 |
| Make like Bob Barker and get your pets spayed or neutered. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) I> |
A well-groomed and high-pedigreed crowd of canines basked in the media spotlight during last night’s Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Toy poodles pranced about the screen, resembling oversized Q-tips. As their tongues lolled, proud owners smiledon the sidelines.
But not all pets are as adored as our Q-tipped friends. Approximately 10 million domestic animals around the nation are spending this Valentine’s Day in animal shelters. Roughly half of them will be euthanasized by lethal injection.
In the wake of claims that Penn leads the university community in animal rights violations , it’s heartening to know that Penn’s veterinary school has also been helping to ease the strain on local animal shelters.
Last April, Penn Vet partnered with the Philadelphia Animal Car and Control Association (a branch of local government) to start the Shelter Animal Medicine Program. The program provides a spay and neuter service for local animals, giving 1,200 cats and dogs each year the chance to become better candidates for adoption. The shelter’s services would save future owners the trouble and cost of the operation and offer veterinary students practical experiences in the field.
PACCA alone deals with as many as 21,000 stray or homeless animals per year. Less than one third of those local animals will eventually find homes. The rest are euthanized to save funds and shelter space. The shelter Animal Medicine Program aims to whittle down these numbers by reducing the city’s stray animal population. Spaying and neutering will save thousands of animal’s lives and reduce the city’s financial burden by cutting down animal control and euthanization costs.
So, if you’ve got love to spare this Valentine’s Day, put it to use. Adopt, or if that isn’t a viable option, donate time or money to help out local animals.
An RSS feed of The Spin is available