“Animal Shelters and Animal Welfare: Raising the Bar.” By Patricia Turner (Professor in animal services); Jim Berry (Veterinarian); and Shelagh MacDonald (Federation of Humane Societies) discusses the ongoing crisis of animal overpopulation of shelters effecting Animal Welfare. Turner, Berry, and Macdonald make valid arguments with facts and research to back them up throughout the article. The authors state there are eight million animals entered into shelters yearly in the United States, out of those eight million animals 50% of them will be euthanized, shelter personnel takes it upon themselves to euthanize healthy unwanted animals to lessen overcrowding in the shelters. Thus by employees doing this it violates the Animal Welfare Act that states; The Animal Welfare Act requires that basic standards of care and treatment for certain animals bred and sold for use as pets, used in biomedical research, transported commercially, or exhibited to the public or to individuals who operate facilities in these categories must provide their animals with adequate care and treatment in the areas of housing, handling, sanitation, nutrition, water, veterinary care, and protect from extreme weather and temperatures. The Animal Welfare act should annihilate the problems plaguing animals in shelters, no animals deserve to deal with abuse, abandonment, improper care, and being euthanized to lessen overcrowding in shelters across the country.
One point Turner, Berry, and MacDonald make is “despite the best intentions and selfless efforts of numerous dedicated individuals working for animal shelters, there are many animal welfare issues associated with the care and management of this population.” On an average day animals get 15 minutes for socialization and interaction with personnel this doesn’t include if the animal needs medical attention or therapy, in that 15 minutes animals get six minutes for feeding and nine minutes for cage cleaning. I know for a fact from volunteering at a shelter the motto of some shelters is “spot cleaning done correctly saves time” I was horrified when the shelter personnel said that to me, some of the suggested cleaning included; trying not to move the animals if possible, clean gently around the animal, brush out spilled litter if there’s a lot of it, wipe walls lightly hard-core cleaning not needed, and leave bedding with animal unless heavily soiled or animal has an infection. With the inhumane treatment, animals get in shelters of poor maintenance and socialization the animal also misses out on the required amount of exercise outside of the cage, therapy, or temperament evaluation. Many of the personnel working at shelters are volunteers who have little to no background or training in proper medical care and handling of animals, all staff should be trained and educated in the well-being and proper care of all animals to make sure the animal welfare act doesn’t get violated in the daily procedures of basic animal care.
With insufficient levels of funding this may induce potential animal welfare issues in the shelters; Turner, Berry, and MacDonald state “small shelters rely on private cash donations and used equipment and food the exceeded its shelf life from vet clinics for operation, many shelters experience sever variations in cash flow and donations at different times of the year there for effecting the needs of animals.” With the shortage of money and donations of food, toys, bedding, and medical equipment shelters can’t always prepare the animals for release, before shelters can adopt animals out to new homes they must be up to date on all vaccinations, natured, and spayed, with the lack of proper equipment it causes difficulties with meeting these protocols and increases the chances of overcrowding amongst the animals. With shelters being overcrowded it becomes a stressful environment for all the animals involved, when unfamiliar animals of the same or different species are in close and tight environment it increases the chances for an animal to contract an infection due to infectious particles and fur mites being transferred in the air. Cats have the highest risk of contracting feline respiratory disease and feline herpes which is rampant in many animal shelters, I know firsthand how shelters can affect animals and their health, I adopted my older cat Lucy from a shelter and she suffers from both feline respiratory problems and feline herpes due to her being in a shelter for nine months; she gets sick with every season change with sneezing, breathing problems, lack of appetite, and sever watering in her eyes making it hard for her to open them, it’s horrible to watch her go through it knowing it could’ve been prevented. Just because an animal is unwanted and desperate for attention doesn’t mean they should have to live a lower standard of living or proper medical care from any other animal.
The last point Turner, Berry, and MacDonald made was shelter personnel know all animals will not be adopted, to lessen crowding shelter employees and volunteers take it upon themselves to euthanize healthy, older, and simply unwanted animals that have been housed in the shelter for six or more months. According to the ASPCA When shelter personnel are euthanizing animal’s standard protocols must be in place these protocols include each individual animal is treated with respect, any euthanasia method used quickly induces loss of consciousness owed by death and ensures the death is as free from pain, distress, anxiety or apprehension as possible, an assessment is made of each animal’s size, weight and temperament so the appropriate drug dose, needle, syringe and restraint method can be used, and the safety of the personnel and the emotional impact of euthanasia are considered. Untimely most shelters don’t have the funds to pay a veterinarian to oversee and conduct all procedures being done, this becomes a problem amongst staff personal due to the emotional stress and guilt they feel over euthanizing so many animals a year. Former veterinarian and director Jian Zhicheng of Xinwu Animal Protection and Education Center did a TV interview to promote adoption in shelters and she stated that she had to performed over 700 euthanasians in two years on dogs due to the overcrowding, Zhicheng got harassment from the online community calling her a “butcher with beauty” for euthanizing dogs, the guilt she already from performing euthanasia on the animals and constant harassment Zhicheng ended up injecting herself with euthanasia drugs, Jian Zicheng died five days later on May 12th, 2016 she was only 31 years old. No animal or person should have to lose their life due to the crisis of overcrowding in shelters.
Long term goals should be set in motion to stop the overpopulation of animals and the inhumane killing of cats and dogs. One way shelters could lessen overcrowding is to lower the adoption fees the typical adoption fee is $65 dollars for cats and $85 dollars for dogs but can go anywhere up to $400 dollars depending on the shelter. The only other answer is to educate pet owners on the importance of spaying and neutering your animals; According to the Humane Society neutered male animals live 18% longer than unneutered animals, spayed female animals live 23% longer than unspayed females, curbs bad behavior, roaming when in heat, aggression, excessive barking, marking of territory, and other dominated related behaviors. Lastly adopt don’t shop shelter animals have just as much love if not more as animals from a breeder and are more grateful for you adopting them I know that first hand. Unfortunately, there is no simple solution to the ongoing crisis of overcrowding in shelters, I believe all animals deserve the right to receive compassion, proper medical care, and humane treatment in life; with the proper education and training of all personnel in contact with animals this will ensure the good welfare of shelter animals everywhere.