My response to those questioning my last blog

For the critics of my blog- I wish to challenge and insult you even more. Sheltering and Humane Society work is big business - Period - End of Discussion. Anyone who thinks otherwise is totally misinformed, uneducated, or at best a bleeding heart with good intentions. We can and should solve the overpopulation problem within 3-5 years. At the end of this blog I will list just a few of the largest so-called Humane groups and give the best available info on how they spend their dollars and how much they are worth.

As I have believed and stated hundreds of times the primary problem is one of supply vs. demand (economics 101). Why should people put large sums of money into a broken dog or cat when they can get a replacement for nothing? People working in the field love animals for the most part & would do almost anything within their means to help their family companion animal. Unfortunately, many more people don’t have the desire or means to put a lot of money into their companion animal. We can debate whether certain people should own companion animals, and we can debate whether certain people should have kids. It doesn’t matter how you feel about this - people do own animals & have kids, that in all good conscience probably shouldn’t. But then, what are we telling people when well-established groups like the Denver Dumb Friend League ( DDFL) have “buy one, get one free” or literally give away cats for free. You can get dogs for $5 at times.

Adoptions are not supposed to be a production line. Even with the most rigorous screening, many animals end up in bad situations, there are many things worse than death. The only logical way to truly confront the massive killing, the massive neglect and cruelty, and the massive waste of money used on sheltering animals is to look at the supply vs. demand issue. DDFL has around a $12,000,000 a year budget, but I’m confident my for-profit business does more spays and neuters every year than they do. Why? Take $2 million & put it into more low-cost/free sterilization. Take another $2 million and put it into true enforcement of laws, and education of what a progressive society expects from companion animal ownership.

I find it grossly appalling that Bob Rohde just received a Human Hero Award from the Colorado Veterinary Medical Foundation (CVMF). Now, that is a joke. I would argue that the DDFL has probably killed more companion animals in their 100 year history than any group in Colorado- you tell me what is humane about killing cats with ringworm, or a dog with a torn ACL, or whatever they want to use as an excuse to reduce numbers. The new buzz words in the industry are “we only kill non-adoptable animals”. PEOPLE WAKE UP! If you truly want to help the companion animal movement: Here are some tips
1) Try to adopt from smaller groups that have more foster homes than big expensive buildings.
2) Never adopt from any group that doesn’t have 100% spay/neuter policy prior to adoption.

3) Instead of giving to the large shelters find the groups that are doing more spay/neuter work. For example,
#1. Best Pets
#2. Community Cat Care (CCC)
#3. Evergreen Animal Protection League (EAPL)
#4. Cat Care Society (CCS)
#5. Spay Today
#6. Spay Colorado
4) If you really feel a need to donate or support the inefficient, corporate groups, then at least give with conditions on your donation. For example, donate for public education (have them define what that means), or for a public low-cost spay/neuter program.

For the morons that responded to me. Saying what are we supposed to do, just turn out all the animals and let them run free. Well, not exactly, I would submit if all humane societies refused to take animals in for one month and send everyone over to local government facilities while demanding far more government help in the way of legislation, education, and establishing a true standard of care, things would change quickly. For example, people move across town all the time, & just leave their cats - that is illegal, yet how many times has anyone ever been tracked down and prosecuted? Believe me when I say that any city could establish a dog/cat court, and it would in fact be a revenue generator if anyone is actually concerned or interested in pursuing the massive amount of neglect and cruelty. For the record the number 2 complaint to government agencies in most metropolitan areas involves animals.

As a spay/neuter guru, I have always believed by lowering the supply of surplus pets, it will make them more valuable to those who have one. They will in fact be a less disposable product. I have contended for over twenty years that spay/neuter with education is the only long term answer. Sheltering, warehousing, and adopting will never solve the overpopulation problem but its great for business. For over 200 years, we have had the same approach & we have still failed. There are a lot of groups worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Their only goal should be to put themselves out of business- not to get richer, bigger, and less efficient. The only real progress over the last twenty years has come from so many small groups & veterinarians like myself who have dedicated themselves to low cost spay/neuter. Coupled with a more aware and sophisticated society in general.

I have made my reputation and living on spay and neutering and I am one of the best in the world at what I do. Yet I have no problem with that being taken away from me. There are many other things I can do for the care of animals and I long for that day. My fear is I will die long before I see that day. The trend in many parts of the world is not to build shelters. But to have more vets involved in overpopulation, and to do a lot more education, as well as dealing with behavioral and training issues. Peter Kiraly D.V.M. (The Rex Foundation)
in Budapest, Hungary and Patti Chan in Panama City, Panama (Planned Pethood Panama) are two great examples of individuals making huge differences. The countries of Slovenia and the Czech Republic are examples of countries moving in more progressive directions.
I understand the heart strings, and I understand that when you give, you feel better & trust things will be done right. I also understand and believe whole-heartedly that people are basically good. As Americans we give blindly too often, mostly because of our busy lifestyle. How many of you have ever asked for the financials & have them explained by any non-profit you have donated to? How many of you know of animals transferred from a no-kill shelter because of overcrowding or cage aggression, only to be evaluated and euthanized at the shelter transferred to.
Let’s look at those statistics, the no-kill shelter transfers the animal and thus doesn’t kill them. The kill shelter never really admits the animals, and evaluates and euthanizes on the spot. So these animals don’t count on any ones books. What a wonderful system! Its like these poor companion animals never really existed in the end. Yet, everyone can still feel warm and fuzzy about the various groups in question. Yes, this is an every day occurrence.
The only way to move forward is to reduce the number of surplus companion animals. Yes, we need stronger animal cruelty laws, we need more public education, but more than anything we need fewer companion animals born. Anyone who takes overpopulation seriously must push hard and use their financial & political influence to advance spay/neuter. Sheltering, warehousing, and adoptions will never eliminate overpopulation. Big humane groups take valuable resources away from people on the front lines, who are really trying to have an impact. My goal at the end of the day is not to feel warm and fuzzy, but to know in some small way I have helped to eliminate future suffering, neglect, and death. All wars have casualties but in the end it should be about the greater good and reduction of pain and suffering.

Dear SM

I am not sure what blog you read but there is clearly a disconnect between what you think I meant and what I actually meant. 1.) We have been doing the same thing in America for over 100 years and the number one cause of death of companion animals is still euthanasia. 2.) If people demand changes and give based on those demands, groups will change what they do. 3.) No one has worked harder to support humane society staff people. I understand that they are grossly under paid and very much underappreciated but and a very big but, the many organizations have lots of money. You name one large society and I will give you the rest of the story. Organizations and bureaucracies never change on their own; all real changes start with individuals. 4.) Many people who rescue animals keep them in deplorable condition which only satisfies their lack of ethics. Quite frankly, these people are not rescuing anything but their own personal weakness. 5.) Having spayed and neutered over 150,000 animals, having set up two international teaching hospitals, and having adopted hundreds of pets each year through my non-profit, I really don’t think I am unrealistic or ignoring anything. Clearly, if you are for the status quo, you are the one in fact that may be unrealistic and ignoring the facts. We, you, and others can make a difference by demanding it from the groups that we support. For example, why is it that the DDFL does far less spays and neuters than we do at PPP, Inc. Their budget is at least 3 times ours and we are a for-profit company? Why is it you accept groups that will kill a whole room of cats because one or two might have ringworm? Or let’s see why do people have to give their dog up to some humane society because it has a broken leg where it will most likely be put to sleep? Now those organizations could send that dog to me and instead of being charged $2,000 - $4,000 at some other veterinarian, or putting the dogs to sleep, I would charge $100 - $600 and get the dog fixed and back into its household. However, under normal circumstances the dog is euthanized and the dog is simply replaced because other veterinarians are too expensive and humane groups act like they don’t have the money. No, you tell me what is right and what is wrong. Sorry, follow the money and you will find your answer. The only thing that can cause real permanent change is education and sterilization. If we continue to treat companion animals as though they have no value other that what they can be sold for then, we will keep killing millions each year forever. We will lie about the real numbers and use terms like, “we only put to sleep unadoptable animals.” Yeah let’s keep the status quo. Better yet, I suggest that we shake up the status quo, right down to its financial roots. You decide what team you want to be on, I already have.

Humane Societies, Animal Rescue Groups and Veterinarians May Cause More Pain and Suffering Than They Alleviate

My name is Jeff Young, and I have been a veterinarian for over twenty years. I have been on numerous humane society boards, have been an animal control officer, and I speak and consult on companion animal overpopulation issues all over the world. I have done over 165,000 surgeries in the last twenty years, and have established full service training hospitals in Bratislava, Slovakia and Merida, Mexico. I have trained over 300 veterinarians in efficient and safe surgical techniques.

From the moment I graduated, I have had one simple goal: reduce the population of unwanted dogs and cats around the world. As a veterinarian, I found that I could do so simply by providing and promoting low-cost spay/neuter. Over the last two decades, there has been some difference in overpopulation with the rise of educational groups like Spay USA, mobile spay/neuter clinics like the Montana Spay Neuter Task Force, and the construction of mega sterilization clinics like the Las Vegas spay/neuter clinic.

Each year, over a billion dogs and countless more cats all over the world killed, simply because they represent “surplus waste.” The number one cause of death for companion animals is still euthanasia. Large humane societies waste far too much money on housing of animals, expensive facilities, and elaborate salaries. They tend to be run like a for-profit business, on the other hand. Smaller rescue groups often lean toward the “animal collecting business” they often are poorly run and are set up by self gratifying little chieftains.

Veterinarians don’t view overpopulation as something our profession needs to address. They treat a smaller percentage of companion animals in our society each year. They provide more complex, advanced, and expensive medicine to a shrinking percentage of financially affluent owners. The reality is, as our level of technology and medical knowledge increases, the number of animals that benefit from these advances decreases.

There is little debate that animal laws, and public awareness, especially with regard to companion animals are changing. Twenty years ago it was estimated (grossly underestimated) that we were killing around 24 million dogs and cats per year in America. Now it is estimated (again grossly underestimated) that we are killing four to six million dogs and cats per year in America.

In my professional opinion, humane societies, animal rescue groups, and veterinarians cause more pain and suffering than they alleviate!

Humane organizations play with words and statistics to make you feel better about overpopulation, euthanasia and shelters (animal warehouses). They make it appear they have done or are doing so much more than they really are. They boast that only 4 to 6 million animals are killed because of all their hard work. They contend only unadoptable animals are euthanized. Unadoptable means: broken leg, ringworm, bad upper-respiratory disease, urinary issues due to diet etc, etc, etc (easily treatable issues). Humane organizations have done a lot of great marketing to make so much, out of so little. They get rich while pretending they generally care about the plight of companion animals.

I am here to ask you, the public, to demand that these groups start making a real difference. First, you must understand that you cannot, and I repeat, cannot, adopt, warehouse or rescue your way out of overpopulation! People feel like they can help by donating to tangible things like brick and mortar, “nice new buildings.” The truth is that large shelters are simply a waste of money. I can’t argue they don’t do some good, but large shelters whether they are “kill” or “no-kill” are not cost effective for what society gets in return. I argue that euthanasia should never be accepted as a form of population control. It is simply not the solution. Don’t get me wrong, there are things far worse than death for a lot of animals. For example, being warehoused in a no-kill shelter can be far worse than death! I have never seen a no-kill shelter that wasn’t overtly practicing cruelty to animals or at best, neglectful in their care. Yes, this includes the large no-kill shelters worth millions of dollars.

It’s the humane organizations that I find that are the most hypocritical of all. To get totally radical, humane groups could literally take all their animals to animal control/government agencies or refuse to accept any new animals. This might force local officials and society to truly deal with the overpopulation problem. If humane groups are truly interested in solving overpopulation then their primary focus must be on spay/neuter. Even if that means doing it for free, and even if that means offending veterinarians. The secondary focus has to be education. Education not only means reaching out to schools, education means providing behavioral counseling and training classes to the public. Once again warehousing and adopting will never solve the overpopulation problem. I believe no-kill shelters are the most inhumane trend in animal welfare. This trend has allowed for the warehousing of sick and dying animals, while hording and collecting, have become the norm. No-kill does not mean you love animals, it means you love the idea of animals, you love the money it guarantees, and/or you love the idea of your great sacrifice for the animals. What a joke! The only sacrifice is the physical, psychological and general well being of the animals in your care. The saddest part is we live in the richest country on earth, yet I see a lot of countries that have already figured these things out. America is all about marketing and perception with less and less emphasis on facts and results. Once again, there are many things far worse than death. So, as you give your money, be sure you know what you are getting in return. Far more of you are contributing to the problem and not contributing to the solution. I don’t blame society in general but I most certainly blame the so called animal welfare movement and the veterinary profession, as they should be the true sentinels of animal welfare in America. They, we, and I have failed miserably with this task. However, it is never too late to correct the course we have chosen. It does take work, energy, and desire to make the right decisions and be willing to stand your ground. I implore anyone reading this to make a change and don’t give blindly. Give with conditions and give with true compassion. Give to make a real difference and stop buying into all the marketing in the animal community. Remember, while brick and mortar looks great it does nothing in the long run to truly solve the problems we have. Also remember that simply being alive does not imply quality of existence.

Veterinarians contribute to companion animal suffering with their hypercritical opinions regarding the value of companion animals, and their innate ability to routinely rationalize $3,000 - $5,000 for procedures that can easily be done for far less. Okay, so it’s the American way, we’re all about market forces. Veterinarians can’t be “forced” to change what they do! Or better yet, veterinarians do not want to lower the “standard of care” to their beloved clients. Now that’s a good one! Let’s see, if you can’t afford a $3,000 surgery (say an exploratory for a foreign body) then we have to put your pet to sleep? Where did the value or compassion go? I’m not going to tell you about low-cost alternatives; I’m not going to lower my price for this single mom with two kids and a minimum wage job. Your animal is so valuable to veterinarians and their level of medicine is so high, its better just to kill your pet and get a new one? After all, new animals are a dime a dozen. You can argue that some people should not have animals, but they do. They probably should not have the children that they have either. The reality is people and dogs/cats have evolved together for thousands of years. There is great benefit to having companion animals both physically and mentally. Having raised three kids with a yellow lab I’m here to say that dog was very much a part of my family. I have always been able to make the distinction between humans and animals. But, I can’t say that all humans are better than that dog of mine. My dog had more to offer me and my little part of the world than a lot of humans in this world. We have come to identify “our pets” as part of the family and yes they are very important to our little worlds. So telling a poor person, an over extended person, a person of unfortunate circumstances, that it’s $3,000 or death to their family member just isn’t an ethical, a moral, or a compassionate option. If you look at the relatively new discipline of environmental socialism, it becomes very apparent that humans have an absolute need for nature, animals and compassionate human interaction.

The only light I see in the veterinary industry is that we graduate more women than men these days, of course much to the dismay of all the old, fat, white guys in the three piece suits. These women are actually forcing compassionate changes in the industry. A lot of veterinarians want it both ways, they want to believe their time and skills are highly valuable, and that your companion animal is worthy of thousands of dollars of investment but – and a very big but; if I happen to malpractice or if you don’t have enough money then the value of the animal changes to virtually nothing. Clearly, value is not intrinsic to any given animal but solely based on the owners perception and financial abilities. There has never been a clear line in my mind when too much, is in fact, too much. There has always been a clear line in my mind that all companion animals have a true intrinsic value. If anyone believes most veterinarians are in fact veterinarians because they “love” animals or generally think about animal welfare on a level other than financial, then I am here to tell you that you are sadly mistaken. Having said all that, as a veterinarian, I can tell you in order to help others you have to own a successful business. Of course money is a factor in life, as are medical costs, educational costs and costs of running a business. Unfortunately, very few veterinarians are as well trained in business as they are in medicine. If animals were dying at the rate we euthanize them, the veterinary profession would be pouring tons of money and energy into research to solve the problem.

Because veterinarians feel companion animal overpopulation is a societal issue, they can turn a blind eye. I submit that we as veterinarians are uniquely qualified to deal with this societal issue. I further submit that if we as a profession deal with companion animal overpopulation, we will elevate our status as professionals in our society.

Being recognized both nationally and internationally for my work in the overpopulation debate, I promise never to waiver in my commitment to reduce the number of unwanted companion animals worldwide. I will never accept euthanasia as a form of population control. I will never support no-kill shelters in any way. I will never support kill shelters, unless they spend more money on spay/neuter and education than they do on sheltering. We cannot adopt, shelter, warehouse or kill our way out of companion animal overpopulation. We can demand and change what we do, whom we support and how we support them. If veterinarians really want animals to be more valuable in our society then, I submit, reducing the surplus of bodies will help accomplish this. If the supply goes down and demand is the same then value increases, pretty basic economics. Thus, if you don’t do it for humane or ethical reasons then you can obviously do it for long term monetary benefit. I will continue to train vets from all over the world in safe, fast, efficient spay/neuter techniques. I will continue to build clinics in other countries to use as training centers. I will continue to spay and neuter every companion animal that passes through my doors. Not the smallest of birds shall fall from the sky that the father does not know. We have a moral and ethical contract with our companion animal friends that we need to uphold in a more ethical way.