Category: Stray & Feral Animals

Demographics of the shelter dog population

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

While good statistical data on the
U.S. animal shelter dog population is
scarce, what is available largely supports
Margaret Anne Cleek’s contention (left)
that large dogs are disproportionately rep-
resented, while small dogs remain in
strong demand. Before accepting Cleek’s
commentary, ANIMAL PEOPLE
checked her various contentions about the
nature of dogs entering and exiting shelters
with a variety of shelter managers from
across the U.S. who were attending the
American Humane Association annual con-
ference in Baltimore, October 10-13.
None had precise statistics for large dog
versus small dog intakes and adoptions,
but the experience of the North Shore
Animal League, which adopts out 43,000
animals a year, proved typical, even at
small rural shelters in remote regions.

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Can San Francisco quit killing pet surplus? SPCA moves toward national precedent; ANIMAL CONTROL COMMUNITY ANXIOUS, SKEPTICAL

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

SAN FRANCISCO, California––Known for controversial innovation, San
Francisco SPCA president Richard Avanzino touched off perhaps the biggest furor of his
career in September by proposing that the city pound should stop euthanizing animals purely
for the purpose of population control––and offering to take care of adopting out the animals.
Not just an idealistic gesture but a detailed plan, Avanzino’s strategy for increasing
placement of adoptable animals is backed by a million-dollar special budget and an SFSPCA
shelter expansion already underway. If Avanzino achieves the goal, San Francisco will
become the first major city ever to achieve victory over pet overpopulation.
And the goal is within sight. Since Avanzino returned the municipal animal control
contract to the city in 1989, the SFSPCA has concentrated upon promoting adoptions, discount
neutering, humane education, and improving relations between landlords and tenants with
pets. The payoff has become evident in plummeting euthanasia rates not only at the SFSPCA
itself, which has virtually become a no-kill shelter, but also at the city Animal Care and
Control Department shelter.

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How much of pet overpopulation do euthanasia statistics measure?

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

Somehow in the deadline rush we mislaid a
letter we’d intended to publish from Cam
Martinez of San Diego, California, who
asserted that all the published shelter
euthanasia statistics are far low in providing
an index of pet overpopulation because they
don’t include the animals euthanized by vet-
erinarians, or killed by pet owners using var-
ious do-it-yourself methods.
Martinez claimed we should take
the highest available number and multiply it
at least by 10 to get an accurate count of the
surplus puppies and kittens born each year.
In fact there have been several seri-
ious attempts to estimate total pet births and
mortality, but none have yielded figures on
that order:

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Animal Control & Rescue

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

The Connecticut Humane Society,
long under fire from local no-kill groups for a
“high” euthanasia rate that is in fact better than
average for big shelters, has ceased accepting
animals from other shelters for euthanasia, and
is accepting animals for euthanasia from res-
cuers only by special arrangement. “I don’t
want to be in the business of euthanasia,” pres-
ident Richard Johnson told ANIMAL PEO-
PLE. “I want to do saving and adoption.”
CHS will now pay for neutering any animal
adopted by anyone from any municipal shelter
in Connecticut, Johnson said.

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Animal Control & Rescue

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:

The National Cat Protection Society, a shelter in
Long Beach, California, has paid $26,500 in civil penalties
and costs for providing misleading information about euthana-
sia policies and adoption rates to donors and people who sur-
render cats. NCPS attorney Richard Tanzer denied the organi-
zation had done anything wrong and said the settlement was
reached to avoid the cost of defending itself against the charges,
brought by the Los Angeles County district attorney.
Chows are now responsible for the most dog bites
of any breed in St, Bernard Parish, Louisiana, according to
animal control officer Ceily Trog––10 of 89 total bites,
through the first half of this year. Other Louisiana animal con-
trol departments also report a rise in chow bites.

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Books for children who love animals

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:

A Place for Grace, by Jean Davies Okimoto, illustrated by Doug
Keith. Sasquatch Books (1931 2nd Ave., Seattle, WA 98101), 1993, 36 pages,
hardcover $14.95.
The amazing Grace of this story is a small stray dog on the streets of San
Francisco, who aspires to become a guide dog, fails the height requirement, and becomes a
hearing dog instead with the aid of Charlie, an astute human. Children, who are always
finding themselves too small to do things, will readily identify with Grace and will love
Doug Keith’s gently funny illustrations. But A Place for Grace isn’t just a good dog story.
It’s also a quick introduction to the duties, requirements, and training of hearing dogs, who
usually are clever mongrels, and, somewhat as an afterthought, to the world of the deaf.
If A Place for Grace has a fault, it’s that it presumes too much prior knowledge of deaf cul-
ture on the part of the very young readers. “Signing” pops up with no explanation of what it
is, although the sign alphabet appears on the cover liner, and there is relatively little discus-
sion of the difficulties of functioning in mechanized society without hearing. Fortunately,
many children will infer the essentials from the art. A must for school libraries!

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MEMO FROM ANDREW ROWAN

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:

I have questioned the validity of
the national shelter statistics for more than
10 years. After discussing the issue with
the late Phyllis Wright in the early 1980s,
and with her support, we organized a work-
shop on the question at the Tufts Center for
Animals and Public Policy in 1984. The
workshop included the AHA, MSPCA,
HSUS, and ASPCA, plus a number of
local shelters known to have good statistics
and quality programs. As a result of the
workshop, I concluded that the animal
overpopulation problem had been dramati-
cally reduced, from shelters killing 20% of
the national owned dog and cat population
in 1973 to only 10% in 1982. As far as I
can tell, my claim for this progress has
been virtually ignored by nearly everyone
in the business, Phil Arkow being a notable
exception. Certainly no one has ever tried
to challenge it.

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Squirrels, cats top count to date: Student roadkill census heads into second year

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:

DERRY, New Hampshire––Roadkill Monitoring
Project coordinator Brewster Bartlett, a.k.a. Dr. Splatt, has
announced that March 14 through May 15 will be the 1994
roadkill survey period for school groups.
Last year students at 31 schools participated, all of
them in New England. This year, Bartlett hopes to recruit
several hundred, from all parts of the U.S. and Canada.
“Each student is assigned a road that is frequently
traveled going to and from school,” Bartlett explains. “This
road is to be monitored at least twice a day for at least eight
out of the nine weeks.” Each Monday, student roadkill
counts from the preceding week will be tabulated and
relayed by computer modem to a Roadkill Bulletin Board
maintained by Simmons College, in Massachusetts.

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Count finds 5 million euthanasias a year–– AHA SAYS 12 MILLION; WANTED TO DISCREDIT PET BREEDERS

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:

ENGLEWOOD, Colorado––
Knowing that an ongoing shelter-by-shel-
ter, state-by-state count has demonstrated
the annual U.S. euthanasia toll due to pet
overpopulation to be under six million
animals per year, the American Humane
Association on September 7 told mass
media that, “In 1992, a dog or cat was
euthanized every two seconds in this
country––12.1 million dogs and cats in
all.” The AHA release also maintained
that euthanasias are again increasing after
eight years of decline.

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