Comm 301 28 March 2012 Informative Speech ASPCA I. Introduction A.

According to Reina Schwartz, director of the citys department of general services, the citys budget for animal care has been cut by $1 million since fiscal 2007-2008, and its staff slashed from 41 to 31 positions. The countys animal care department has also suffered deep cuts, and both facilities have reported a higher demand for services. B. Thesis- The ASPCA does many things to help the welfare of all animals but with a growing number of animals in need and a declining amount of funds there are many challenges the ASPCA faces, locally and nationally. C. Credibility- I have never adopted from a shelter but I know many people that have. The dogs that are adopted are not puppies and may have some issues but with a little hard work they can all be great friends. D. Preview 1. First, I will discuss the issues facing our local shelters and how the SPCA is trying to help. 2. Second, I will talk about the importance the SPCA is putting disaster relief and how they are helping. 3.And third, Ill talk about the different laws the SPCA is helping put into

Huft 2 effect to help reduce the amounts of animal cruelty. II. Body A. With all the budgets cuts in California our local shelters are having difficulty maintaining a healthy living situation for shelter dogs and cats. The SPCA is trying to help alleviate this situation. 1. In an article written by Cynthia Hubert, in the Sacramento Bee, she discusses how budget and staffing cuts have taken a serious toll on the two municipal shelters, reducing hours of operation, comprising animal care and leading to more euthanasia. a. Because money that should be going to the shelters is being used for other things, animals are not getting the care they need and are suffering for it. 2. And in the same article, the Bee talks about how the private, nonprofit Sacramento SPCA hopes to take over care of animals at the cash-strapped city and county municipal shelters by early next year. a. The SPCA is much better funded than the local shelters and if they do take over the running of them, hopefully the animals will get better care and treatment. b. It will take a lot of configuring in order for the SPCA to take over the city and county shelters but it would be for the betterment of over 45,000 animals that come to the shelters each year. 3. In another article also written by Cynthia Hubert for the Sacramento Bee, she discusses the situation with Animal Care Services and how

Huft 3 overwhelmed that department is. a. She states, Animal Care Services is at a crossroads, with budget and staffing cuts in recent years taking a backbreaking toll. Three years ago, Sacramento had 11 officers to cover 94 square miles. Today, it has seven who respond to about 1,500 calls each month. b. With understaffing, cruelties to animals are getting shoved to the bottom of the pile because there isnt enough coverage to go around Sacramento. c. This also contributes to the growing population of the animals in the shelter which then snowballs right back to the under funding and lack of animal care that is available to them. B. Currently the SPCA is dedicating a lot of its time and energy into helping people understand the importance of having a plan of attack for their animals in case of emergency. 1. In an article from Newswire, the ASPCA reveals that more than onethird (35 percent) of cat and dog owners dont have a disaster preparedness plan in place. In the Northeast, nearly half of dog and cat owners dont know what they would do with their pets in an evacuation, compared to less than one-third of dog owners (28 percent) and cat owners (30 percent) in the South, where hurricanes are most common. a. If there were a flood today in Sacramento, what would you do with your pet? b. Would you bring your pet with you and get scared and take off,

Huft 4 forgetting your pet? c. In order not to leave your pet behind on accident or because you arent prepared is silly, everyone needs a plan for yourself and for our pets. 2. One step you can take is to micro-chip your pet and if they do get lost at least we have some way of getting them back. a. In the same article from Newswire, a research study also found that only a quarter of dog owners (28 percent) and cat owners (24 percent) say their animals are micro-chipped. b. This is a very low percentage of pets that can actually be reunited with their owners after a disaster strike. c. The ASPCA also highly recommends that our pets wear up to date tags on their collars at all times and to micro chip your pet as a more permanent for of identification. (Newswire) 3. The ASPCA has also been working very hard to help relocate dogs that have been abandoned from a natural disaster to other shelters that are less crowded or dont have particular breeds of dogs. a. In another article from Newswire, it discusses the APSCAs launch of the National Relocation Program for Shelter Animals. b. According to the article, More than half of the four million dogs entering animal shelters each year are euthanized, many simply for lack of space. c. Especially in times of natural or man-made disasters there will be

Huft 5 an increase in animals at local shelters. And with this program the ASPCA is able to move these excess animals to places where it will be easier for them to be adopted instead of being euthanized. C. Another topic the ASPCA is very on top of is animal cruelty and how to identify it and how to help stop it. 1. In an article from DVM Newsmagazine, which is a magazine for veterinarians, The ASPCA says that only 19 percent of law enforcement officers are trained in handling crimes against animals, even though 78 percent acknowledge there is a link between animal abuse and other violent crimes. a. 19 percent is a very small number of officers. How can we make this a larger more active number? b. On the other hand the article also talks about how veterinarians can work to help recognize and stop animal abuse. c. There is a guide made by the Committee on the Human-Animal Bond and the American Humane Association called, Practical Guidance for the Effective Response by Veterinarians to suspected Animal Cruelty, Abuse and Neglect, Which will help on one end to stop animal cruelty. 2. The ASPCA is also working to stop puppy mills from selling online, specifically sold from Marketplace on Facebook. a. According to an article from Newswire, As a part of its national No Pet Store Puppies campaign, the ASPCA worked with

Huft 6 Facebook and Oodle, the company that powers Marketplace on Facebook, to restrict online classifieds listing puppy mill dogs for sale from the site. b. Puppy mill dogs are bred in unsanitary conditions with insufficient veterinary care and sometimes can result in an untimely death or problems later on in life with socialization. c. My parents made the mistake of buying a puppy from a pet store and only a few weeks later the puppy died from Parvo, because it was not properly taken care of before we bought him. 3. In another attempt to stop animal cruelty, the ASPCA focuses its attention on the slaughtering of horses for human consumption. a. In another Newswire article, the ASPCA conducted a poll that revealed 80 percent of American voters are opposed to the slaughter of U.S. horses for human consumption. b. Horse slaughter is inherently cruel because the biology of horses makes them difficult to stun and they often remain conscious during their slaughter. c. Many of the slaughter houses were closed in 2007 but because we dont eat horse meat congress failed to continue defunding horsemeat inspections, which allowed the slaughterhouses to reopen for business. (Newswire) III. Conclusion A. In conclusion,

Huft 7 1. First I discussed how the ASPCA is possibly merging with our local shelters, helping to save them from overpopulation and helping to increase the healthcare abilities. 2. Second, I talked about how the ASPCA is dedicating a lot of its time to help people to prepare a plan for their animals when natural and man made disasters occur. 3. And lastly I discussed the efforts the ASPCA is making to help end animal cruelty. B. With declining funds and major efforts made by the ASPCA they are helping immensely to better our pets worlds greatly despite all the challenges they face daily. C. Even though I havent personally adopted a dog from a shelter I know many people who have and those dogs have better lives for it.

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