At year’s end each December, statistics from Rutherford County Animal Control are compiled into a summary which highlights the progress being made for the animals in the County.

The latest summary doesn’t simply reflect progress for the animals. It also represents:

• a significant decrease in taxpayer dollars spent yearly to handle the volume of animals that come to the Animal Control facility and
• financial relief for the people who own pets that keep breeding so that owners end up with animals they can’t afford to care for properly.

The accompanying chart shows that in 2006 the total intake of dogs and cats was 3553 down from 4225 in 2005. This is a decrease of 15 % or 672 animals. The overall destruction rate over the past three years has been reduced to 70% of intake down from almost 88% in 2003. This is still too many deaths at a total of 2532 animals for this year down 428 from the total in 2005 which was 2960. This year’s results confirm trends from 2004 and 2005 indicating that both intake and destruction numbers are moving downward.

Spay/neuter programs have gained strength in the past year, issuing 500 vouchers to qualifying pet owners. This program, initially stepped up to cover the shortfall of Senate bill 1184 funding, has surpassed this program in terms of the number of people we have been able to assist. Recently, the Senate bill program has been re-instated so that the combined reach of these programs should push the intake numbers down even farther.

The results this year especially highlight the impact that our efforts is making. It will require constant pressure in the form of increased sterilization surgeries and increased rescue efforts to maintain this kind of progress and to continue to move all of these numbers downward.

We are gratified by these results and appreciate the community support that has allowed it to happen.  We have set goals for 2008 that will allow us to provide sterilization surgeries, rabies vaccinations and microchips (permanent identification) to 1000 pets. We encourage pet owners in need to contact the Community Pet Center volunteer office at
1-800-796-7387 for assistance and we invite our community affiliates to continue to support our programs. We rely on local interest in our work and ongoing financial support from both private and corporate donors to help us to reach our overall goal of not having to destroy any adoptable pet.

Intake and Destruction Summary from 1998 through 2008

In Hope
This is a very powerful presentation on Spay/Neuter.
 Note: this is graphic and may not be suitable for all audiences

 

May we have your attention please?

 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE SPAY/NEUTER TOTALS FOR 2008

Help Prevent Overpopulation
 You may think that because you can find good homes for your cat's babies, that you're not contributing to the problem. Think again. There are simply not enough "good homes" to go around. For every kitten you place in a good home, another cat loses its life in a shelter or pound.

 

Share the love!

If you want the "kitten experience," consider fostering a litter from a shelter for a rescue group. You will have the joy of seeing them in their "cute" period (which lasts only a few months), and you will have the satisfaction of helping, rather than contributing to the problem.

Educate!

• Start With Kids
  What children learn today about responsible pet ownership will affect the lives of animals 100 years from now. If you enjoy working with children, think about volunteering to do a presentation on the pleasures of pets. It will be a great way to introduce the concept of spaying and neutering and develop a sense of responsibility in younger folks. OR...
• Involve Your Kids
  If you have children, encourage your child to make a spay/neuter presentation or essay in a school endeavor.  
• Write a Letter to the Editor
  Write from the heart, but try to keep to the facts. Your letter might strike a chord of response from one or more readers, with the end result of many lives saved.
• Call a Radio Talk Show
  You may have to don "flame-proof knickers," depending on the host, but armed with the facts, you will reach thousands of listeners and start them to thinking. Stay calm and non-argumentative, and you'll score points all-around.

Volunteer!

• At S/N Clinic
  Veterinary clinics which provide low-cost spay and neuter usually need all the help they can get.
• Get Involved With a Rescue Organization
  If you have a printer and suitable programs, make flyers for them. Help out at "adoption days" and talk up the value of S/N to people who stop by. Offer to clean cages and traps, shuttle ferals to the S/N clinics, anything you can do to lighten the burden of those in the trenches. If you have the space and the time to devote, volunteer to foster a cat or two.