Thursday, October 11, 2012

Speak Out Against Pet Overpopulation - ForceChange

By Matthew Clary

Target: Dennis B. Sprung, President and CEO of the American Kennel Club

Goal:?Stop unwanted pets by promoting spay and neuter programs and pet adoption.

The American Kennel Club (AKC) continues to unabashedly support and encourage the breeding of dogs even though a pet is euthanized in the U.S. at an average rate of one every eight seconds. Of course the AKC is not the single source of blame in this tragic situation, but as the premier organization in the field of canines, not only do they promote continued breeding and the notion that purebreds are more desirable than ?mutts? (and therefore need to be bred and purchased), they use their political clout to curb any efforts at reform. There are simply too many dogs in the world and this prestigious, non-profit organization only makes the situation worse.

Since dogs are not humans, a large segment of society does not care that millions of these animals live a horrible existence ultimately to be put to death. It is not done out of spite, but out of lack of concern or outright ignorance. This is why the overbreeding and purchase of dogs will never be stopped, but it can be improved.

The best solution to the problem at this point is spaying and neutering as well as adopting from shelters. This is where the AKC could come in. They could use some of the projected $1.7 million surplus in their 2012 budget to promote adoption from shelters and spay/neuter programs. As of now, the only mention of spaying and neutering on their website involves efforts to stop local attempts to make it law.

If an organization as respected as the AKC stepped in, as opposed to completely ignoring the problem of pet overpopulation while actually making it worse, it is bound to make some improvement. This is not a petition to stop the breeding of purebreds; it is a petition asking for an organization that presents itself as a haven for dog lovers to help society and these unfortunate animals by speaking out and educating a misinformed public as to how they can help the pet population.

PETITION LETTER

Dear Mr. Sprung,

Throughout the world, the American Kennel Club is held in high regard by dog owners and non-dog owners alike. Unfortunately, your organization stands by while extreme pet overpopulation causes over 4 million pets to be euthanized in the United States every year. What is even more unfortunate, is that the AKC promotes the breeding of even more dogs and speaks out against proposed reform (i.e. The California Healthy Pets Act, among others).

As the president and CEO of what is arguably one of the most well-known organizations of animal lovers, it seems grimly ironic that you would not want to do anything to improve the pet overpopulation problem. Your website claims that irresponsible dog owners are the sole source of blame. Even if this was the case and the AKC had nothing to do with the pet overpopulation problem, it seems that you would want to use your influence to speak out against it. Of course by definition, since pet overpopulation is the issue, breeding more pets is a direct cause.

We are not asking the AKC to stop the breeding of purebreds, we are asking you to help spread the word that spaying and neutering, along with adoption from shelters and rescues, is the only way any improvement can be made. At the very least, you could encourage owners of AKC registered dogs to spay and neuter their pets if they are not AKC registered breeders. ?It is a fact that there are too many dogs in the world. So please, as a powerful man and an animal lover, why not do everything you can to stop some dogs from facing the same terrible fate so many millions before them have suffered? The support of your organization could potentially make a dramatic change for the better.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Source: http://forcechange.com/36707/speak-out-against-pet-overpopulation/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=speak-out-against-pet-overpopulation

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