Psychological cost of pet overpopulation (and euthanasia at animal shelters)

I just posted a message in rpca in which I urged someone to have his cat
neutered as soon as possible. His cat is 14 months old, and he thought the
cat needed to "grow fully" before having him neutered. I quoted from a
recent article on euthanasia in the Nacogdoches (TX) Daily Sentinel. The
animal shelter has a staff who work very hard to find homes for animals that
are under their care. Even so, statistics for 2005 show that they euthanized
*73 percent* of the animals that were left at the shelter (and that is
actually *less* than the rate of euthanasia in many communities).

The article actually concentrated on the psychological toll that is taken on
shelter workers who must carry out this horrible (but necessary) task --
something that I think we seldom think about. Here is one excerpt from the
article: "Shocking? Imagine how shelter director Gwen Gillespie feels. She
and one other shelter employee are responsible for euthanizing hundreds of
dogs and cats each month - many of which were healthy, loving animals -
bagging them and depositing them in the city landfill. Gillespie's
unfortunate job illuminates another aspect of massive animal euthanasia that
remains largely hidden from public view - the disturbing psychological toll
that killing so many healthy animals takes on the shelter personnel who
perform the deed." Further, the article notes that an American Veterinary
Medical Association's panel on euthanasia warned in 2000 that "constant
exposure to, or participation in, euthanasia procedures can cause a
psychologic state characterized by a strong sense of work dissatisfaction
and alienation." Other studies "have found that people who perform animal
euthanasias are an 'at-risk' population, at-risk for a variety of
psychological, emotional and physical ailments such as high blood pressure,
ulcers, unresolved grief, depression and even suicide."

So, failure to spay and neuter -- which has led to an extreme overpopulation
of cats and dogs -- brings tragedy not only to our four-legged friends but
also to people who must look at wonderful, healthy animals and know that
most of them are doomed. I know I am "preaching to the church choir" here
because most of the contributors to this newsgroup already are aware of the
necessity to spay and neuter, but I hope this will motivate some of you to
encourage your neighbors to also think about the problem.

You can read the full article he
http://www.dailysentinel.com/news/co...NDSanimal.html

MaryL