Called on the Carpet... Are You an Animal Rights Activist? Or Do You Just Pretend to Be?* I'm an animal rights activist, but not the sort you might expect. I don't lobby against hunters because I am one; by hunting, I take an active role in the conservation of wildlife. I don't protest against local furriers because I believe that wasting the skin of an animal that gave its life to feed someone is a crime against Nature. No, I don't even plan my purchases around products that carry a declaration against animal testing. It's not that I like the use of laboratory animals any better than the next guy. It's just that most over-the-counter products no longer require animal testing. There's plenty of data available from previous test studies. Just because I eat meat, wear leather shoes, and don't get involved in any of the "normal" animal rights causes doesn't make me any less an activist. My agenda is simply of a more practical nature. I believe that all domestic animals should be wanted, loved, appreciated, and given a good home. I believe that all pet owners should be responsible people, and am disgusted by the apathy shown toward millions of cats and dogs every day. I am the animal rights activist who lovingly cares for Nature's unwanted babies day after day until - due to indifference, a lack of education, and a shortage of space - they are put to sleep. I, like thousands of other activists across the country, am a Humane Society shelter employee. Today, I cried. Kennel L was empty. The three young dogs who greeted me with kisses every morning were gone. They were beautiful, healthy and playful, but no one adopted them. You see, they weren't tiny puppies any more. They were over four months old. They weren't purebred. It didn't matter how smart they were, how good they were, or even how full of love they were - no one wanted them. As a result, they lost their lives, their chance to give and receive love, and the opportunity to explore the world they were born into. Euthanization is something no one wants to talk about. We know it exists, but push it far back into the recesses of our minds where it never filters into our thoughts. It's ugly, repulsive, and heart-wrenching, but make no mistake: it is a daily occurrence in every animal shelter in our United States, and something for which we are all held accountable. If these animals died of disease, malnutrition, or unsanitary conditions, we might have an easier pill to swallow. They don't. Local veterinarians help with the proper vaccines, worm medicines and disinfectants. Concerned citizens donate food, money, and supplies. Caring people do adopt. Still, countless animals lose their lives every single day. The culprits? Lack of space. Lack of education. And of course, lack of caring and understanding. Although having larger shelter facilities is a definite plus, it will never resolve the problem completely. Fact is, even if every animal shelter in the nation had room for two or three hundred animals, thousands of animals would still die daily. Why? Because un-sterilized animals reproduce at mind-boggling rates. For example, one pair of sexually active dogs and their offspring can easily produce 80,000 puppies in seven years. Cats reproduce at a significantly higher rate, with one pair and their offspring capable of delivering 120,000 kittens in the same amount of time. If that doesn't seem so bad, consider this. Together, one pair of dogs and one pair of cats can actually bring over 28,000 babies into the world each year - and no animal shelter on the planet can accomodate such numbers. Fortunately, there is an effective and simple solution to the problem: sterilization of all household pets. Educating the public in the benefits of spaying and neutering isn't an easy task because there are countless myths surrounding the process and its after-effects. Some folks insist that sterilization causes weight gain, laziness, and personality change. It doesn't. Animals, like people, are born with individual personalities and they keep them through life. Weight gain and inertia are not caused by sterilization. These problems are usually the fault of the pet owner, and come from constant overfeeding and a lack of exercise. Another common misconception is that allowing a pet one litter before sterilization is necessary for calming purposes. That is not only a fallacy, but such action serves to compound the population problem. Just for the sake of argument, though, let's say you find a loving home for every animal in the litter. By doing so, you've just denied good homes to perfectly wonderful animals already in existence. The most popular retort, however, is that to spay or neuter a pet is an abomination against the cycles of Nature. This simply isn't true. It is through humankind's intervention with Nature that animals first became domesticated, and now they reproduce much more quickly than was possible in the wild. These animals no longer possess the instinct or endurance to survive on their own, and maintaining this attitude is the same as delivering them to a life of starvation, disease, and inevitable death. If you still aren't convinced that sterilization is right for your pet, perhaps you should know that spaying and neutering ranks high as a preventative measure toward pet disease. It literally obliterates problems like breast inflammation and ovarian cysts, and significantly reduces the risk of testicular tumors, prostate gland enlargement, and breast, uterine and prostate cancers. We all want a long, healthy, and happy life for our pets, and sterilization - laced with lots of love - is an easy way to achieve that goal. Regardless of age, any pet in good health can be spayed or neutered. If you have questions or doubts, call your local veterinary clinic or Humane Society office. Then take the first step for animal rights by making a surgical appointment for your pet. Maybe one day, Kennel L won't be empty because no one cared. It will be empty because we accepted our responsibility as pet owners and took an active part in domestic animal conservation. It will be empty because we provided a loving home for every dog and cat in existence. Yes, it will be empty because we cared enough to give our animals a fair shake. That's what animal rights activism is all about. *[While this article was written some years ago when I was an animal shelter administrator, I still feel as strongly about its content as I did back then. And if one person takes its message to heart, acts in kind, and accepts their responsibility toward the animals in their care, my job here will have been successful.] Get Entangled in Lucinda's Web What's Utterly Wicked? Check out Dorothy's Tour Schedule Operation SchoolBox NOLA Pagan Relief Effort Enter the Library Enter the Parlor Visit Dorothy's Office Read the Book of Dorothy Look Through Dorothy's Scrapbook Enter the Study Enter the Raven's Nest Enter the Garden Enter the Circle Savor the Crown Jewels