I went online to the Maricopa County Animal Control Center to see if my local shelter would be able to call them on Saturday to verify my collie rescue's license tag so I wouldn't have to have him vaccinated again (which recent research has proven to be harmful). There was a link to the Maddie's Fund Statistics which said in 2007 26,193 dogs were euthanized out of an intake of 44,262. Of these, 13,843 were "unhealthy and untreatable." I was stunned. However, according to their 2007-2008 annual report, "Unfortunately we had to put down 31,055 animals; 12,990 treatable and manageable dogs and cats, 18,065 untreatable and unmanageable dogs and cats." The intake was 55,974. I think this is probably explained in the difference of the reporting period (calendar versus fiscal year), but either way the numbers are astounding. About thirty percent of the dogs were killed because they were "unhealthy and untreatable."
With all the reports of abandoned and turned in dogs this year because of the economy, the numbers are likely to be twice as high this year (and in fact MCACC says their intake has doubled in the past few months).
Bless the beasts and the children.
1 comment:
Great blog, Gayle, I just found it. I'm also in Cochise County, near Pearce in the foothills of the Chiricahua Mountains. And, as you may suspect, I also do animal rescue (all types, big or small) and am extremely concerned with the number of animals in this area who end up put down at shelters. I'd love to work with you in some capacity. You can contact me at fitzgeraldtoo@yahoo.com anytime. Keep up the great work, I know we can't save them all, but it sure makes a difference to the ones that we do save!
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