Animal Bloggers

Hello Everyone,

Throughout this blog we have been providing you with information about HOPE, a no-kill animal shelter, and PACC, a government funded animal shelter. It is our goal to have these two animal shelters work together to help the community of Tucson. Your question may be: What is the importance of having these two shelters work together and how does it relate to me? If you are wondering this than I hope this posting will help you understand the importance of having a no-kill and government funded animal shelter work together.

ITALY: an example of a no-kill area

In 1991, Italy proposed a law stating the following:

The State enforces and regulates the treatment of domestic animals, condemns any violence against them, condemns the bad treatment or the abandoning of them, with the aim to promote the cohabitation of humans and animals, and to promote public health and the environment. (“Law August 14th”)

This means Italy enforced a no-kill policy to any of its domestic animals. However, this law dramatically increased the number of feral cats and stray dogs in the streets of Rome (Natoli et al. 1). This created many problems: (1) the rate of dog attacks went up and (2) the spreading of rabies went up. In order to fix this problem Italy enacted trap-neuter release programs. In this program feral cats are neutered and then release back onto the streets. In a study conducted by Natoli and others, they found that colonies of cats were getting smaller due to the trap-neuter programs (4). The no-kill policy which Italy approved in 1991 caused a large number of animal problems and it has been a 10+ year effort to reduce these problems. It also reduced the chance of younger, adoptable pets being saved since many old, unhealthy pets were kept in shelters (Natoli et. al 5).

SAN FRANCISCO: lacking funds

On February 3, 2009 The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) located in San Francisco decided to shift “away from [their] ‘no kill’ policy to help close an $8 million dollar construction shortfall on its new $30 million hospital” (“Animal Welfare Groups”). Due to budget funds many of the programs aimed at saving cats and dogs in the San Francisco area have been reduced or eliminated. San Francisco’s SPCA closed its 30 year Hearing Dog program, “which matched specially trained dogs with hearing impaired patients” (“Animal Welfare Groups”). Also, their Cat Behavior program, which trained shy or aggressive cats to develop adoptable traits, was reduced. This caused fewer cats to become accepted into SPCA’s program and fewer cats are now saved (“Animal Welfare Groups”).


Italy and San Francisco show us that it is difficult to have an area that is strictly no-kill. For Italy, the number of stray animals rapidly increased which led to a number of different issues, and for San Francisco, they did not have the money or capacity to house all their animals.

This is what we believe needs to happen in order for humans and animals to have a healthy relationship: no-kill shelters and government shelters need to work together. If shelters like HOPE and PACC work together more animals can be saved and it will be economically possible. It is not possible for shelters like HOPE to dominate an area; this is because they do not have the funds or the capacity to save all the homeless animals. Also, government funded shelters are needed in order to keep more animals off the streets; this will reduce the number of dog attacks and the spread of rabies.

TUCSON: tying it all together

Here are some statistics taken from the Tucson Citizen in an article titled “Population boom hits local animal shelters”:

Pima Animal Care euthanized 8,369 dogs during its last fiscal year, which ended June 30, or 59 percent of the 14,177 dogs brought in. It euthanized 5,279 cats, or 79 percent of the 6,711 brought in. More dogs and cats are getting adopted through the care center this year because of its efforts to work with animal rescue groups. From July 1, 2006, to April 30, 3,108 dogs and 1,141 cats were adopted, compared with 3,106 dogs and 1,033 cats adopted during all of the preceding 12 months. (“Population boom”)

We believe more dogs and cats will be adopted if no-kill shelters and government funded shelters work together. This is because shelters like HOPE can take in the animals that PACC cannot keep.

IN CONCLUSION:

If HOPE and PACC, and other animals shelters, work together they can create a larger awareness about the treatment of domestic animals. This is because more can be accomplished when two organizations work together. Usually when more people work together more ideas are discussed and larger audiences are reached.

QUESTIONS:

1) Throughout this blog what are some misconceptions you learned about government funded animal shelters?
2) What are the advantages, or disadvantages, of having a no-kill and government funded animal shelter work together?
3) Do you agree or disagree with our argument?

Please provide us with any feedback you may have.

Thanks,
Team Animal
Rachel Maxwell

SOURCES:

“Law August 14th, 1991 #281.” Italian Law. Friends of Roman Cats. 29 Apr. 2009. <http://www.friendsofromancats.org/italianlaw.html>.

Natoli, E. et al. “Management of feral domestic cats in the urban environment of Rome (Italy).” Preventive Veterinary Medicine 77.3 (2006): 180-185

Johnson, Hope. “Animal Welfare Groups Protest SPCA’s shift Away From ‘No Kill’ Policy.” FogCityJournal.com. 29 Apr. 2009.
<http://www.fogcityjournal.com/wordpress/2009/02/03/animal-welfare-groups-protest-spca%E2%80%99s-shift-away-from-%E2%80%9Cno-kill%E2%80%9D-policy/>.

Scheurich, Samuel. “Population boom hits local animal shelters.” Tucson Citizen. June 13, 2007.