The Rescuers 1 Reina Rivera Abby Black Marlitt Tippetts Claudia Da Rocha Marely Tiscareno Eng. 1010-025 Dec.

4, 2013 Adoption Is the Key Theres a quote that states that Dogs are a mans best friend but is this really how we treat our companions? There was a story in the news that broke our hearts and really showed us the problem with the way we treat strays and unwanted dogs in this country. In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a memo came out that police officers were no longer supposed to bring stray dogs to animal shelters, because they were too full. Instead, they could either adopt the dogs, take the dogs outside of town, or they could just shoot the dogs (Gilliland). This kill, adopt, or dump policy was unbelievable to us. Here we are, one of the greatest countries in the world, and this is what we do with our dogs? As Gandhi said, The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. I know we werent the only ones outraged, and there were a lot of protests against the Harrisburg police department. But we are sure theyre not the only ones with this policy, just the ones that became public. On a social media website we found this quote Lifes most persistent and urgent question is What are you doing for others? We hope we all ask ourselves this question when it comes to the animals in this country who cant speak for themselves. Even the smallest action by us can have a huge impact for our nations dogs. After people spoke up in Harrisburg, police

The Rescuers 2 built a temporary shelter for the dogs in their vehicle maintenance center. Stray dogs will be safe there while Harrisburg works out a contract with The Humane Society. As a group we raise our voices so these animals can have a home full of love. Theres no doubt that stray animals, especially dogs, are an issue to society. We have a nationwide problem of an overpopulation of animals, mainly dogs. This overpopulation of animals is made up of abandoned domestic cats and dogs that were once cared for but now find themselves trying to survive on the streets. While reviewing the Humane Societys website we discovered that in the United States alone, between 6-8 million cats and dogs are brought to shelters each year. Take a moment to think about all the animals that dont make it to the shelters because they're also overpopulated. These are the ones still on the streets causing us unnecessary headaches. The problems we see on a daily basis are accidents, attacks, and illnesses. Although we want to get them off the streets, we need to discuss how they got there in the first place. Having a pet can be difficult if youre not ready to make a commitment to such responsibility. When interviewing Dr. David L. Benson, owner of West Lake Animal Hospital, we determined that humans that are not up for the challenge tend to make drastic decisions. This is one of the many causes that we will discuss later on. Truthfully, the chances of a dog surviving on the streets are very slim. In most cases death is the outcome. The only hope they have is if someone comes to their rescue. There are many causes that lead to homeless dogs. While conducting various interviews we came across a few major causes. One of them is unwanted breeding. Another one is lack of fences to keep the dogs inside the perimeter. Financial issues are also the cause of stray dogs because many people cant support themselves, let alone a pet. There are still many more causes to homeless dogs, but these are the most common ones that are affecting our society.

The Rescuers 3 Melora, manager at PetSmart, said One of the main causes of stray dogs is unwanted breeding. Unwanted breeding is when you get a litter of dogs that wasnt expected. It is important that we spay and neuter all animals or unwanted breeding will continue to be an issue. Most owners dont have enough space to keep these puppies, which leads to homeless animals. If they decided to keep them, the animals are not given the quality of life they deserve. In most cases, they opt for giving them all up to the animal shelter, which are already overpopulated. Daye Abbott, from Adopt Me Society, stated that once the shelter cant take anymore animals, they contact other shelters to see if theres room. If not, they are evaluated to see their potential for being adopted. The animals that are less likely to be adopted are placed on a list for possible foster homes. If the animal doesnt meet the requirements of likelihood to be adopted, they get placed on a different list that may lead to euthanization. The Humane Society of the United States estimates that animal shelters care 6-8 million dogs and cats every year in the U.S. of whom approximately 3-4 million are euthanized. They also mention that in the 1970s American shelter euthanized 12-20 million dogs and cats. Today, shelters euthanize around 2.7 million animals (Common Questions about Animal Shelters par 5).This demonstrates a large decline in euthanization. A common issue is that dog owners dont have a strong fence to keep their dogs inside property lines. If they do have a fence, it is usually covered with holes or the wood is almost broken. One of group members experienced this first hand. She had five dogs in her home and she made sure the fence was stable and covered the holes with rocks to make sure the dogs were safely inside. Dogs are pretty smart; if they want to escape they will find a way. Owners need to make sure the fence is high enough so the dogs wont jump over. Make sure there are no holes under the fence. Also, keep the gates closed at all times. These tips can help prevent a dog from

The Rescuers 4 escaping the yard. On Petfinder.com we found that the average cost to have a microchip implanted by a veterinarian is around $45, which is a onetime fee and often includes registration in a pet recovery database (Petfinder par 10). This a great thing to consider in case the dog runs away. With the microchip, the dog can be scanned by a veterinary which can lead to getting in contact with the owner again. In our interview with Daye Abbott, she made us aware that if the dog doesnt have a microchip and the owner doesnt claim it, the animal is taken to a shelter where the owner has five working days to find it . Money is the root to all problems. In this case its no different. People find that they cant support their pets financially. In most scenarios it is due to illnesses. Vaccinations can get pretty expensive, but you can always compare vets with others to see the costs. While talking to the vet, Dr. Benson, he gave us a pamphlet that included information regarding pet insurance called VPI Pet Insurance. Depending on what package you get, it can be up to $35 or less per month. It covers accidents, illnesses, and heredity issues. Its really important because this insurance can pay for your dogs entire surgery. Vaccinations can be done every three years if the animal is not often exposed to the public and diseases. If the dog is exposed more frequently, then it would be every year to help prevent illnesses. When owners are under stress they tend to take it out on the animal. Money can lead to stress which can lead to the owner opening the fence and setting their issue free. In other cases, it can lead to animal abuse. Education is key so that when these situations are presented, the owner is aware that they can take the dog to their local shelter. Overall, all these causes can be stopped by making sure people are aware of possible solutions that are available. The stray animal problem is not very known because in certain locations you dont see the dogs roaming the streets. Many rescue groups look for these animals to try to provide them a home and healthy lifestyle. In fact, when they get picked up, the rescue

The Rescuers 5 groups will look for microchips to see who they belong to. In Utah, they wait five days for the owner to come and get it. If they do not, the animals are transferred to foster homes with the hope of someone adopting them. Utah is trying to become a no-kill state, which means that animals are not euthanized if theyre not adopted or if the shelter is full. Its only done in drastic situations such as terminal illness or if the animal is considered dangerous. We as a group hope that this no-kill policy can be met by other states as well. Throughout the years, there have been many attempts to diminish the number of stray animals. Although many have been successful at putting a dent in the problem, there hasn't been a long-term solution established. The question is: Can we really put a stop to stray animals? As a group we believe that theres a possibility to make the number of animals without a home go down by educating people on the things they should be doing when trying to care for the animals. This has been attempted previously in many ways and has been successful. There just needs to be more ways to get the information out there to make people aware of how big of an issue it is. Within this section youll find solutions that have made an impact. In addition, we will include some that just need to be tweaked to have better results. Many solutions have been attempted to put a stop to the issue. The first one that we will discuss is spaying and neutering. As mentioned in an online article by the name of "Companion Animals" spaying and neutering has many benefits. It reduces diseases amongst the animals, puts a stop to overpopulation and would lead to behavioral benefits like reduced roaming in castrated male animals. Furthermore, the website "www.paws.org" mentions that its a more effective and humane way to prevent overpopulation (Why Spay and Neuter Your Companion Animals par 2). If this isnt done, strays are not likely to survive on the streets, and shelters would become overpopulated. Animal shelters do all they can to give these stray dogs a home, but space is

The Rescuers 6 limited. In our interview with Daye Abbott from Adopt Me Society, she mentioned that certain shelters are still "kill shelters". This means that if the shelter becomes overpopulated, they will euthanize the animals that are less likely to be adopted. Luckily, there are over 150 "no-kill shelters" in Utah, including Adopt Me Society. Overall, we dont consider spaying and neutering an unsuccessful solution. On the contrary, we believe its a great solution that needs to be made known to new pet owners via more education. By doing this we nip the problem before it starts. The media plays a big role in our research. Videos, flyers and news articles are seen daily by people with the hope of having a positive impact. But, in some cases it can have a negative effect. For example, news all over the world portray Pit Bulls as a dangerous breed. Its known that this makes the breed less likely to be adopted because people have been terrorized by the media. In our visit to the Vet Clinic, Dr. David L. Benson mentioned that it really depends on the owner. Whatever you teach your dog is what he will do. For this reason, we believe behavioral training is key to a great home companion. An article found in the The Salt Lake Tribune mentions that the problem isnt the breed, its irresponsible owners (Davis par 9). Although the media can lead to misconceptions, its not all bad. Certain news channels take a moment to list animals that are in need of a home in hopes that someone would get in contact and adopt it. PetSmart promotes their adoption partners on the weekends, which we found out by interviewing the manager, Melora. With education, people would be more aware of adoption and how its definitely better to adopt rather than buy. Members of our group were unaware of the low cost of adoption. This made us realize that the message isn't being sent properly. Daye Abbott stated that the cost for adoption is about $160 for dogs. This includes a microchip so the dog can be identified if lost, as well as vaccinations, and the spay/neuter surgery. The money is used to maintain the shelters, since it is run by volunteers and Animal Rescue. If people were aware of

The Rescuers 7 these options, and the responsibility of taking care of a pet, the percentage of homeless animals would go down. An online article by the name of No-kill shelter states that in the period of 1999-2006, Utahs adoption rate increased 39% while euthanasia rate dropped 30%. Our group came up with a short and long-term solution to try to solve the problem. For short term, we decided to make flyers to make people aware of the problem and help them consider adopting. More advertisement is greatly needed to help get the word out regarding the issue. Attached to the flyer will be a plastic bracelet that will help catch peoples attention. This would be a great conversation starter so more people become aware of the options. We made two hundred flyers and ordered two hundred bracelets.We will be handing them out in front of PetSmart and Dr. David L. Bensons veterinary clinic. We are hoping this can at least put a small dent in the problem and promote awareness. Our long term solution is based on something we learned while interviewing Dr. David L . Benson. He mentioned that many people tend to let their dogs run away or give them up due to bad behavior. He also mentioned that behavioral training can make a big difference in animals. We decided as a group that a behavioral training voucher would make a great solution to help with the overpopulation of animals on the streets. We came up with a plan to give out a training voucher to new pet owners once they adopt.Volunteers from animals shelters, such as Adopt Me Society, would run the training class. This would give the people adopting a chance to learn tips and tricks to better the relationship with their pet. Volunteers would work at no cost. To help with promotion and props for the actual class we considered collecting money. We believe local pet stores such as PetSmart would be a great location to leave a money jar with information so people can leave their donations. This would also be a great way for people to spread the word so

The Rescuers 8 more people become aware of the option. We hope this voucher would make a difference in the long run. We enjoyed being involved in this topic because we were able to experience how an animal can change our lives just as much as we can change theirs . We saw how excited people were when they looked at the dogs waiting to be adopted at PetSmart. We also have seen many dogs on the streets, some struggling to survive and others who unfortunately didn't make it. It has impacted our lives because we are all animals lovers and don't want to see them suffer. We decided to make a change by promoting that adoption is better than buying. Awareness is what we consider to be the glue to all solutions. If people are unaware of their options, they will continue to make the wrong choices in regards to choosing a pet. They need to know how much time and effort pet ownership requires. Our goal is to make a difference even if its minimal. We hope that at least one dog can find a new home with a wonderful family this holiday season.

The Rescuers 9 Works Cited Abbott, Daye. Personal Interview. 9 Nov. 2013. Benson, David L. Personal Interview. 13 Nov. 2013. "Common Questions about Animal Shelters." Humane Society, 3 May 2013. Web. 05 Nov 2013. <http://www.humanesociety.org/animal_community/resources/qa/common_questions_on _shelters.html>. Davis, John. Euthanasia of pit bulls declines under Salt Lake County Program. www.sltrib.com. Salt Lake Lake Tribune, Sept. 29, 2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. Gilliland, Donald. "Memo tells Harrisburg police to kill, adopt or dump abandoned or lost dogs." The Patriot News. Advance Digital, 04 Jan 2012. Web. 10 Nov 2013. <http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/01/memo_tells_harrisburg_police_t.h tml>. Melora. Personal Interview. 9 Nov. 2013. Petfinder. Pet Microchip FAQs. www.petfinder.com n.p, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. <http://www.petfinder.com/dogs/lost-and-found-dogs/microchip-faqs/>. "No-Kill Shelter." Wikipedia. N.p.. Web.05 Nov. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-kill_shelter>. "Why Spay and Neuter Your Companion Animals." PAWS. Web. 08 Nov 2013. <http://www.paws.org/why-spay-neuter.html>.