Each year, millions of unwanted animals are destroyed in municipal and private animal shelters all across America. There just weren't enough suitable homes for these animals.Especially heartbreaking is, many people do not realize that in many shelters, once an animal is surrendered, the shelter could euthanize it that very day.
According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the animal overpopulation crisis costs the United States over a billion dollars each year.
Other estimates state that if every man, woman and child were required to take an equal number of animals in order to solve the problem, each person in the United States would have to have no less than seven pets.
The No-Kill Myth
Being a no-kill shelter doesn't mean that every animal surrendered can be adopted into a new home. Some animals are simply too aggressive to adopt and could pose a danger to prospective family members or other animals. Still other animals are too sick or injured to be candidates for adoption. The no-kill concept simply means that no healthy, adoptable animal is euthanized for lack of an adoptive home.
The decision to euthanize an animal is never easy or taken lightly. Meanwhile, some who oppose the no-kill concept insist that euthanizing an animal is the only alternative. They contend that "heartless and cowardly" people would simply "dump animals in the street". However, ever since Richmond has become a no-kill community, there has not been a noticeable increase in animal abandonment rates (according to Richmond Animal Control).
There are times when a no-kill shelter has no space available and must turn animals away. However, responsible no-kill shelters can always provide assistance to pet owners who must surrender their pets granted the pet owner is willing to take the necessary steps in finding their pet a new home. No-Kill shelters simply do not allow pet owners to drop their animals off at our doors and thus contribute to the attitude that companion animals are disposable. Furthermore, according to Dr. Craig Brestrup, Ph.D. of the Progressive Animal Welfare Society, "these attitudes might be doing more harm than good".
Shelters with so-called full services operate on the assumption that if they did not faithfully take animals in, they would subject them to "fates worse than death" at the hands of their guardians. So, in an attempt to prevent possible suffering, these shelters receive animals even when full and euthanize the surplus. Isn't it likely that by offering convenient "rescuing" of guardian-relinquished animals these shelters inadvertently reinforce the very disposability syndrome they condemn? Cat Rescue believes not only do these shelters reinforce this concept, they enable and facilitate the disposal of such companion animals. Hence another mixed message: ready receiving of animals being abandoned by their former companions while verbally rejecting the notion that disposal of such animals is a proper thing to do. What should the public believe?
Cat Rescue does not condemn shelters that choose to euthanize healthy adoptable animals. We understand the overwhelming tasks municipal animal shelters are charged with. Our efforts are directed towards promoting aggressive spay/neuter services of all pets, responsible pet ownership and the enforcement of animal welfare laws with the ultimate goal of eliminating euthanasia as a means of controlling pet overpopulation.
We sadly recognize that many animals may not be candidates for adoption because of potential safety hazards to humans or other animals. We also realize that every animal residing in a shelter is there through no fault of its own. Cat Rescue is simply a resource providing animals with another chance at a long, happy life without fear of euthanasia.
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Despite claims like this, the animals in "no-kill" shelters are not "living in misery, locked in cages all day and night". Many of these shelters have active volunteers and caring staff members who spend time with these animals and in many cases, become quite attached to them.
One Hampton Roads shelter doesn't have a time limit of any kind, opting instead to keep animals as long as that animal is healthy, friendly and adoptable. However, when they start taking in more animals than they have space for or the animals become sick or aggressive, difficult choices must be made.
We encourage you to visit the Norfolk SPCA or the Animal Assistance Legue and see for yourself the wonderful animals that are being cared for at these "no-kill" shelters.
What Can You Do?
If each of us did something, we could accomplish a lot. Many shelters are taken to task for "killing animals", but in order for it to stop our society will have to change our attitudes about companion animals.
Don't Buy a Pet From an Animal Breeder or Pet Store-Many of these pets come from puppy or kitten mills from other states-does it make any sense to create a market for more pets when we have dozens of shelters in Hampton Roads that have great pets for far less than you would pay a breeder or a pet store?
Have your pet spayed or neutered and encourage others to do the same-The last thing we need are more puppies or kittens being born into a world that cannot provide homes for them. Pets do not need to have a litter of offspring and altered pets live healthier lives free of several different diseases of the reproductive system.
Help a Shelter & Help a Pet-If you are out shopping, you can buy an extra bag of dog or cat food, cat litter or even office supplies and drop it off at any of the local shelter-they will appreciate your gift. You can volunteer in one of many different ways to help your local shelter, animal control agency or rescue group. Even an hour each week could mean another animal that is saved from an uncertain fate. You could be that one person who makes all the difference in the world to a pet in need.
Never adopt on a whim-Adopting a pet is a lifelong commitment. Too many people adopt animals that they may not be able to keep for more than a few years or even months. Stop and consider your particular life situation before you adopt a pet becasue surrendering a pet is never an easy thing to do.