PETA Renews Push for Mandatory State Spay-and-Neuter Laws

Group Calls On National Governors Association to Help States Reduce Euthanasia of Companion Animals in 2012

NORFOLK, Va., Feb. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a plea to the National Governors Association, PETA urges the organization to promote mandatory spay-and-neuter legislation across the country to reduce intake and euthanasia rates at animal shelters. An estimated 6 to 8 million animals are admitted to animal shelters in the U.S. each year, and about half of them must be euthanized because there are not enough suitable homes for them.

"Even though PETA's own fleet of mobile spay-and-neuter clinics has 'fixed' nearly 80,000 cats and dogs in the past 10 years, it's impossible to keep up with the runaway birthrate of unwanted kittens and puppies," says PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. "With one stroke of a pen, tens of thousands of animals who are paying for this crisis with their lives could be saved."

In its letter to the National Governors Association, PETA points out that mandatory spay-and-neuter laws also make good fiscal sense: Taxpayers pay approximately $2 billion to house, euthanize, and dispose of unwanted dogs, cats, and other animals in the U.S. each year.

In 2011, PETA spayed or neutered 10,564 animals. The group had to euthanize 1,966 injured, ill, and homeless domestic animals. PETA also helped thousands of guardians keep their animal companions by offering counseling tips, helping to find animal-friendly housing, and assisting in providing humane care. The group has placed ads worth nearly $2 million promoting the humane treatment of animals. The ads ran in such widely read publications as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, and Spin and reached nearly 40 million readers in 2011.

PETA's letter to the National Governors Association is available upon request. For more information, please contact PETA.

SOURCE People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)