Do you have a dog or cat? Is it spayed or neutered?
Such a simple thing to do, yet every year, 3 million to 4 million pets are euthanized. Animal shelters care for 6 million to 8 million dogs and cats. Most are sweet, loving animals who would love to belong to someone.
Most, if not all, of these deaths are preventable if only the animals are "fixed" by responsible owners.
Every day in the paper, there are puppies and kittens being offered "free to a good home."
Why weren't the mothers spayed? Part of the cost of having a pet is spaying/neutering that pet, regular vet care and love.
If you cannot provide all three of these things, don't have a pet.
The word "euthanized" sounds so clean and clinical. Please watch the HBO documentary, "One Nation Under Dog."
Watch any Sarah MacLachlan or Roberta Flack commercial for ASPCA or the Humane Society ads. Get on the Internet and read. You will see the sweet, hopeful faces of the animals.
On the HBO special, in the segment ntitled "Betrayal," dogs are loaded into a large container to be gassed. They are confused but look hopefully up at the "handlers."
Then the gas is turned on. When they started loading the next group - of puppies - on top of the dead dogs, I had to turn it off.
This is the reality of euthanasia.
Animals are owned by humans by choice.
Choosing to have them in your home or on a farm means committing to their care for many years to come. Think hard before you acquire an animal, and do the right thing.
Ann Willis
Hollidaysburg
