20/20 and the SPCA

[RubysMom]

Just wondering if anyone else caught the show 20/20 last night and their story on the SPCA of Dallas. I know there are a number of members from Texas on here and wondering if what they were saying (about them taking perfectly healthy dogs from owners/breeders and selling them) is true?

Can call yourself SPCA without having any affiliation with the ASPCA? Being from Canada we dont have the same sort of rules and just have the one SPCA I believe. Just curious.... :?

[Luciann]

I am from Texas and did not see the show but honestly i would not be surprised. In Travis county i have been told that the city will charge breeders for breeding their dogs and having puppies to sell and if you have a dog that is not pure breed that you HAVE to have it spayed or neutered. I understand the concept since they are trying to control the animal population.

As for them taking well cared for animals and then selling them not sure if that is happening or not but a lot of the time you will have unscruplus people claiming to be linked with a legitimate organization to bilk people out of things of value. i will have to see if i can find anything out for you

[Luciann]

Donna

I found a synopsis of the show and the ASPCA and having read it, yes it is very possible that it is happening. The Dallas issue really is the ASPCA not someone claiming to be affilitated with them. In the article i read it did not say what the "undercover vet" had to say about the one group of animals but what the owner's vet had to say.

Unfortunately there are times that administrators will do some things what if looked at hard enough would prove unscrupulous to raise funds for their organization. I think that the organization still saves a lot of animals but it is possible that someone is abusing the power...

[Kristy Hayden]

My Aunt in Austin breeds Cotons and she is now having to pay more to get their tags. Its something like if you have over so many dogs in your household and they are not fixed then you have to pay for to get their tags.

[Luciann]

my mom called it a fine for breeding dogs....

[Melissa Brunoehler]

Here's a response to the show from The SPCA of Texas


http://www.spca.org/site/PageServer?pagename= News_20_20_Open_Ltr

http://www.spca.org/site/PageServer?pagename= News_20_20_Statement _Revised

[RubysMom]

Thanks for posting that Melissa...as always there are two sides to every story! Still, it just kills me to see pics like those in these links.

[Luciann]

Thank you Melissa, I just found the one thing on the show but at least we know that what they are doing is not being abused. Thanks you for helping us with both sides of the story

[Dave Kersh]

It appears as if ABC is guilty of exactly what they accuse the SPCA of doing; exploiting people's emotions about abused animals to raise ratings and make money.
Whatever happened to reporting the news as it happened?

[Renee]

it wouldn't be the first time ABC has done that....

[Luciann]

not just ABC but any network station..... I find that they have selective reporting which is why i don't watch the new or news programs...

[Lizbeth Carlson]

I work with a rescue group in Arizona. It costs us approximately $250 per dog to process them through, and then we charge an adoption fee of around $100 depending on whether the dog is a high demand breed or not (usually they aren't). It can cost us thousands if we get an animal that has been abused or injured or is ill. Believe me, we don't make money on our dogs. We barely make ends meet. All the rescue groups get more calls from people saying "we have to get rid of our dog" than we would like. We rescue strays just running on the street after having been kicked out by owners that just don't care. We never have enough room or enough volunteer staff. It's the same for all the other rescue groups around here including places like the Humane Society. As far as I know from the rescue tom toms, the dogs that were taken in Texas were taken for very valid reasons. John Stossel is a jerk and certainly isn't an animal lover to present such a one-sided (and the wrong side at that) report. Don't believe everything you see on TV, hear on the radio, or read in the newspaper.
Until breeders breed responsibly and pet owners spay and neuter all their pets, overpopulation of dogs and cats won't go away. I heard that over 8 million dogs were put down in the US last year, mostly because there just aren't enough homes for all of them. How many this year? Stossel should have done a report on the importance of spay and neuter and irresponsible breeders and puppy mills instead of slamming a responsiblel organization like the ASPCA.

[Melissa Brunoehler]

Hi Lizbeth~

Thank you for working with rescues. The pet overpopulation epidemic in this country is quite staggering. It’s unfortunate, to say the least, that more people do not their part (spay/neuter, adopting, buying -if they must- only from reputable breeders) to help the situation.




I work with a rescue group in Arizona. It costs us approximately $250 per dog to process them through, and then we charge an adoption fee of around $100 depending on whether the dog is a high demand breed or not (usually they aren't). It can cost us thousands if we get an animal that has been abused or injured or is ill. Believe me, we don't make money on our dogs. We barely make ends meet. All the rescue groups get more calls from people saying "we have to get rid of our dog" than we would like. We rescue strays just running on the street after having been kicked out by owners that just don't care. We never have enough room or enough volunteer staff. It's the same for all the other rescue groups around here including places like the Humane Society. As far as I know from the rescue tom toms, the dogs that were taken in Texas were taken for very valid reasons. John Stossel is a jerk and certainly isn't an animal lover to present such a one-sided (and the wrong side at that) report. Don't believe everything you see on TV, hear on the radio, or read in the newspaper.
Until breeders breed responsibly and pet owners spay and neuter all their pets, overpopulation of dogs and cats won't go away. I heard that over 8 million dogs were put down in the US last year, mostly because there just aren't enough homes for all of them. How many this year? Stossel should have done a report on the importance of spay and neuter and irresponsible breeders and puppy mills instead of slamming a responsiblel organization like the ASPCA.

[Lizbeth Carlson]

I think we are in agreement on that train of thought.
Please check out our website: www.azfriends.org

[Rebekah Hartman]

My puppy is a rescue - he's 7 months old now and we got him at 10 weeks. I felt like the $75 adoption fee was a bargain and I think the only reason they can do that is so many vets donate their time to help.

He ended up getting Parvo and after a week and a half at home trying to help him (IV fluids, etc) we had to take him back to the SPCA and they helped get him back to full health (at the time I actually thought I was saying goodbye to him).

It was not a "swanky" facility by any stretch of the imagination (I really felt like I was rescuing him), but they did the best they could. As much as he's already cost us (upwards of $2000), I don't know how $75 covered much of anything.

Unfortunately, the more I learn about things the more I realize that you can't take much of anything you see on TV at face value. I guess the responsible person will take what they've seen and research it themselves to find out what's really going on. There aren't a whole lot of people out there like that, though - although most of us that are here probably fall into that category! ;)

[Lizbeth Carlson]

You are truly a gem and the kind of person that we always look for to adopt one of our babies. At our shelter all the animals get their shots, testing, microchipping and spay and neuter before they are allowed to leave. However, some animals are incubating something and it doesn't show until after you get them home. Many people don't bother to try to get them better.
What many people don't realize is that most shelters have to pay for veterinary care. If the vets donated all their time they wouldn't make any money. We work with some terrific vets that deeply discount their fees to us and then donate their time when we do a big spay/neuter event.
Back to Stossel and 20/20, the Best Friends website is having updates posted. Do check it out for further info.

[Rebekah Hartman]

Aww, I had to scroll up to realize that I think you were talking about me. Thank you. We've had our hands full with various health/housetraining problems on and off, but I'd rescue another dog again. I've never been a huge animal lover (I like them, but was never crazy about them) - my sister was the "animal person" and I was the "kid person", but I am smitten with Samson. As much as he's a handful, I just want to keep working (and researching, of course) to make him the great family dog we want. This site helps so much for me to realize that he's "just a typical puppy".

[Kristy Hayden]

I have volunteered at two different humane societies and it really is sad to see how many dogs dont get adopted (in time) and have to be euthanized becuase they really dont have room for them. At one of the just about every other day there were so many new dogs and the 'old' ones were gone. If I had room for them I would probably adopt a couple just to give them a better place and to get them out of the risk of being killed.

[Lizbeth Carlson]

The head of the AZ Humane Society said that in order for every dog and cat alive in the US today to have a home, each household would have to have 45 cats and 15 dogs! It's so important for people to spay and neuter their pets.
The shelter I work with is no-kill, so I'm spared the thought that one of my favorites will be put down. However, as nice as our shelter is, it's difficult for the animals to be stuck in runs for months. Some get pretty depressed. We do have a couple of volunteers that take elderly dogs in since the likelihood of them being adopted is small. They just permanently foster them.
There are never enough foster homes either. If you have ever thought about fostering for an agency in your area, look into it. Every time you foster you make room for one more. It's really rewarding. We are fostering 6 kittens at the moment. They make life interesting.

[Grace Erick]

It costs $20 for a dog license if the dog is fixed. If the dog is not fixed, it costs $60. They do cut you a break, but I think it's a time sensitive offer of a $5 fee for a buddy license if you have more than one dog.

Side note: Puppies 8 weeks and older need licenses. Chi puppies are supposed to be kept for 10-12 weeks before they go to their new homes.

I had my county's licensing office leave a printed message on my door while I was out telling me I had 48 hours to license my dog if I had an unlicensed dog. I supposed some breeders can be turned in for lack of a licenses and have someone come to their home if they don't sell their puppies and have them leave their home by 8 weeks??? I can't imagine they can just push their way into your home and not need some type of warrant, but who knows what authority they are granted, but if cops need warrants, I would think the licensing people do too.

What if my dog ran under the bed with her license tag on her when they showed up? Would they slide under my bed to get her, lol:) Only kidding, lol:)

Bye, Grace