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Nobody wants
to dwell on gruesome statistics about companion animals needlessly put
to death everyday for lack of homes. When we hear that literally
millions meet that grim fate, we tend to wonder what we can do about
it.
Susan Seidman,
author of "The Pet Surplus," subtitled "What every dog and cat owner
can do to help reduce it" (Xlibris $16), offers some concrete
suggestions -- along with a perspective on the causes of the "pet
surplus."
"I addressed
my book to pet owners," said the author from the Long Island home she
shares with three cats. "I've had people ask me if this is 'another
book about the importance of spaying and neutering.' That's an easy
one to answer. Why would I spend 3 1/2 years and write 75,000 words
just to say 'get your pet fixed'?
"That would
be awfully boring," she said with a laugh.
With 4 0
years as a journalist writing about pets -- cats especially -- for
major pet magazines such as Cat Fancy, Seidman decided to assemble her
accumulated knowledge into her first book, which is packed with
valuable information. "I wanted to write something useful and
worthwhile, to cover so much that hadn't been put together before,"
she said.
Even
though the numbers of pets euthanized is staggering, all is not bleak
in her estimation. The figures have dropped considerably because
spaying and neutering has finally become more routine, but she says
they are still higher than they should be.
Seidman attributes this in large part to impulse buyers who help to
create shelter overpopulation and keep euthanasia statistics high.
"Today, everyone is in a hurry. People want instant solutions," she
said. "It takes time and extra patience to commit to an animal. They
don't want to take the time to train an animal. Next thing you know,
they've run out of patience and get rid of it." If the animal has
behavior problems or is elderly, the pet's chances of a permanent home
are slim.
A
major contribution to pet overpopulation is the notion that breeding
"just one litter" is good for the dog or cat, when there is no medical
evidence to corroborate that opinion. Another misnomer she refutes is
that when a dog or cat is fixed, it will become an inactive blob of
blubber -- also not true.
A
maverick approach
Seidman boldly writes: "So
many caring owners have unthinkingly encouraged overpopulation by
buying a breeder's animal instead of adopting a no-less-desirable
orphan ... The overriding point is that this choice denies a home to
an animal in urgent need of one. Once the vacancy in the household is
filled by a pet deliberately bred to be sold, the door automatically
slams on a pet who couldn't survive unless adopted. Somewhere along
the line, a dog was doomed to die."
One of her neighbors disputed
that concept when the woman's purebred Labrador died. Early in her
book, the author admits she had no impact on the woman, who quickly
purchased another Lab from a breeder. However, in our conversation,
Seidman was relieved to announce: "I'm delighted that she just adopted
another Lab from a shelter." This information was not included in the
book because it occurred after the book was released.
Before our conversation,
Seidman had just completed an interview for a Los Angeles radio
station during which the host argued vehemently against her theory on
purebreds. "He said people have a 'right' to buy a purebred from
a breeder, which,
of course, they do," she said. "That wasn't my point. Of course,
people have a right. They also have an obligation to have the dog
spayed or neutered."
Room for pets
Seidman
addresses a common problem I hear about from readers with increasing
frequency: rental properties prohibiting pets. Hearts are broken and
pets relinquished when owners run out of options because so many
rental properties won't accept pets in New Jersey. "Probably the
single greatest obstacle to ownership of pets is the restrictions on
them in rental housing, as well as some condos and co-ops," she
writes. "Humane groups are pushing hard, with limited success so far."
She'd like to
see "no pets" clauses in leases abolished "on the grounds that such
blanket discrimination is just as unfair as a ban on children or
minorities. Federal legislation has already opened up housing that
receives public funds and lobbyists are working to liberalize policies
in privately owned buildings." (Seidman knows the workings of
government as a former editor of the Foreign Policy Association
publication.)
Other thoughts
Other topics
that Seidman covers in the book include the importance of pet
training, a key ingredient in long-term commitment to pets, and the
feral cat explosion. She winds up urging all pet owners to plan now
for future care of pets, which could outlive you, regardless of your
age or theirs -- good advice in view of 9/11.
She finds
fault with the lack of unanimity among various professionals --
shelter officials, vets, animal rights activists, breeders of show
quality purebreds -- all of whom promote the interests of pets, but
often in conflicting ways. "Sometimes, their competing priorities
erupt in furious controversy," she writes
and cites examples of ways that professionals become sidetracked with
interpersonal rivalries rather than remaining focused on the welfare
of animals.
The American
Humane Association praised "The Pet Surplus": "If books like this
could be put into the right hands, more strides could be made to make
the world a better place for our domestic companions."
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