Pet Overpopulation

This is Rebel Jean. 


She is the latest addition to our family. Dogs and cats have always been part and parcel of of our world. We love them and they love and depend on us. We take care of their physical and hopefully their emotional needs and they love us unconditionally and make us think we are very special. We definitely get the better half of the relationship.


I recently read a quote that I forgot to whom it was credited but I wish I had said it first.


The quote was "I have been told dogs do not go to heaven as they have no soul. If that be so please after I die send me to where they go. That is where I wish to be."

On a local Texas TV station last evening I saw an ad for the ASPCA in New York. This one had some celebrity, along with a montage of very sad faces of abandoned or orphaned dogs and cats, making a plea to the viewer to send $18 a month or something like that to save these homeless animals lives.

It is always hard for me to look at the faces of those animals. I have spent too many years in animal shelters on Christmas Day watching the loneliness and confusion in the faces of the animals no one wanted that day or that month or year. Their emotional pain is daunting.

That aside the ad was offensive to me for two reasons. First, unless I am mistaken the ASPCA is a New York based organization that only has animal shelters in New York City so why are they appealing for money from the state of Texas.

Second, in the year 2011 of the 21^st century there simply is no excuse for healthy dogs and cats (companion animals) to be killed because there is no home for them.

This was wrong thirty years ago when I ran shelters that killed surplus pets and it is even more wrong now. I was going to vent about this and write some scathing and hopefully clever blog to vilify the ASPCA but coming on TV just a week or so after I saw the ad in “USA Today” questioning the merit in donating to the HSUS (see my blog “Small Satisfactions”) as I began to write I realized that the whole tragedy of pet over population just needs to stop.

I mean we have 50 states with animal control laws that all mandate by statue that if a stray dog or cat is impounded and no one claims the animal after a period of anywhere from 3- 7 or maybe 10 days the state has the authority to kill that animal. 

It is the only damn law I know in the USA that lets the criminal, (the owner or person who abandoned or did not take proper care of the pet) go “unpunished” while the victim faces execution. How wrong and screwed up is that?

So I am not going to rant about the millions of dollars the national animal groups take from an uneducated public while paying only lip service to solving the pet overpopulation crisis.

I am not going to talk about the rights of animals and how their having an interest in not being harmed, or tortured, or killed establishes a moral and legal justification for societal protection.

I am not going to get into the politics and fears or address the arguments of those that hunt, eat meat, wear fur, operate zoos, etc., “and so forth and so on ” that feel if we grant special status to dogs and cats that starts us on a slippery slope toward granting moral rights to all animals. Maybe true and maybe past due, but that is not my topic today.

Here is my view on how to end overpopulation of pets.

My assumptions.

They are not property.

They are sentient*.

(*Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive or be conscious, or to have subjective experiences. Eighteenth century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think ("reason") from the ability to feel ("sentience"). In modern western philosophy, sentience is the ability to have sensations or experiences; clearly dogs and cats can do both).

They are extended members of our family, not totally unlike children who simply never grow up.

This issue has nothing to do with religious views. (Though my personal view is if we have a soul so do they).

Nothing I am about to suggest will stop insensitivity, cruelty, or stupidity when it comes to human beings and their interactions with dogs and cats.

And finally these are my own ideas and opinions. If you have a better one I am all for it. If I missed something let me know. 

Ending pet overpopulation and stopping the practice of “euthanasia” (a misnomer if there ever was one) as a population fix is the only thing I am trying to address.

With that all on the table this is what I suggest we do if we want to stop the killing of surplus (homeless, unwanted, etc.) dogs and cats:

Legislate that dogs and cats as companion animals merit a legal status that makes the law protect their basic rights since as sentient creatures they are morally worthy of consideration. You don’t have to philosophize it to death. They sure as hell have an interest in not suffering and in not dying and the government can designate some quasi-personhood status on them that says, not totally unlike children and their parents, these animals may belong to you but they have basic rights you cannot violate without suffering society’s punishment and condemnation.

Next, prohibit commercial breeding for profit. Like driving a car, ownership of pets should be a privilege not a right. If you abuse it you lose it. The first and most basic part of that privilege is as an owner and custodian of these creatures you do NOT have the right to breed them and sell their offspring for a buck.

I am serious, this is just BS. If you have to have a litter charge a pet owner a “one time only” breeding fee of like $500 and make them fill out an application with an enforceable adoption agreement designating where the puppies are going to be placed (before they are born) and that the future owners are responsible, caring, and can afford to take care of the animal.  And most importantly no money is exchanged for the puppies or kittens. "Puppy Mills" are abolished and back yard "professional" or "vanity" breeders get one and only one litter. 

If pet stores need to have pets to increase sales of pet food and other stuff let them work with local shelters and with adoption contracts feature homeless dogs and for adoption to owners who qualify. 

(In the mid eighties I tried to introduce a state bill that would require a breeders license and I was branded a communist, a lunatic, and an idiot, all actually mild accusations given what I have been called in the years since. In any event the effort failed but I remain convinced it is a cornerstone to ending the killing of homeless dogs and cats in the USA).

Next, because I think everyone who is sensitive and caring should have a pet (if they wish) as pets enrich our lives so greatly, establish a 1 cent tax on every dollar of dog food, cat food, and other pet paraphernalia such as leases, bowls, sweaters, chew toys (you get the drift) and establish a national fund to be administered state by state so that financially strapped individuals who qualify can get basic care and support for one pet and one pet only.

You could have a National Pet Protection Coalition (sort of like the Federal Reserve) made up of 5 large sheltered humane societies and 6 small sheltered societies each of whose terms expire after three years and who cannot be re-elected to the Coalition until they have sat out three years and they can administer the fund).

Next, mandate that if a humane society or animal protection group or SPCA does not have shelters and does not house and rescue and adopt homeless and unwanted pets they lose their not-for-profit status.

I am tired of this crap where the national groups rake in millions and create the perception they are saving individual dogs and cats when in fact they are rich, well endowed and have just perfected the business of “compassion for profit.”

Further more, pet owners should unite and get a high profile team of lawyers and file a class action lawsuit against the national animal rights groups alleging fraud (for taking money from the public under the pretense it was to help stop the killing of homeless dogs and cats) over the past ten years and requiring that every national non-sheltered humane group immediately devote no less then 50% of its annual budget and endowments to ending pet overpopulation and its consequence, the killing of homeless healthy companion pets.

The veterinarians are complicit in this tragedy as well. Every small animal practitioner should be mandated by state law to do a specific amount of pro bono work each month. Like law firms and TV stations this should be a requirement for them to keep their license to practice current. Hell, if each small animal vet did ten free (and I mean free, no fees for materials) spay and neuters a month for owners that qualified as needing financial assistance that alone would dramatically diminish the amount of surplus pets.

Make it illegal to ever use a dog or cat (even one specially bred for it) in any form of research. It is the 21^st century, find another way to test your drugs and comply with insurance standards.

If the AKC wants to keep registering and breeding purebreds it can, just at the cost of $500 a litter and one litter only and the litter is not for sale. It is too hard on the females to have multiple litters in any event. The AKC can be less of a business and more of a “hobby club”. Given that the whole concept of “pure bred” dog or cat is largely a subjective categorization of  “appearances” a hobby club is more appropriate. To me, ultimately, dogs are dogs and cats are cats and breeds are just vanity descriptions determined by humans for a multitude of reasons that no one can really totally articulate.

Humane Societies and animal shelters and municipal pounds have to quit killing surplus or homeless dogs and cats that are healthy and they need to stop today. It just is not right and it has to stop. 

In point of fact today’s shelters though largely operated by caring and well meaning people have become modern society’s version of a “sin eater**” for this particular societal disgrace.

(The term sin eater is an ancient description of a person who at an individual's death bed takes food from that person and eats it themselves thus absolving the soon to be deceased of all sin). 

In short someone donates to the shelter and the shelter kills the pet taking the guilt and discomfort away from the individual and absolving society as a whole. It lets everyone off way too easy.

People need to know that every day tens of thousands; perhaps more innocent healthy dogs and cats are being killed behind closed doors because in the USA we don’t have the will to say “enough”.

It is our shame and we are the cause and our “pets” should no longer have to pay the ultimate price for our lack of action or will.

If we started working on al of the above today, I believe in less then 9 years or by the end of this decade this decades old tragedy could be only an ugly memory of a harsh  and insensitive past. 

Small Satisfactions

Sometimes it just feels good to be vindicated in a small way even indirectly.


A few days ago this ad ran nationwide in USA Today.

The ad was sponsored by a group called "HumaneFORPETS.com


I do not know this organization. Having been out of the animal rights movement for over 16 years it has been a long time since I followed or even cared what the various groups are doing.


I still have my love for all animals and as I grow older I am increasingly disgusted and angered by the continued cruelty that many people perpetuate on our fellow creatures who inhabit this planet with us.


But those of you who know me are well aware of my complete disdain for the national groups, especially HSUS, who make tens of millions of dollars in profit annually and do (in my opinion and obviously in the opinion of others, notably this "Humane For Pets" group), little to nothing to reduce the killing of dogs and cats (our companion animals) deemed surplus by society.


No dog or cat should ever be killed in the USA simply because we cannot find them a home.


This problem has been an epidemic and a badge of infamy for all US citizens for decades.


Many national groups like HSUS raise millions of dollars largely by creating the perception they are working to protect dogs and cats when in point of fact they do little more then provide lip service to ending this tragedy.  


I raised "hell" about the lack of effort and funding to solve the pet overpopulation crisis when I was at HSUS in the early nineties. 


My subsequent personal "Waterloo" within HSUS is well (though seldom accurately) documented.


I always maintained a large part of the motivation behind the character and career assassination that I felt I endured from the HSUS leadership was do to my challenging what I saw as an unethical, almost criminal manipulation of the public's perception and the lack of any meaningful effort to stop the pet overpopulation crisis. 


The consequence of my "stirring the pot" internally was that I was labeled a purveyor "sour grapes", a trouble-maker, and finally a crook. I finally, having grown tired of the continued distortion and the slander and libel my name carried from that controversy, wrote my own account of my five years with HSUS and published the book, "UnderCover" this year. 


So, it was with no small measure of personal satisfaction I saw this ad last week in USA Today.


16 years after my controversy within the HSUS it seems others who love animals are waking up to the fact that the dollars HSUS and other national groups drain from the public's largesse are NOT being used in any meaningful way to save the very dogs and cats, whose faces they use so effectively in their pleas for donations. 


No healthy dog or cat need be killed as surplus in the USA in the year 2012 and beyond. The problem is very solvable. It simply takes the will and the funding to create the societal changes that would see pet overpopulation become a relic of a cruel and brutal past. 


Groups such as HSUS clearly have the money to get the job done and done quickly. 


Jonathan Swift, the great English satirist, once wrote, "I am never surprised to see men wicked, but I am always amazed that they are not ashamed". 


Those that take money from a caring public, a public that wants an end to certain societal evils, and then do not use that money responsibly to cure those evils, should definitely be ashamed. 


And as the ad suggests people should quit being so generous without demanding an accounting and action. 

DeLight Publishing

Before I begin to address a multiplicity of future subjects on this blog, such as pet overpopulation, or the problems with wild fisheries and conventional aquaculture, to heaven knows what else, I want to mention a small but exciting initiative upon which John Aquilino and I have embarked.

It is called DeLight Publishing.

I have always wanted to write and John is an excellent editor and published writer.

A few months ago we incorporated DeLight Publishing Company. Our first published title was a part autobiographical, part cookbook by my wife, Lori J. White. It is a wonderful book and we learned a great deal about publishing and book distribution doing it.

It is a funny and interesting story and I am very proud of Lori for putting parts of her unique life into print. (Lori "grew up" working on Capitol Hill and had a fascinating career).  The book is available on Amazon, simply go to "books" and type in " Half-Baked, Confessions of a True Anti Chef", by Lori J. White. It also has some great original recipes.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog (I think) I have two more titles that will be available in July on Amazon or directly through DeLight Publishing.

The first, "Undercover" chronicles my 5 plus years with the HSUS (Humane Society of The United States), as a covert investigator into the base world of animal abuse and exploitation. It tells my side of the story of my experiences with HSUS. Having been out of the animal rights movement for over 15 years but still having the events surrounding my departure being circulated inaccurately on the Internet and elsewhere John felt strongly I needed to tell the story of my work during my time with HSUS. Hopefully, interested parties, (be they friend or foe) will get a glimpse of my version of that period of my life. It is loaded with pictures that document my work around the globe on behalf of animals.

I enjoyed writing it and I hope it makes an interesting read.

Then in July, my second book, which was written as a homage to my Uncle Joe will be available. It is called "Talk to My A**,  My Head Hurts". It is a story I have wanted to tell for years. The people who have previewed the draft have called it "inspirational" but to me it is just a very special story. It is a short book, and will be available through the same two outlets, Amazon and DeLight Publishing.

DeLight anticipates publishing at least two more titles in the coming months, one by a young man and good friend detailing his unique perspective on his life. (More on this book as it nears completion).

I am currently writing the second a book. I am dedicating it to my wife, Lori. This book will discuss the ongoing insanity of the societal killing of surplus dogs and cats. It will take a look at the factors that contribute to pet overpopulation in the USA and hopefully, provide a very concise and simple blueprint on how this tragedy could be ended in a few years if pet owners expressed their political clout and demanded it stop.

I will get back to blogs on sustainable use issues, the environment, aquaculture and fisheries and more as I proceed with developing this blog, but I wanted you to be aware of what we are doing with DeLight Publishing. I will post the exact dates all of the above books become available.