Post by Butch Zaborniak on May 28, 2012 20:10:24 GMT -5
Although New Jersey’s pet overpopulation problem has improved over the years, it is still far from being solved, area animal welfare groups say.
However, low-cost spay/neuter clinics, such as the newly opened People for Animals facility in Robbinsville, are going a long way to help.
“We want to try to reduce the euthanasia rates in this area,” said Jane Guillaume, executive director of PFA. “The euthanasia rates in the eight areas surrounding our Hillside facility have dropped 26 percent. We’re hoping to have the same effect in this area.”
In Mercer County, the state has estimated, 25 percent of animals brought into shelters were euthanized in 2010. Statewide, the number was 34 percent, down from 39 percent in 2005.
But the problem areas don’t necessarily lie in Mercer County, or even in Central Jersey, where euthanasia rates hover in the mid-20s.
It’s South Jersey, where counties reported euthanasia rates as high as 69 percent in 2010, that constitutes the biggest issue, Guillaume said.
“The more rural areas down south, their rates are significantly higher,” Guillaume said. “People have cats in their sheds or barns and they’re kind of friendly but not really, so they don’t get them fixed. Two or three years down the road, they’ve got 100 cats running around.”
PFA hopes to target southern counties through its Neuter Scooter service, which totes animals from Petco stores around the state to PFA’s clinics to be neutered, she said.
Guillaume said she also hopes to target urban areas, where people often balk at neutering pets when they see they’ll be charged $500 at a vet’s office.
“Five hundred dollars to neuter their animals is not going to work out for people who are struggling to put food on the table,” she said.
Linda Ditmars, co-founder of Mercer County rescue group Animal Allies, has seen a reluctance to spay and neuter pets in Trenton for years, causing a persistent animal overpopulation issue.
“I don’t know that things have improved in Trenton. I work in Trenton, and I certainly get a lot of calls from people looking for help,” said Ditmars, who helped found Animal Allies in 1996.
She calls herself “cautiously hopeful” that the situation will improve.
“I think people are a little more aware of the problem now. There are a lot more resources, and there are more low-cost spay/neuter clinics,” Ditmars said. “But I know the situation for cats is even worse than for dogs.”
More cats were impounded than dogs in almost every county in 2010.
“Most people get their dogs spayed. There don’t tend to be a lot of dogs wandering loose on the street, except for pit bulls,” said Carolyn Wooley, who operates a low cost spay/neuter clinic for cats in Hopewell Township called McSNIP.
Wooley, a veterinarian who ran a cat clinic before opening McSNIP, said she hasn’t seen the cat overpopulation problem change significantly in decades.
“When I opened my practice in Pennsylvania 20 years ago, one of the ways I built my practice up was by partnering with stray cat rescue organizations,” Wooley said. “Twenty years later, there are just as many cats.”
Legislation mandating rescue organizations to spay and neuter the pets they adopt out would help, Wooley said, but she sees none forthcoming.
New Jersey allows residents adopting pets from pounds or shelters to neuter them for $20, reimbursing the veterinarians with money from the sale of “Animal Friendly” license plates, Guillaume said.
New Jersey residents on state assistance programs can neuter their pets for $10 under the same program.
PFA’s first clinic was funded by a state grant.
Funds from a pilot program aimed at reducing animal overpopulation allowed PFA to open its Hillside facility in 1985, Guillaume said. The state no longer funds the program.
PFA supports most state laws related to animal welfare, but it advocates for a few specifically designed at reducing animal overpopulation, Guillaume said.
For starters, Guillaume would like to see every shelter in the state report its intake data and euthanasia rates.
She estimates the current county rates, which are calculated by combining data voluntarily submitted by individual shelters, would be 50 percent higher if all shelters were included.
“Until we know the magnitude of the problem, how can we effectively measure the progress we’re making toward solving it?” Guillaume said.
Credit: The Trenton Times
www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2012/05/new_jersey_pet_overpopulation.html
However, low-cost spay/neuter clinics, such as the newly opened People for Animals facility in Robbinsville, are going a long way to help.
“We want to try to reduce the euthanasia rates in this area,” said Jane Guillaume, executive director of PFA. “The euthanasia rates in the eight areas surrounding our Hillside facility have dropped 26 percent. We’re hoping to have the same effect in this area.”
In Mercer County, the state has estimated, 25 percent of animals brought into shelters were euthanized in 2010. Statewide, the number was 34 percent, down from 39 percent in 2005.
But the problem areas don’t necessarily lie in Mercer County, or even in Central Jersey, where euthanasia rates hover in the mid-20s.
It’s South Jersey, where counties reported euthanasia rates as high as 69 percent in 2010, that constitutes the biggest issue, Guillaume said.
“The more rural areas down south, their rates are significantly higher,” Guillaume said. “People have cats in their sheds or barns and they’re kind of friendly but not really, so they don’t get them fixed. Two or three years down the road, they’ve got 100 cats running around.”
PFA hopes to target southern counties through its Neuter Scooter service, which totes animals from Petco stores around the state to PFA’s clinics to be neutered, she said.
Guillaume said she also hopes to target urban areas, where people often balk at neutering pets when they see they’ll be charged $500 at a vet’s office.
“Five hundred dollars to neuter their animals is not going to work out for people who are struggling to put food on the table,” she said.
Linda Ditmars, co-founder of Mercer County rescue group Animal Allies, has seen a reluctance to spay and neuter pets in Trenton for years, causing a persistent animal overpopulation issue.
“I don’t know that things have improved in Trenton. I work in Trenton, and I certainly get a lot of calls from people looking for help,” said Ditmars, who helped found Animal Allies in 1996.
She calls herself “cautiously hopeful” that the situation will improve.
“I think people are a little more aware of the problem now. There are a lot more resources, and there are more low-cost spay/neuter clinics,” Ditmars said. “But I know the situation for cats is even worse than for dogs.”
More cats were impounded than dogs in almost every county in 2010.
“Most people get their dogs spayed. There don’t tend to be a lot of dogs wandering loose on the street, except for pit bulls,” said Carolyn Wooley, who operates a low cost spay/neuter clinic for cats in Hopewell Township called McSNIP.
Wooley, a veterinarian who ran a cat clinic before opening McSNIP, said she hasn’t seen the cat overpopulation problem change significantly in decades.
“When I opened my practice in Pennsylvania 20 years ago, one of the ways I built my practice up was by partnering with stray cat rescue organizations,” Wooley said. “Twenty years later, there are just as many cats.”
Legislation mandating rescue organizations to spay and neuter the pets they adopt out would help, Wooley said, but she sees none forthcoming.
New Jersey allows residents adopting pets from pounds or shelters to neuter them for $20, reimbursing the veterinarians with money from the sale of “Animal Friendly” license plates, Guillaume said.
New Jersey residents on state assistance programs can neuter their pets for $10 under the same program.
PFA’s first clinic was funded by a state grant.
Funds from a pilot program aimed at reducing animal overpopulation allowed PFA to open its Hillside facility in 1985, Guillaume said. The state no longer funds the program.
PFA supports most state laws related to animal welfare, but it advocates for a few specifically designed at reducing animal overpopulation, Guillaume said.
For starters, Guillaume would like to see every shelter in the state report its intake data and euthanasia rates.
She estimates the current county rates, which are calculated by combining data voluntarily submitted by individual shelters, would be 50 percent higher if all shelters were included.
“Until we know the magnitude of the problem, how can we effectively measure the progress we’re making toward solving it?” Guillaume said.
Credit: The Trenton Times
www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2012/05/new_jersey_pet_overpopulation.html