsible breeders and puppy mills.
They extol to an extent as a way to fight breeders anything just existing by random chance in the canine world and cat world over breeders who keep careful records for generations of all aspects of the dogs bred, from health to temperament, to conformation etc. PETA is also opposed, except for very specific situations, to the trap-neuter-spay program for feral cats, which most animal-centric organizations approve as the best of a bad situation. PETA does not offer an alternative. All its money goes to its advocacy campaigns and activism. To what purpose and end needs to be looked at more carefully. So, there it is; the good, the bad and the ugly of animal adoption. When potential adopters are knowledgeable about the world of dogs and cats at the mercy of the greater society, they’ll be better armed to make a true lifetime commitment to their furry friend.
Below is a list of some shelters that you may want to consider when going that route for a pet. But first and foremost, understand when getting a pet, it requires commitment and time, work, and care. There are shelters throughout the USA and also in the UK and other countries.
A few in the USA are, emphasizing here non kill shelters:
ONE WEEK AT A TIME: A Week in an American Animal Shelter by Diane Leih and Marilee Geyer
Pets Alive
North Shore Animal League
NSPCA
Operation Kindness
Fur Kids Animal Rescue
Family Dogs New Life
Halo Mostly Mutts
Converse Animal Shelter
Castaway Animal Rescue Effort
Animal Lifeline of Iowa
Wyoming County SPCA
Dogtown Shelter
San Diego ASF
Pets Without parents
Rock N’ Acres Animal Rescue
Max Fund No Kill Shelter
Arfhouse
Grateful Greyhounds
Last Chance Rescue
Tara’s Babies Animal Welfare
Helen O Krause Foundation
CARA
Best Friends
To find no kill organizations by state go to www.saveourstrays.com
Two well known sanctuaries are; Noah’s Ark, and Mackenzie’s Animal Sanctuary
Book: The Road to Utopia by Nancy Parker-Simons
