Moody Center
The Problem Is Irresponsible Guardians
RECEIVED Tue., Nov. 22, 2005
Dear Editor,
Thank you for putting the brutally honest story about Austin's horrifying pet overpopulation problem and the failure of the no-kill millennium on last week's cover [“What Happened to the No-Kill Millennium?,” News, Nov. 18]. If the story leads to even one person taking their animal to be sterilized, it can potentially save thousands of lives. According to the Humane Society of the United States, one female cat and her offspring (at an average of three litters of four-to-six kittens per year) can produce more than 400,000 cats in just seven years.
During the past six months, more than 20 cats and kittens have passed through our house as fosters for a rescue group. These were not cats rescued from TLAC, but cats rescued off the streets – born to feral parents, lost or abandoned. Only two of the adults we took in were already sterilized. One of those was microchipped and returned to his family. Everyone else was spayed or neutered at ATA prior to release or adoption. Even averaging three sterilizations a month, our efforts are not even making a shadow of a dent. There is no end in sight.
We need to stop looking at animals as accessories, status symbols, possessions, and hobbies. They are living, breathing, sentient beings. It's time for the people of Austin to wake up and take some responsibility for this tragedy. The animals that die every day at TLAC are there because we put them there by being irresponsible guardians who don't spay and neuter. The only way Austin will ever come close to a no-kill millennium is if we have a no-birth millennium.
Thank you for putting the brutally honest story about Austin's horrifying pet overpopulation problem and the failure of the no-kill millennium on last week's cover [“What Happened to the No-Kill Millennium?,” News, Nov. 18]. If the story leads to even one person taking their animal to be sterilized, it can potentially save thousands of lives. According to the Humane Society of the United States, one female cat and her offspring (at an average of three litters of four-to-six kittens per year) can produce more than 400,000 cats in just seven years.
During the past six months, more than 20 cats and kittens have passed through our house as fosters for a rescue group. These were not cats rescued from TLAC, but cats rescued off the streets – born to feral parents, lost or abandoned. Only two of the adults we took in were already sterilized. One of those was microchipped and returned to his family. Everyone else was spayed or neutered at ATA prior to release or adoption. Even averaging three sterilizations a month, our efforts are not even making a shadow of a dent. There is no end in sight.
We need to stop looking at animals as accessories, status symbols, possessions, and hobbies. They are living, breathing, sentient beings. It's time for the people of Austin to wake up and take some responsibility for this tragedy. The animals that die every day at TLAC are there because we put them there by being irresponsible guardians who don't spay and neuter. The only way Austin will ever come close to a no-kill millennium is if we have a no-birth millennium.
Valerie Marlett