A Voice for Those Who Have None
Mortgage meltdowns, soldiers leaving for war, higher rents, additional rents for pets, large pet deposits, natural disasters, allergies, animal behavior problems, the high cost of living, and people moving out of the area have created victims rarely acknowledged. People are surrendering their unwanted pets to shelters and animal rescue groups in record numbers. Over the last 18 months, thousands of additional healthy, adoptable animals have been killed in our local shelter because there is not enough space in shelters or with animal rescue groups to handle this growing catastrophe.
According to national statistics, 71 percent of all healthy adoptable cats/kittens and 56 percent of all dogs/puppies surrendered to shelters are killed annually. These figures do not include other species of animals euthanized. To view a disturbing video on this crisis, please look here.
Animal rescuers are overwhelmed by the enormity of the recent insurgence of displaced, unwanted pets, and they need your help. Contrary to what the public thinks, animal rescuers are not paid employees of any animal shelter. Animal rescuers are everyday, caring volunteers in our community. They are loving, selfless individuals who open their hearts, homes, and pocket books, while working fulltime paid jobs, to try to give these deserted animals a second chance at a loving permanent home. Not only do animal rescuers provide temporary homes and conduct pet adoption fairs to try to place these animals, but they also pay for spaying/neutering, testing, shots, deworming, defleaing, chipping, and Vet bills to treat sick animals with little or no help from shelters, the state, city or county. If it were not for these unsung heroes, the number of unwanted pets being killed in shelters would be double or triple what it is now, and would be costing taxpayers millions more annually to fund our local city shelters.
We can reduce this needless killing together, so let’s start now. How?
1. Please spay/neuter your pets! Your local animal shelter, or rescue group can direct you to the nearest low cost spay/neuter clinic or can help you with animal behavior problems.
2. Don’t feed stray animals unless you are wiling to get them fixed. A good feeding ground is a great breeding ground!
3. Remember when considering adopting a pet that they are a lifetime commitment.
4. Animal shelters and rescuers have pure breeds. If you must go to a breeder, please go to one that is registered with the American Kennel Club. Backyard breeders and people who give away free pets that are not fixed are a huge part of the problem.
5. Volunteer with rescue groups or a shelter to be a foster parent!
6. Donate your time and money to rescue groups or a shelter.
If you are a landlord, open your units to people with pets. Renters with pets stay longer.
Kathleen Flynn is the founder of Dedicated Animal Rights Educators, Inc.
Jack Van Zandt will return next week
Bravo, this is wonderful advice that deserves a wide audience.
It saddens me to hear people gush about the new puppy that they bought, as if it’s a consumer product to show off. There are so many deserving animals at the shelter or with rescue groups!
Dedicated Animal Rights Educators, Inc., would like to invite animal rescuers/ advocates, the media, and animal lovers everywhere to a demonstration and candle lit vigil being held Tuesday, Feb. 26th, and Tuesday, March 18th, from 6-7:30 p.m., at San Jose City Hall, located at 200 E. Santa Clara Street, by the fountains facing Santa Clara Street.
The purpose of the demonstration and candle vigil is:
• To let the community know the importance of spaying and neutering their pets, and how they can help us stop the killing of animals in shelters.
• To bring attention to the plight of animal rescue groups everywhere in California, who are being overwhelmed by the amount of unwanted pets being surrendered by the community, the increase of feral cats, and by our partnerships with shelters who are asking for help in taking in their overflow of surrendered animals.
• To bring attention to the overwhelming amount of animals being surrendered to shelters, and the amount of money it is costing cities, counties, taxpayers, and this State to house these displaced animals.
• To bring to the attention of State lawmakers that they need to mandate that all counties and cities in California, need to provide low cost spay/neuter programs, and provide much needed spay/neuter education to the public, so we can stop the needless killing of healthy adoptable animals in our shelters.
The candle lit vigil will begin at 7:00 pm, and is being held to honor animals that have and will die in our streets, and in our shelters because their aren’t enough homes, and because people aren’t spay/neutering their pets. Please, bring a candle, a friend, your family, a poem, or song you’d like to read or sing.
For more information, please contact Kathleen at [email protected].
This City has a way of turning a blind eye to the underlying cause of our problems and always applying a bandaid “solution”. (Usually one that costs taxpayers a bunch of money)
I suppose it would be politically incorrect to pose the question, “Just who are the irresponsible pet owners in San Jose that are causing this problem?”
thanks, kathleen, for reminding me i need to do more for abandoned animals. i recently adopted a cream-colored poodle/spaniel mix who had been dumped, along with a staffie, in our shasta-hanchett neighborhood in san jose. a neighbor and kind animal services officer, joanne watts, rescued “crytal” and got her to the san jose animal care center. after five days she was shifted to south bay pure bred rescue (also take in mixes and mutts) because of severe ear infection. these rescue folks, who have animals of their own, provide for these waifs and bring them to adoption fairs on saturday mornings. heros and heroines all./ellie molloy
I’ve visited a shelter and looked into the eyes of the dogs and cats. I came away with the feeling that a couple of beagles, a dalmatian, a poodle and a pug could probably be elected to the City Council and do a better job than our current office holders.
Genetically manipulating animals or “breeding” is not only immoral and unethical, it is an act against nature. Humans have grotescly deformed animals for the sake of the most trivial ting, vanity. Wolves and wild felines are turned into deformed creatures barely resembling thier kind. Not only do the animals endure illnesses due to the genetic manipulation, but without any regard, feeling or emphty, humans dispose of them as objects, abandoning them or dumping them in shelters where most of them are likely to be killed.
There ought to be at the very least a moratorium on breeding animals until all the shelters are able to find homes for all the animals that are dumped there.
No human should be entitled for vanity to harm animals. The term often used by breeders “responsible breeders” is a contradiciton. All breeders are exploiters of animals. Unlike breeders selfish interest, only those who rescue and adopt animals that are not wanted have at heart noble interest other than themselves in mind, the wellbeing of another who is in need .
It’s mid-February and the “cat season” is fast approaching. Like most rescuers, I’m dreading the influx of cats newly born or abandoned who’ll need vet care, fostering, and homes. The need for restricted professional breeding, prohibited backyard breeding, mandatory neuter/spay, low cost neuter/spay services (far less costly than shelter services), more counseling for pet owners, and encouraging owners of rental property to allow renters to have pets are all evident. Maybe city and county council members need to spend some time in the adoption and “kill” rooms of all the shelters to appreciate what the animals experience. Then, perhaps, they would make better decisions impacting the well-being of animals. No healthy or treatable animal should be killed because there’s not enough time to find an appropriate home for it. We owe it to the animals and ourselves to do better!
Another point to add to this is that cats should not be permitted to wander around outside. I think every cat rescue group (we have a rescue cat) insists on this. Contact with feral cats spreads Feline Immunodeficiency Virus and cats can pose a danger to endangered native species. Some countries actually have laws about this.
8. Cats are the only non-social animals ever domesticated. A genetic study published last year shows strong evidence that cats domesticated themselves. And over a very short period—about 200 years.
Let me tell you about a recent personal experience.
For several weeks there was a cat yowling under our house at all hours.
A friend loaned me a humane trap which I set out one night last week. In the morning there was a big feral unneutered tomcat in the trap. It’s eyes were all gooey and it’s ears infested with mites. Those were just the outward signs of the cat’s distress.
I started calling around to find some organization that would take this animal. Humane Society didn’t want it, nor did several rescue groups. I finally ended up taking this poor cat to the south county animal shelter down in San Martin. They took the cat but said because it was feral and sick it could not be adopted and would have to be put down.
Being an animal lover (O.K. and a big softy) I’ve been feeling very sad for that kitty, and more than a little guilty that I am the agent of it’s death. I really wish that whoever either let that cat, or one of it’s ancestors, “run free” had instead taken the step of having it neutered and placed into a proper home. It would have saved me, and my family, from a difficult situation.
This scenario plays out hundreds of times a day in cities across the country. I thank people like Kathleen who remind us of the very real problems associated with pet overpopulation.
Now a days we are so worried about bills, food and shelter. We don’t look out the window and see past our own problems. The animals don’t have anyone to speak for them, so we need to take a few minutes to tell the officals what the needs are for those who can’t. Please take a minute or two and help those who need us to speak on there behalf. Please help us get the word out to stop this inhumane treatment of those who can’t speak.
#5
What are you talking about? Who said that “irresponsible pet owners in San Jose that are causing this problem”?
Does Ms. Flynn also work for the city of san jose?
Thank Kathleen for being a voice for those who have no voices, for being someone who is dedicated to our cause, not afraid to stand out there in the face of adversity.
We in rescue have held your pets while they were in pain, and afraid, held them while our tears ran on their fur, we were the last ones they saw as they left this world. Where were their “owners” while we comforted them?.
For many years those of us in rescue have been used as dumping grounds for other peoples problems, ones they created and did not care enough about. We care, and now we want our voices to be heard, enough is enough. People spay and neuter your pets, it is the only way to go.
If you want a pet, adopt one, but remember it is for life, just as when you bring a child into this world, one does not dispose of it, when problems set in. Animals are living, breathing creatures of God, with feelings similar to ours.
Support your local rescues, they need it.
#11- The reason the Humane Society didn’t want the cat, (they should have taken it), nor would rescue groups take it is it had a highly contagious disease, was wild, and wasn’t adoptable. Wild cats, we rescuers call them Ferals, have never been touched by human beings, so they can be pretty dangerous if touched. I have plenty of scars to prove it!
Take heart, your tough decision is one I can sympathize with. I have had to do the same thing many times, and believe me when I say it never gets easier. What you did for this animal was very loving; kind, and more humane than you will ever know. Feline Leukemia has no cure. It causes a slow, and very painful death, and it is highly contagious to other cats, that is why they are put down. You are right, if the person who tossed that cat outside unfixed had the compassion to get it neutered, vaccinated, and kept it indoors, this never would have happened.
Many members of the public get very angry at animal rescuers because we do not want to adopt cats/kittens to people that will let them outside. They call us over protective Nazi’s, cruel, and other unkind names. First of all, the law prohibits you from allowing your cat to roam freely about the neighborhood, and secondly, your pet can be poisoned, run over, get injured, or contract diseases like Feline Leukemia, rabies, and other fatal diseases. So, now you can understand our dilemma first hand.
Again, I really want to thank you for this loving, and compassionate act. I hope you come to understand that it was truly the act of kindness, and was the most responsible thing you could have done for this poor animal. You are aces in my book!
Thank you, Kathleen, for the excellent article.
It is estimated that 5 to 10 million stray dogs and cats live on the streets throughout the United States. Every year, 6-8 million dogs and cats die in shelters across America because there are no homes for them.
It is time for all of us to do what we can to end the incalculable suffering of these unwanted, lost and homeless dogs and cats.
Here are some more suggestions on how we all can be responsible pet guardians:
·Support Assembly Bill 1634/The California Healthy Pet Act, which is designed to save lives. Please visit http://www.cahealthypets.com to learn more about this crucial reform.
·Support the Santa Clara County Low Cost Spay/Neuter Program. Please encourage your city officials to allocate funds for spay/neuter services in their districts.
·Contact your veterinarian today and make an appointment to spay/neuter your pet.
·Contact St. Francis of Assisi Low Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic in San Martin. Please call (408) 683-0866. Tuesday and Wednesday surgeries.
·Contact Santa Clara County Animal Control for a list of low-cost spay/neuter clinics and information. (800) 215-2555, press 6 for cat information, press 7 for dog information.
·Contact Peninsula Fix Our Ferals for information on safe trapping and transporting of feral/wild cats for spay/neuter and other medical treatment. Call (650) 261-6665 or visit http://www.peninsulafixourferals.org
·Report “backyard breeders” and puppy/kitten “mills” to your local authorities. Reckless breeding is among the worst forms of animal abuse and directly contributes to the pet overpopulation crisis. Do not purchase dogs/cats/puppies/kittens from pet stores, over the Internet or from newspaper or magazine advertisements. Get the facts on puppy/kitten mills from the Humane Society of the United States website at http://www.hsus.org or call (202) 452-1100.
·Adopt your next pet from an animal shelter, animal rescue organization, Humane Society facility, SPCA facility or animal foster group. Please give them a home.
Adopt a pet and save a life today. Spay/neuter your pet and save a life tomorrow.
Thank you Kathleen, and SJI, for running this article.
It may not be as much fun to kick around as Little Saigon, but it’s an important topic that is too often dismissed.
The killing of unwanted pets, and the growing population of feral animals, is a huge problem.
Get ‘em spayed or neutered!
Again, thanks.
#13-
Every animal that gets put down WAS the reponsibility of some individual. That poor animal was let down by some person who failed to live up to their responsibility.
I think those people are lowlifes and I think we cut them way too much slack.
Would YOU ever let your pets breed indiscriminately and let the offspring run wild?
Would YOU run a puppy mill?
Would YOU turn your pet in knowing that it would be euthanized because it had become inconvenient to you, Mr. Rove?
Of course not! And neither would I.
It takes committment to be a responsible pet owner.
Let’s hold our fellow citizens to a little higher standard.
Ms. Flynn:
I cannot agree with you more. My wife and I have had 4 dogs in the 20 years we have been married. 1 from the Humane Society, 2 from a rescue in Oakland (our current family) and one that was about to be taken to a shelter by an older couple that could no longer take care of him. These dogs have given us the greatest companionship and joy. There are many great dogs out there ready to be adopted. We had a hard time choosing a new family member when one of our best friends had to be put down from illness. We want to take them all home. Our house would be empty without them. A bark and a wagging tail when we come home each night is a great greeting. A dog curled up next to you while watching some TV is just a great feeling. I would recommend to anyone that has the room, the patience and the ability to rescue a dog.
Thank you so much Kathleen! A spay and neuter law is long time overdue. Everybody who disagrees has probably never been inside an animal shelter. Fact is that we don’t have enough homes for all the animals.
Over 400,000 animals get euthanized in CA shelters each year. That number should be enough reason to spay/neuter and not to buy from a breeder. Save a life – ADOPT!
#16. Thanks for the kind words.
I hope I did not leave the impression the Humane Society and rescue groups were somehow deficient by not taking in this sick feral cat. I was trying to share the frustration of not having any options other than the one I took.
The Humane society and the rescue groups do good and difficult work and are vastly under-appreciated. I only wish there were no need for their services.
And yes, putting a feral cat to sleep was probably the best thing, but it still made me feel bad.
#20- No, you did not leave that impression. I was just explaining why you didn’t get hands on help with the problem. If you live in San Jose, San Jose Animal Care and Services is where you need to call, if you ever have another problem like this.
Shelters and rescue groups are so overwhelmed with fostering animals, that they depend on kind folks like you to do the right thing for the animal. And you did, so thank you! I know you feel badly, and that is why I feel such respect for you. It shows your compassion. Unfortunately, a lot of people would have done something cruel like hit the cat with a bat, let their dog loose to chase it out, or sprayed it with the hose just to get it out from under their house so they didn’t have to deal with it. Sad, but true.
#14- No I don’t work for the City of San Jose. What does that question have to do with the topic?
Excellent article, Kathleen! As you know, you will have my support on all issues regarding the plight of homeless animals and the overpopulation concerns. However, after two and a half decades in animal rescue I have come to the realization that attempting to make many people care and effectively react to this ongoing problem will only happen if you offer them something in return. Too few people, whether in government or not, will too often be motivated only by some type of gain. I don’t have the answer to this, but when someone does there will be great success for animals.
Coette –
That local government will save hundreds of thousands of dollars if people spay/neuter their pets should be motivation enough – especially in this time of budget deficits. That includes taxpayer savings! People in the community could save a lot of money on vet bills, because, as you know, unfixed pets get cancer and urinary tract problems and other related diseases for unfixed pets.
Please join animal rescuers and advocates from all over the county of Santa Clara in front of San Jose City Hall, Tuesday, Feb. 26th, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., for a rally and candle lit vigil.
Key Note Speakers Will Be:
Vice Mayor Cortese
Supervisor Pete McHugh
Dr. David Reed of Bascom Animal Hospital
Heather Betchel of Rabbit Haven
Vivian A. Kennedy of ACGSR, Inc.
Delorme McKee- Stovall will give the blessing and read Rainbow Bridge at the candle lit vigil.
The rally is being held to:
Let the community know the importance of spaying and neutering their pets, and how they can help us stop the killing of animals in shelters.
To bring attention to the plight of animal rescue groups everywhere in California, who are being overwhelmed by the amount of unwanted pets being surrendered by the community, the increase of feral cats, and by our partnerships with shelters who are asking for help in taking in their overflow of surrendered animals.
To bring attention to the overwhelming amount of animals being surrendered to shelters, and the amount of money it is costing cities, counties, taxpayers, and this State to house these displaced animals.
To bring to the attention of State lawmakers that they need to mandate that all counties and cities in California, need to provide low cost spay/neuter programs, and provide much needed spay/neuter education to the public, so we can stop the needless killing of healthy adoptable animals in our shelters.
The candle lit vigil will begin at 7pm, and will last for 30 minutes. We are honored to have Delorme McKee-Stovall to give the blessing, and to read Rainbow Bridge. Please bring a candle, a poem, a song, a friend, a family member, your children, or your furry friend to help us honor the animals that have died, or will die in shelters everywhere.
Thank you for your support, and we hope to see you there.
Anytime we try to help animals, this is the kind of misinformation, and opposition we face. A simple rally and candle lit vigil to honor animal rescuers, and to honor pets dying in our shelters, has turned into a political battle. It is no wonder animals are dying in droves~
This was sent out by the American Dog Association, without them checking to find out the true purpose of the rally and vigil first:
> TAC NEWS, 2/22/08 – ATTEND SAN JOSE CA RALLY, 2/26, 6 PM
>
> Proponents of California AB 1634 and mandatory spay/neuter are
> holding a rally in front of the San Jose City Hall, 200 E. Santa
> Clara Street on Tuesday Feb. 26th at 6 p.m.
>
> Opponents of such draconian ordinances and legislation have obtained
> a permit to hold a rally at the same time, also in front of City
> Hall. If you do not want San Jose to become the next Los Angeles,
> make a sign, and show up at City Hall at 5:45 on Tuesday. Wear your
> No on AB1634 buttons and shirts, and bring your signs. We need to
> OUTNUMBER the animal rights activists. Please meet near the
> intersection of 4th and Santa Clara St.
>
> Mandatory altering of dogs, along with onerous permit fees, will
> simply shift the production of puppies to out of state facilities,
> and sale through pet stores. This is not the way for the public to
> obtain the best quality puppies.
>
> Mandatory altering of owned cats is not the solution to the problem
> of too many cat s are entering the shelters and being euthanized.
> Owned cats are already altered at very high percentages, however
> unowned and feral cats, of which there are an estimated 125,000 in
> Santa Clara County, are only altered in the single digits. It does
> not take a rocket scientist to figure out where the feral kittens
> entering the shelter each summer are coming from. And it isn’t from
> owned cats.
>
> Sign ideas:
> When pets are outlawed, only outlaws will have pets. We support
> voluntary spay/neuter. If you are feeding a stray cat, get her
> fixed. Welcome to California/No Pets Allowed. Mandatory spay/neuter
> of dogs does not stop feral cats from breeding.
Hey Kathleen –
Check the numbers – the numbers ARE going down – have been for the last 20 years. The MSN in Santa Cruz wasn’t as successful as just education in the surrounding areas. AND – lastly – about 80% of the animals in the shelters are already s/n.
Besdies those facts – explain to me WHY your shelters and rescue groups are importing animals from Mexico, Puerto Rico, China, Russia, etc – – aren’t there enough animals in CA?
Remember – the ARse tactics are VERY similiar to the Nazis! Take away the guns, the dogs, the weapons, the connections to life – – wear a yellow star – – nothing will happen! YEAH – – right!
I know where ALL the pups I’ve bred are – all the ones I’ve rescued – do you even know where your kids are?
#27-#28- OUCH! Feral cats! Good thing I’ve worked with them for 12 years now, or I’d be in trouble!
Seriously ladies, the first mistake you’ve both made here is that you assume I personally support mandatory anything. I think people are intelligent enough to know how important spay/neuter is. The problem is, many people are uneducated about spay/neuter, and I think our cities, counties, and states are to blame for that. They’re too cheap to invest the money in VOLUNTARY low cost spay/neuter programs, and in education.
As to my numbers being incorrect, ah, I’d have to say you are very wrong about that.
The kill rate would be even higher than it is, if it were not for rescuers.
And you’re very wrong about “80% of the animals in the shelters are already s/n.” If that were the case, we rescuers would not be so broke, nor would we have to rely on low cost spay/neuter vouchers to help us when we pull animals from shelters. And also, let me point out that if your statement of 80% were true, and that numbers were going down, legislators wouldn’t be passing MSN to save their states and cities so much money!
Few of ANY laws surrounding animals, including MSN work because there is no or little enforcement. That is why so many people get a way with backyard breeding, selling sick animals, dog fighting, and a million other abuses of animals and humane laws.
You asked why animals are being shipped into shelters from all over the world and in the US, they are taking in animals that have been abused, abandoned from poor countries who don’t hold animals in the same high esteem we do, and they are taking in animals who are victims of floods, Katrina, New Orleans, and other disaster stricken areas. My God ladies, how can you see being humane and compassionate to animals as a disgusting flaw? Shame on you for even using such an insensitive topic to try and make a point that has no merit at all.
Nazi’s? I think that is ignorant, and not worth even commenting on.
I don’t have children, so luckily I don’t have to worry about that. As to knowing where all my rescued animals are, you bet I do. They were placed in good homes with people who have been interviewed, gone through a stringent home visit process, and that I keep in touch with. Actually, they send me photos, and notes with up dates.
Ladies, if you actually read my column, you would see that I have asked readers to go to only AKC breeders, rather than backyard breeders who are doing you a great disservice by selling sick, unfixed animals to any one who has anywhere from $500.00 to 3 K ready to hand over to them. You don’t see me asking readers to write legislators and demand that they pass mandatory spay/neuter do you? No, I didn’t think so. I’ve asked them to do the exact same thing you do, please voluntarily fix your pet. Good evening ladies, and thank you for protesting our rally and candle lit vigil tonight. You allowed us an opportunity with the press, we may not have ordinarily had.