Years ago I watched Al Pacino in a film called Dog Day Afternoon in which there were no dogs; just a botched bank robbery and a sad ending. Lately, it seems that there are a lot of sad endings for dogs and cats and any animal that doesn't have a caring or responsible owner.
Pictures and stories of pets being abandoned in apartments, houses, and backyards are all over newspapers, the Internet and television. At various shelters nationwide, but especially in large urban areas, overcrowding and lack of finances means that the animals are all too often euthanized very quickly with no chance at finding another home.
In Houston, Texas, the Bureau of Animal Control BARC) has euthanized more than125, 000 dogs each year. I am not even bothering with the statistics for other animals right now. Despite the many animal groups who valiantly come in and pull out the dogs and cats they try and personally adopt out, it's a ripple in the ocean of need.
We all know what must be done. Just as providing universal health care so that all people can have medical treatment, or trying to balance our budget so that future generations don't carry the burden of debt we have saddled them with, or making sure that we finally get a handle on global climate disruption, we must also begin to really create legislation that guarantees unwanted animals some basic rights. And this is needed not just in Texas, but all over the United States. What can we all do?
Make spay/neuter mandatory. Enforce it.
Educate schoolchildren so they learn and understand that having a pet means accepting responsibility. When you have a pet, you are responsible for its life. Just like a child. Pets need food and shelter. They need medicine, and regular vet visits and deserve to die a dignified death when the time has come.
We need to shut down all the puppy mills and leave dog breeding to breeders who care about the viability of their breed. These breeders will take a dog back if the owner has to give it up and want to be responsible for finding it another home. I don't ever want to see another picture of some poor female dog in a squat cage, where she can't even stand up whose life has been spent pushing out puppies. And by the way, I am sick of labradoodles, and pugapoos, and cockapoos being marketed as viable breeds. I have no problem with mixed breeds -- but why buy an animal that otherwise you could find at the shelter?
Let's stop the backyard breeders who think a quick litter of pups is just another way to earn a quick buck. These poor pups often carry diseases, are not properly inoculated and the new owners have no recourse should the dog die. And because the dogs are bred with no sense of temperament or breed guidance, there are often problems. What happens when the dogs don't work out? In Houston, there is a beleaguered section of road called the Corridor. A valiant team of people headed by Deborah Hoffman patrol that area and tries to help the animals that are dumped there. That's' right. Just dumped. You can find dead pit bulls wrapped in blankets and put into trash bags, you can find purebred dogs at a loss as to how they got there, you can find lots of smallish, white scruffy dogs that are a few breeds short of Heinz 57, but close, and on and on. You can find, as Deborah did, dogs buried and still alive under construction debris, and dogs just left tied or chained to posts, trees and empty houses.
We need to be creative! There are thousands of veterans who are returning home traumatized emotionally and physically. Dogs have been shown to be effective as therapy. That's right. Sometimes a person would rather talk to a dog than a human therapist. There are plenty of dogs that need to give love, and plenty of veterans who need the kind of unconditional love an animal can deliver.
And what about our prison population? There have been a few programs, which have placed puppies with incarcerated men and women. Those puppies are given their basic training as guide dogs and then moved on to help people who need them. In today's world, many families that used to foster and train puppies for specialized programs are not available since both parents work. With "Pups in Prisons," a sense of purpose and achievement is the end and very positive result.
And what about cities or towns that don't have many dogs or cats to adopt? Why can't they be identified and have overcrowded shelters send them excess animals so that they can find a home?
I was so thrilled when President Obama originally suggested that the First Family would go to a shelter and pick out "a mutt like me." Although that didn't happen because of Malia's allergies, there are plenty of purebred rescue groups. Name your breed from Irish Wolfhounds to Basset hounds, Basenjis to Yorkshire terriers and there is a rescue group fostering plenty of dogs that need good homes.
While my daughter was at college last year, one of her friends fostered a golden retriever. After the dog got placed, he fostered another. This is a wonderful way to assist in your community if you have the time and space.
All over the country there are amazing people saving animals. Madeleine Pickens is saving the wild Mustang. In many communities there are a myriad of rescue groups for various purebred groups, or for just dogs. Cat rescue abounds as well. I have been stunned to see housetrained rabbits at the shelters hoping for adoption, and other small pets as well.
I so admire and respect Sarah McLachlan for all of her work for the ASPCA, but I would be thrilled if I never had to see those ads, and dogs and cats behind bars anymore. All of us need to work to change a system that is severely broken.
Maybe along with health care reform, and education reform, we can add animal welfare reform. Maybe someday a dog day afternoon will mean a happy wagging tail, not a sad tale.
As the great Mahatma Gandhi said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by how it treats its animals." If we are to be judged by his adage, then we have failed.
Vickster.. HUH.. if feral cows, chickens, pigs and other live a horrible life.. and they live longer ( and happier I suspect wihtout predators and lack of food) on feedlots.. then huh??.. One thing feral animals do get to do is REPRODUCE.. so which is better.. or isn't there a real choice.. since animals do not have rights and cannot make these choices for themselves.. hmm think they will be able to vote soon?
Rmankowitz.. you must be pretty thin, pretty rich and very careful.. Looks like your pets eat well though.. where do you get their meat as cats cannot be vegan. just curious.. you know .. like a cat..
as for being "hooked" on food..?/ that is a concept I cannot even digest.. The world revolves on food production.. and the chaper the better.. of course .. that goes along with CHOICE.. which you would not have if food were overly expensive.. then the main job of people would be to find FOOD.. not invent the internet.. ( Al Gore look pretty weel fed to me.. LOL)
http://www.celestialpets.com
Here is a book that teaches the ethical feeding of humans: "The Original Diet." Ask your librarian for a copy.
Regarding being very careful, I have only one body, and if I do not take care of it, where will I live?
I see you are quite concerned about treating animals as nature intended, and I support that. Therefore, I presume you only feed them what nature intended, which is not the junk in a can or a bag. It is primarily raw whole ground-living animals. Where do you get your raw pet food?
Roy Mankovitz, Director
http://www.MontecitoWellness.com
Nothing in this piece mentions No KILL.. the Nathan Winograd philosophy that has saved MILLIONS of dogs and cats in our country. Google it.. read the book.. it works..
Get rid of "pet limits" first so that people can have more than a few pets.. eliminate "breed bans" .. they have not saved any lives..educate the public and offer low cost or free castration for pets.. in my town this happens .. and guess what.. there is a three week wait for services..if people thought they would be prosecuted for having an intact pet.. guess what too.. they WOULD NOT be coming in in droves. peopl need the carrot.. not the stick..
I live within the city, and if MSN is enforced, I could pay as much as $500 per intact animal (I now have three). I show dogs for AKC conformation where animals must be intact; yes, it's my choice to participate. That's another $500 per dog, on top of the thousands of dollars spent traveling to dog shows promoting responsible pet ownership and breed education/representation, the thousands of dollars I contribute to various rescue groups (through fostering, training, and providing vet care).
What eventually happens, is the majority of people who can afford the intact animal permits are those who breed solely for profit. No health testing, no co-ownership, no educating the new owner, no responsibility for that animal once it's gone... That's IF they decide to abide by the law.
I whole-heartedly support positive changes to the Houston area shelters and level of care given to animals while in these facilities. But to solve the long term problem, increasing education and raising awareness to responsible pet ownership is the key.
thanks for the artical. please keep them coming. we need national animal protection our priotection for animals is terrible. people can be terrible.
Alas, too many people lack food, shelter and medical care, including children who live in the USA. As for a "dignified death", there is no such thing.
As for dignity...
After sixteen years of love and loyalty, the last few years in failing health, my pound-adopted dog developed acute, sudden kidney failure. The vet came and gave her an injection to put her to sleep, and then overdosed her. She died in my arms... peacefully, and with dignity.
I can only hope that when my time comes, I will be able to go out as gently, with someone who loves me nearby.
We adopted another dog, a mixed-breed rescue, the following month. She can never replace my previous dog--she has a totally different personality--but there is no better way to honor the memory of my long-time friend and protector.
Ms. Susman, thank you for your column. Humans aren't the only species on earth--they just act like it.
By the way, I have two dogs who were rescued. Three of my six cats were rescued too. As for your claim that there is death with dignity, I must wonder how many weeks you allowed your "pound-adopted dog" with acute kidney failure to linger before you finally decided it was time to do the evil deed. And I don't intend this as a criticism, but it's possible to wait too long.
There is no such thing as acting too quickly to put a critter out of it's misery.
You can find more information about why Mandatory s/n laws are NOT working to lower kill rates in shelters at www.NoKillAdvocacyCenter.org or www.NoKillHouston.org. You will also find information about what programs and services DO cause the kill rate to decline. Shelters across the country are lowering the kill rate of healthy and treatable pets to near zero. We don't have to re-create the wheel. We can copy what is working for them. PLEASE, PLEASE do research on this topic.
Have you got facts about that? (how many has she rescued? where are they?)
So far all I've heard is talk.