The New York Times ran an opinion piece on August 18 by Carol Mithers titled “Are We Loving Shelter Dogs To Death?” It seems likely that it was timed to adversely impact the national Clear the Shelters event, a fee waived, or reduced fee, adoption event in which the Richmond SPCA participated along with many shelters across the country. Our staff worked so hard that day to make the most of this adoption opportunity, and they were justifiably proud of having sent a remarkable 88 deserving pets off to good and loving homes by the end of the day. Ours was one of many shelters that successfully adopted many more pets to homes than they would in a normal day. For a writer to seek to retard this kind of lifesaving work, while also providing an inaccurate perspective of the no-kill movement, is irresponsible.
Ms. Mithers, who has written on many diverse topics but who has no shelter management experience, used as a springboard the story of a dog named Valerie who sadly died near Los Angeles on August 6. Ms. Mithers opens her piece with the claim that Valerie had been the victim of abuse including sexual assault. However, by August 16, two days prior to the NYT’s publication of the piece, the Los Angeles Police Department had issued a statement based on a forensic veterinary report that quashed these claims. The department's Animal Cruelty Task Force also concluded that there was no evidence to support the allegation that Valerie was thrown from a car, one of many pieces of misinformation spread in Facebook posts.
Despite the facts of the case not suiting her narrative, Ms. Mithers goes on to use this tragic anecdote to indict the entire no-kill movement and to conclude that the problems with companion animals entering and dying in shelters nationally is due to their bad luck in belonging to people in poverty. She indicates, inaccurately, that the no-kill movement presents “adoption … as the only alternative to euthanasia.” Everyone who is a part of the valid no-kill movement, including me, believes that a combination of shelter adoption promotion, easily accessible pet sterilization, and pet retention support programs is the foundation of creating no-kill communities.
I agree with her assertion that lack of financial resources is responsible for many people relinquishing their pets at animal shelters because the pet has a medical or behavioral issue that they lack the funds to address. This, of course, is why pet retention support is so crucial. The Richmond SPCA provides our community with a very low cost, full service veterinary hospital that provides veterinary care to the pets of low income pet guardians. We also offer free behavioral guidance from experienced trainers to pet guardians so that they can work through behavioral challenges. What I don’t agree with, and find quite offensive, are her unmistakable suggestions that: (1) people of low income should not be allowed to adopt pets because they won’t care for them and (2) no-kill shelters such as the Richmond SPCA are enabling abusers and other irresponsible adopters in order to engage in a “numbers game.”
Ms. Mithers offers no empirical data whatsoever to support these objectionable hypotheses and even goes so far as to state that “Adoption becomes a feel-good ‘numbers game’…. No one notes how many of them end up back in the system.” Saying that the dedicated people who work for animal shelters are simply playing a “numbers game” is an insult to the sincerity of our devotion to saving animals’ lives. The statement that no one notes how many animals are returned is flat out untrue. The Richmond SPCA like most other responsible shelters carefully tracks returns and actively stays in touch with adopters after adoption to make sure that the placement is going well. Returns from adoption promotion events do not vary from our normal rates of return which hover around 8 percent.
Ms. Mithers acknowledges that models exist to help support low income pet owners, but she only offers up one example of a financial assistance program for low income pet owners already considering relinquishment. The real answer lies in providing the sorts of pet retention programs that the Richmond SPCA provides to our community to give pet guardians of low income access to high quality affordable veterinary care and behavioral guidance so that their pets may stay healthy and the relationship stays positive without ever getting to
the point of considering relinquishment.
Is it expensive to provide these programs? Yes, of course, it is. But, we have managed to raise the charitable resources to provide them in a community that is not particularly affluent but is very supportive of animal welfare efforts. Providing these programs allows a community to be ethical and compassionate in its treatment of companion animals. We recognize that people of low income can provide lasting, loving homes just like affluent people can. Homeless pets desperately need those homes. So, if we provide programs that help low income guardians both acquire and keep their pets, then we open up many possible loving homes for pets and save massive numbers of lives.
Ms. Mithers conveniently leaves unsaid what will happen to these pets if shelters do not provide every opportunity to get them adopted along with programs to support those adoptions. Let’s be clear about this point. What will happen is that many thousands of homeless animals will die in shelters, even though they are healthy, or treatable, and deserving of a good life. That is not only tragic; it is unethical.
Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires both your first and last name to be used as your screen name.
I have first hand experience surrendering a dog (my daughters dog, actually), a beautiful mixed breed 4 year old that unfortunately my daughter or myself could not keep. The volunteers and staff at the richmond spca are the cream of the crop. They are unbelievable! The care and love they give each dog and cat is remarkable. My beautiful grand-dog now has a forever home because of "clean out the shelter". When he was adopted that day, I received a call from the spca letting me know about his new owners. A call that other shelters would not have made. The no kill shelter is a concept that some people can never appreciate. I know, and anyone else that has done business with you knows, that what you do everyday for those lonely sweet furry critters, is only appreciated by animal lovers. People who do not own a cat or dog have no idea how a pet can make your life sooo much happier! How much do you want to bet, the woman that wrote the offensive article, doesn't even own a pet!
Keep up the good work Richmond SPCA, and I will continue to tell everyone I know what a fantastic job you are doing.
Posted by: becky | August 26, 2018 at 03:43 PM