PETA euthanized more than 1,000 animals last year

[Guest guest]

By MATTHEW BARAKAT

© 2000, Associated Press

RICHMOND -- It may seem surprising that People for the Ethical Treatment of

Animals -- a group that often comes to the defense of rats -- euthanized

more than 1,300 cats and dogs last year.

 

But PETA President Ingrid Newkirk says it was the only humane thing to do.

 

Last year, the Norfolk-based animal-rights group took in 2,103 companion

animals. It was able to find homes for 386, and put down 1,325. (Transfers

and reclamations by owners accounted for most of the rest of the animals

PETA took in.)

 

``It is a totally rotten business, but sometimes the only kind option for

some animals is to put them to sleep forever,'' Newkirk said. ``I don't

think a dog living in a cage walking in circles for the rest of its life in

a dog prison is a swell thing.''

 

While several dozen shelters in Virginia have adopted a no-kill philosophy,

PETA has not.

 

``It sounds lovely if you're naive,'' Newkirk said. ``We could become a

no-kill shelter immediately. It means we wouldn't do as much work.''

 

Newkirk said PETA goes into bad neighborhoods and rescues animals that are

unadoptable.

 

``Nobody wants most of the animals that we touch,'' she said.

 

But Terry Wagoner, president of the Animal Adoption and Rescue Foundation

(AARF) in Richmond, said a no-kill philosophy is not as unattainable as

detractors claim. AARF found homes for 1,062 cats and dogs last year. It

euthanized none.

 

She acknowledged that some animals -- feral dogs, for example -- can be

dangerous and are essentially unadoptable. But many other animals are

written off prematurely, she said.

 

AARF has been able to adopt more animals than any other no-kill shelter in

the state through an aggressive foster-care program, Wagoner said.

 

``It takes three things: money, adoptions and foster care,'' Wagoner said.

``It's not going to work without those three.''

 

Advocates on either side of the no-kill debate agree on the need for

aggressive programs to get animals spayed and neutered.

 

AARF will not allow an animal that hasn't been fixed to be adopted, Wagoner

said, and AARF will spay or neuter an animal as young as 12 weeks old.

 

Newkirk said there's a simple solution to the nation's pet overpopulation.

 

``We need to make it expensive to license an unsterilized dog or cat. ... We

need to make it expensive to breed dogs and cats,'' she said. ``The program

would pay for itself.''

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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