#NerdsUnite: The secret life of a veterinary technician
<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Lindsay. She and I met ... well, somewhere in the social space. I think we might have started talking through this site directly, then through facebook - maybe ... I'm not sure. But she's awesome. I talk to her on twitter almost every day, and she's really rad and TOTALLY a big huge animal lover. Like crazy huge!! In these series of posts she will be talking about her life and random adventures with sometimes more than two legged creatures. I guess there's only one more thing left to say ... HIT IT LINDSAY!!</editorsnote>
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @TheCraftafarian
Today I wanted to talk to you guys about a very important piece of animal legislation that is taking place in Florida. It's called the Florida Animal Rescue Act and something similar may be happening in your state (see links below) too! This simple little bill would make it illegal for animal shelters to kill a pet when there are life saving alternatives available--basically if a qualified 501c non profit rescue is interesting and willing to take over custody of an animal the shelter is NOT ALLOWED to euthanize it as there is another way. It is intended to save lives, move animals out of shelters, and possibly even shelter costs. I recommend reading the bill and forming your own opinion. Local shelters on average euthanize 50% of their intake due to space or time limitations.
From what I've read (articles, the bill itself, animal advocates opinions) it seems like a common sense--no brainer but PETA is vehemently against it. I have a really hard time trusting PETA after finding out that they euthanize (kill) 97% of the animals they take in, yeah even the savable/adoptable ones. Many of the pets they take in are given to them by rescues and vets under the assumption that they will be adopted. Unfortunately the pets in PETA's shelter are not up for adoption to the public. Also there was a big issue several years ago with PETA employees after picking up some pets. In 2010 their "shelter" was investigated by the state of Virginia. http://www.petakillsanimals.com/downloads/peta_inspection.pdf. Some groups that are against PETA have their own motives but its the numbers that can't lie.
After finding out about PETA's 3% adoption rate I found out other things about well known animal advocacy groups. The ASPCA, you know the commercials you see on TV (and even possibly donate to?) all that money doesn't go to your local SPCA, it goes directly to ASPCA NY--which is what the ASPCA is, they don't really fund local shelters, except for the ASPCA 100K challenge and a few other grants. Now they aren't lying to us about their funds or affiliations but they allow people to continue to think these things. The HSUS (Humane Society of the United States--which isn't a shelter) brings in $250 million annually and less than 1% of that money goes to animal shelters (http://humanewatch.org/index.php/site/post/less_than_one-half_of_one_percent/). We are being severely misled.
Want to help your local shelter or rescue? Donate DIRECTLY to the group you want the money to go to.
FL: http://www.floridarescueact.com/
GA: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Georgians-for-the-Georgia-Animal-Rescue-Act/341430959209314
General Animal Law Info: http://www.animallawcoalition.com/
PETA Statistics:
2010 (this one is directly from Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. You can search for the other years if you like, 2011 is not yet up but those with access to the database can pull the numbers. And if you really wanna freak yourself out google PETA and Wiggly Piggly.)
It's hard to believe but those numbers don't lie. If you support them you may want to rethink it. I just want to share the info so that everyone can form their own opinions. If your state is looking into animal protection acts please do your research and don't depend on a certain group or person (even me!) to tell you what is true, find out for yourself.
So now you know. AND knowing is half the battle...GI Joe...
#nerdsunite
<3 Lindsay
twitter: @thecraftafarian
blog: craftafarian.blogspot.com
email: craftafarian at gmail d c