Best Friends No More Homeless Pets, Presenter Ruth Steinberger, director Spay FIRST!

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Sibyl Lyons
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1 Spay/Neuter Reaching out to change lives Best Friends No More Homeless Pets, 2013 Presenter Ruth Steinberger, director Spay FIRST! 1 The problems are local and the solutions must be as well 2 October 10-13,

Importance of Advocacy Comparing local advocacy to other grass roots movements 1960-none were in the public eye! Domestic violence! Drunk driving! Child abuse 3 Today!

2 Importance of Advocacy Comparing local advocacy to other grass roots movements 1960-none were in the public eye! Domestic violence! Drunk driving! Child abuse 3 Today! Domestic violence - crime in all states. Virtually all jurisdictions have prosecuted.! Drunk driving most serious vehicular offense, nationwide enforcement is a priority. Virtually all jurisdictions have prosecuted.! Child abuse statewide services, school outreach, reporting hotlines, etc. 4 October 10-13,

3 Advocacy means including the L s. The first three! Legislators-officials who drive public policy.! Libraries-people involved in civic matters.! Laundromats-low-income homes requiring services for spay/neuter to occur. 5 The fourth L Local 6 October 10-13,

4 The Sources of Unwanted Pets (high-risk groups) " Low income, underserved and undereducated households. " Shelters/rescues that release intact, Craigs list or other sources of intact pets. " Free roaming, intact pet cats and colonies that are not altered. 7 *Casual litters largest source of dogs! 25% of pets come from shelters! 2% come from pet stores! 26% come from breeders! 39% come from friends, family members, strays or otherwise free pets *Association of Pet Products Manufacturers 8 October 10-13,

5 Casual litters are also the largest source of shelter intakes! 25% of intakes are purebred.! 75% are not. 9 What Can Spay Neuter Accomplish? " Unwanted kittens or puppies are a challenge as soon as they need homes spay/ neuter prevents the challenges. " Prevention reduces the need for sheltering, fostering, etc. at a rate geometric to the number of surgeries. " Surplus (unplanned) animals are the majority of neglect, cruelty and abandonment victims. 10 October 10-13,

6 And! $35,000 /yr is the benchmark income that delineates homes which routinely have pets altered from those which do not (according to American Veterinary Medical Association pub. 2009).! Yet 28.8 percent of US households earn under $25,000 per year.! Minimum wage is around $15,000/yr. 11 Fewer than ten states have statewide *access to affordable spay/neuter programs. Access to shelters far exceeds access to spay/neuter. *Access refers to spay or neuter at under one day of minimum wage net earnings (under $50), within 35 miles from home and an appointment available within one month. 12 October 10-13,

7 Do ordinances work? Do ordinances work? 13! Child safety seats! Seat belts! DUI 14 October 10-13,

8 So why are animals left out of the framework for change? Local advocacy Accessible services Proactive ordinances 15 Why spay/neuter as a movement? Prevention more humane, effective and cost effective than collection models. 16 October 10-13,

9 Why should spay/neuter be part of the government s response to pet homelessness? Prevention more humane, effective and cost effective than collection models. 17 New thinking is needed. We are stuck in an old model. A very old model. 18 October 10-13,

10 ! 1800 s providing care for homeless dogs or cats was a novel idea. In some places shelters were built for unwanted animals.! 1960 s spay/neuter became available.! 1980 s start-up of the high volume movement. 19 And! Early 1900 s hospital wards were built for polio victims.! In 1952 Salk vaccine introduced.! Response immediately changed to prevention, the preferred default for public welfare issues.! Why not in animals? 20 October 10-13,

11 Is Pet Overpopulation a Human Public Health Issue?! Disproportionately affects low-income communities.! Has a negative impact on quality of life, packs of dogs, bites.! Enormous taxpayer burden.! Animal welfare issues create poor examples for at-risk youth. 21 Nationwide 2 billion dollars each year spent on animal control (average 40 million per state). 22 October 10-13,

12 That average is Six dollars of public funds per person spent on animal control. 23 And Under 3 percent (of $6 per person) is spent on publically funded spay/ neuter programs! In most places that figure is zero. 24 October 10-13,

13 ! Companion animal overpopulation is not treated as a public health issue.! Spay before release is still discretionary. Poor quality contracts are still in place.! Mandatory s/n ordinances are controversial.! Why are we not using models for change that we know work? 25 Hey come back here what s a poor quality s/n contract?! A poor quality contract makes the new family pay to spay AFTER paying the adoption fee. It costs more money to follow through.! A good quality contract includes the spay PLUS a refundable deposit in the adoption fee. People get money back when they follow through!! A good contract rewards compliance.! A poor contract creates a financial incentive to fail to spay # 26 October 10-13,

14 Yet collection remains the main response, followed far behind by spay/neuter. Most importantly, collection and dispersal (sheltering) is the publically supported response; spay/neuter is generally privately (non-profit) operated. We seek infrastructure that already exists. 27 And why are we not building spay/neuter clinics into the public infrastructure as other prevention-based models are handled? What keeps a spay/neuter clinic from being added onto the shelter? 28 October 10-13,

Just imagine The health department dispensing HIV treatment but

15 Just imagine The health department dispensing HIV treatment but refusing to supply condoms or educational handouts at the same building. A library refusing to have books on prevention because they already have books on diseases. A spay/neuter clinic being unwelcome in the local facility that already handles at-risk dogs and cats. 29 The shelter has land and utilities and is zoned for animals. 30 October 10-13,

16 Bringing spay/neuter into the public domain! Many shelters have space to build on! All have utilities and infrastructure! Already zoned! 12 X 24 space viable for clinic! Spay/neuter equipment cheaper than cremation and disposal equipment October 10-13,

17 33 34 October 10-13,

18 Cost 22 to 25 surgeries: Veterinarian -$350 per day Technician and assistant-$250 FICA-- <$40 Supplies-$10 per animal ($250) Other costs/stipends $100 Total cost = $925 to $1000 Income 24 surgeries X $40= $ What do we want for spay/neuter? 36 October 10-13,

19 Free Space! 37 And of course we want it now! 38 October 10-13,

20 39 Spay/neuter programs must meet the needs of different types of communities in order to address the main sources of homeless animals. 40 October 10-13,

21 Spay/neuter programs and outreach must be tailored to each community. High volume clinics and 42 October 10-13,

22 Mini-clinics or pods 43 Low-volume models MASH Mobile 44 October 10-13,

23 45 Private Practice Partnerships 25 to 60 surgeries/ per month Two models one is on days clinic is off, other is during the workweek. 46 October 10-13,

24 47 Reaching Out to New Communities October 10-13,

25 Reaching out to New Ears! 49! Be prepared to explain why this is important to someone who does not like animals.! Understand the overlap with other issues like bites.! Bites, poor public safety and animal neglect are a bad model for youth. 50 October 10-13,

Population Assessment " Low population " Scattered population or clusters " Rural poverty " Isolated need (college student housing) " Urban poverty 51 Importance of assessment Comparisons in places

26 Population Assessment " Low population " Scattered population or clusters " Rural poverty " Isolated need (college student housing) " Urban poverty 51 Importance of assessment Comparisons in places with dramatic (75%+or-) reductions! New Hampshire- five surgeries per thousand people! Some Oklahoma towns- roughly ten surgeries per hundred people! Remote areas, reservations, etc.- up to 40 combined services including s/ n, transport and euthanasia per hundred people. 52 October 10-13,

27 Resource assessment. 53 Identify roadblocks First time that spay/neuter has been offered in the community (lack of interest). Intact release of shelter pets. Unwillingness of officials to consider options. Services too far for transport. Services needed at very low cost (or free). 54 October 10-13,

28 Share the facts 55 Not providing information on pet overpopulation Is like providing info on stopping smoking without telling people that smoking causes cancer. 56 October 10-13,

Reaching Those Who Are Not Clients target,

29 Reaching Those Who Are Not Clients target, target, target! General public- are not reached by the materials at social service agencies, etc.! City council members! Meet with legislators 57 Bringing local people on board means making this a local issue! 58 October 10-13,

30 Educational Outreach Should start ASAP! Increasing local awareness is the easiest/ cheapest part of the work; it s also the grease in the wheels.! Introduces spay/neuter to elected officials.! Motivates public understanding, interest and support.! Motivates people of average income to get pets spayed!! Motivates clients to act! 59 Go back to the L s. Taylor your message everyone is not us, but everyone is affected by pet overpopulation. 60 October 10-13,

31 ! Be relevant to your audience!! Know statistics if available.! Be able to articulate the problems to people who may not like dogs and cats. 61 Reaching local leaders! Kiwanis! Church leaders! Civic organizations! Schools! Library presentation! City council meeting! Local radio talk show 62 October 10-13,

32 Reaching clients! Use messaging designed for low-income service programs.! High interest/low reading level materials.! Repeat messages. 63! Curb markets and laundromats! Social service agencies and HUD offices! Management offices in subsidized housing complexes.! College newspapers.! Bathrooms in scrungy bars 64 October 10-13,

33 If invited to visit a new location! Get a structured invite from a tribal council or other agency or organization! Have local partners on messaging that are not animal welfare oriented.! Local churches 65 In ANY new effort to change behavior we must tell people something is a good idea and tell them so at least seven to 10 times before they believe us! October 10-13,

34 Make use of resources..! Local newspapers.! Radio spots may be free or very cheap! Fliers from whentospay.org October 10-13,

35 ! Change the medium not the message.! Change the fliers or posters but keep a single message. 69! Contact us for a template for article series at info@spayfirst.org 70 October 10-13,

! Minister or other well known local dogooder!

36 Use popular people to get message out! Local sports figure or favorite news anchor.! Popular LOCAL politician.! Minister or other well known local dogooder! Some may be potential board members. 71 Include local authorities in press releases and publicity, and make sure their efforts are recognized. 72 October 10-13,

37 Professional outreach! Provide continuing education that helps you network and supports your cause. 73 Veterinary outreach Increase the number of veterinarians in your network October 10-13,

Bring in a speaker on! Early age sterilization (veterinary)!

Financial rewards of providing low-income spay/neuter services

38 Bring in a speaker on! Early age sterilization (veterinary)! Quick spay techniques (veterinary)! Financial rewards of providing low-income spay/neuter services in the private practice (veterinary)! Animal cruelty (police and deputies)! Animal cruelty prosecutions (district attorneys offices or DA s council) Let professionals know you re there! October 10-13,

39 77 78 October 10-13,

40 Thank you for joining us. We cannot hold, see or love prevention. But we can rest assured that the litters not born will never suffer and will reduce the suffering around us. 79 For information: Contact Please like us on Facebook! 80 October 10-13,

Total Funding Requested: $25, Pasco County Board of County Commissioners

Grant ID: 1693 Title of Proposal: Targeted Trap-Neuter-Release Program Agency Type: Municipal Total Funding Requested: $25,000.00 Check Payable To: Pasco County Board of County Commissioners Application