Hope you had a chance to read robin brown's report in Saturday's News Journal on the pet revolution going on in Delaware. It was fascinating to see Delaware on the cusp of going from a state that has used euthanasia for animal control to one that uses spay/neuter.
Delaware wants to copy what happened in New Hampshire. That state invested $900,000 for sterilization and education, which helped to cut pet deaths by 75 percent in five years -- that's 75 percent in five years. To pay for the spay/neuter program in Delaware, state lawmakers put in $250,000 and authorized collecting $3 from you each time your dog or cat goes to the vet for a rabies shot. Your vet is required to collect the surcharge.
The premise is simple: Control the pet population -- using spay/neuter -- before cats and dogs breed and you can make a dent in the homeless population. Just how big of a problem is it here? Consider these numbers:
2002: 22,165 dogs and cats were received at Delaware's primary animal facilities; 12,659 were euthanized
2003: Of 24,510 received, 13,653 were euthanized
2004: Of 21,254 received, 13,067 were euthanized
2005: Of 21,062 received, 13,583 were euthanized
In four years, the state of Delaware euthanized 52,962 dogs and cats.
Back to the New Hampshire model. In addition to sparing thousands of animals' lives, the widespread spay/neuter approach there has helped save the state's taxpayers $2.5 million a year in shelter costs. That is the ultimate definition of a win-win.
1 comment:
The statistics for killing these poor defenseless companion animals is way too high. It is about time we started doing something about it. Now if we can do something to prevent cruelty to animals ?
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