In response to the entertainment blog PETA compares teen pregnancy to neutering pets (SN1/21), it was encouraging to see that Whitney Gronski agreed that spaying and neutering animals is an integral part of the effort to help reduce the number of dogs and cats euthanized in shelters.
In such a tabloid society, it is a sad fact that organizations often are forced to use edgy or controversial methods to get their messages heard. The alternative would be to keep the issue hidden from the public eye, which would be a betrayal to the millions of animals that are put to sleep as a result of people’s carelessness.
PETA has a reputation for pushing the envelope, but we have found that by stirring a bit of discussion about issues such as overpopulation, the number of people who receive that message grows exponentially. The facts that spaying one female dog can prevent 67,000 births in six years, and that spaying one female cat can prevent 420,000 births in seven years are shocking on their own. But if people are allowed to turn a blind eye to these facts and presume this is not an issue they should care about, it is the animals that pay the price in the end. Every kitten and puppy born is a virtual death sentence for another unfortunate animal in a shelter.
Sometimes, to highlight the absurd fact that there are still people who refuse to spay and neuter their animals, we must create commercials that are provocative in order to keep the spotlight on this important issue.
Ryan Huling
college campaign coordinator for peta2.com
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