QueenScoopalot
03-24-2005, 06:50 PM
http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/op_editorials/article/0,2565,ALBQ_19867_3641515,00.html
I'd love to see this happen all over the country!
Editorial: We need to get tough over unsterilized pets
March 22, 2005
Tribune readers most likely shook their heads last week, as we did, at the article reporting that thousands of unwanted pets are killed each year at crowded public and private animal shelters.
But, as Tribune Features Editor J.M. Baról's front-page report "Too many animals" said on Wednesday, the hard reality is head-shaking has changed very little over the years.
Albuquerque needs to become outraged.
The sad truth is we all need to do something about this. We need to break the cycle of allowing cats and dogs to reproduce when there are no homes for their offspring and they end up being euthanized.
Experts recommend expanding pet-owner education programs. There certainly is plenty of room for that. State and local officials should adopt ongoing education programs that stress the importance of spaying and neutering pets.
Yes, Albuquerque has spent decades encouraging spaying and neutering, with poor results. So maybe it's time to go to the next level. Based on its experience, perhaps Albuquerque should require, by law, that owners neuter their domestic pets or pay a costly tax or fine.
City Councilor Sally Mayer is pushing an ordinance that would require owners of unsterilized pets to pay a $150 "litter permit" because of the likelihood an unsterilized pet will have a litter or two.
Perhaps - in addition - if pet owners who can be proved to have allowed their unsterilized pets to roam, they should be subjected to additional costs, maybe even a misdemeanor charge and a stiff fine, based on the assumption their stray cats and dogs sooner or later will find a mate and reproduce.
That such extremes now are necessary is supported by the staggering realities of irresponsible pet ownership.
Among the distressing numbers reported by Baról:
90,763 - the minimum number of animals received each year by New Mexico public and private animal shelters, minus the number reclaimed as lost by their owners.
45,000 - the number of animals euthanized each year.
$14.8 million - the amount spent by animal control agencies annually across the state.
$18 million to $28 million - the range of estimated costs for a state-run neutering program for five years.
Perhaps most staggering number is 67,000 - the number of dogs that can be produced in six years by one unspayed female and her offspring.
The dimensions of this problem are exceeding not only the capacities of local and state governments, but the humanity of the people those governments represent.
It's time to hold the culprits - people, not their pets - accountable for their inhumane treatment of dogs and cats.
I'd love to see this happen all over the country!
Editorial: We need to get tough over unsterilized pets
March 22, 2005
Tribune readers most likely shook their heads last week, as we did, at the article reporting that thousands of unwanted pets are killed each year at crowded public and private animal shelters.
But, as Tribune Features Editor J.M. Baról's front-page report "Too many animals" said on Wednesday, the hard reality is head-shaking has changed very little over the years.
Albuquerque needs to become outraged.
The sad truth is we all need to do something about this. We need to break the cycle of allowing cats and dogs to reproduce when there are no homes for their offspring and they end up being euthanized.
Experts recommend expanding pet-owner education programs. There certainly is plenty of room for that. State and local officials should adopt ongoing education programs that stress the importance of spaying and neutering pets.
Yes, Albuquerque has spent decades encouraging spaying and neutering, with poor results. So maybe it's time to go to the next level. Based on its experience, perhaps Albuquerque should require, by law, that owners neuter their domestic pets or pay a costly tax or fine.
City Councilor Sally Mayer is pushing an ordinance that would require owners of unsterilized pets to pay a $150 "litter permit" because of the likelihood an unsterilized pet will have a litter or two.
Perhaps - in addition - if pet owners who can be proved to have allowed their unsterilized pets to roam, they should be subjected to additional costs, maybe even a misdemeanor charge and a stiff fine, based on the assumption their stray cats and dogs sooner or later will find a mate and reproduce.
That such extremes now are necessary is supported by the staggering realities of irresponsible pet ownership.
Among the distressing numbers reported by Baról:
90,763 - the minimum number of animals received each year by New Mexico public and private animal shelters, minus the number reclaimed as lost by their owners.
45,000 - the number of animals euthanized each year.
$14.8 million - the amount spent by animal control agencies annually across the state.
$18 million to $28 million - the range of estimated costs for a state-run neutering program for five years.
Perhaps most staggering number is 67,000 - the number of dogs that can be produced in six years by one unspayed female and her offspring.
The dimensions of this problem are exceeding not only the capacities of local and state governments, but the humanity of the people those governments represent.
It's time to hold the culprits - people, not their pets - accountable for their inhumane treatment of dogs and cats.