The Myth of Pet Over-Population

by Cherie Graves
The Animal Rights Myth of Pet Over-Population
May 23, 2007 01:00 PM EST

We have all heard, and seen HSUS, and PeTA promotions to stop pet over-population. Many people accept without question that there really is a pet-overpopulation crises in the United States. They cite the numbers of animals that are killed in shelters as their proof. That "proof" will increase dramatically in shelters across the county that took in animals that were "rescued" from the areas hit by the Hurricanes Katrina, and Rita. These animals will considerably add to the shelter's kill numbers, and will lead to legislation to quell the crisis. California Shelters are importing plane loads of dogs from China, Romania, the Carribean, and with these animals come their diseases. In California there was the recent death of an 11 year old boy attributable to a strain of rabies that is not indiginous to the United States. The boy did not respond to standard rabies protocols. In order to prove "pet-overpopulation" the animal rights movement has a huge animal transport system in place that rapidly moves animals from one area to another in order to stack intake, and euthanasia figures in areas targeted for introduction of their legislation of removing pets from our ownership. One such shipment was videotaped in Las Vegas. A van bearing the logo of an AR group from Utah, and Utah license plates pulled into the night deposit of the animal shelter and dropped off numerous dogs. More will come out on this incident at a later date. Let us take a real look at over-population. It is usually caused by an environmental situation that affects the whole population, such as drought, or crop failure, or even war. It means that there are no life sustaining resources to keep the populace alive. Over-population affects every living thing within the confines of the afflicted area. It would mean that there is no food, no potable water, no shelter, no medical supplies, no clothing, nothing to keep the whole population alive, and thriving. If we truly had a pet-overpopulation here in the USA, we wouldn't just be talking about the sterile killing of animals for disposal in so-called shelters. We would be eating those animals to save ourselves from starvation. If there was truly an overpopulation, there would be empty super- market shelves. No medical supplies, or services. Lines for potable water. We would all look like the people who have honestly suffered from the real situation of no sustaining resources available. We wouldn't be a diet conscious nation, we would be in serious nutritional trouble. Over-population doesn't play favorites. It affects the entire population. We live in the richest nation on the face of the earth. We lack for nothing. We as a society are so spoiled we do not value life. We get an animal on a whim, and dispose of it just as readily. That irresponsibility has nothing at all to do with over-population, and everything to do with our throw-away mentality. The animal rights movement relies upon our gullibility to foster their agenda. Look back about forty years, and see that before the manufactured crisis, there was not the huge need for shelters. Animal rights groups basically built the shelters, and told people that they didn't have to be responsible for their animals anymore. Just dump them at the shelter. It's become big business, and the shelters are not only thriving, but they are getting bigger, and better multi-million dollar facilities. Interestingly the Humane Society of the United States operates no shelters at all, and uses a large portion of it's donations to make even more money. They recently have come under investigation by the Louisiana Attorney General for misuse of funds obtained after Hurricane Katrina, some $30,000.000.00. PeTA with all of it's millions in revenue operates one shelter where it kills 83% of all the animals that it brings in. We need to question what we are being told by these animal rights groups, and not be so quick to accept what they tell us as truths. Look at their real agenda. They post it on their websites. That agenda is to liberate all animals from our ownership, use, and care. No more pets. If we can't own pets, there can't be an "over- population". No more domesticated animals of any kind. Associated Press, Dec. 30, 1991) "We have no ethical obligation to preserve the different breeds of livestock produced through selective breeding. ...One generation and out. We have no problems with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding" (Animal People, May, 1993)
Cherie Graves is chairwoman of Responsible Dog Owners of the Western States