A Vegas Pet Overpopulation Conference
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This last weekend I attended something billed as a “Pet Overpopulation Conference” where I live, which is Las Vegas, Nevada.
It was the first of its kind, a free event covering purely local campaigns that encourage spay and neuter programs for cats and dogs.
The half-day series of presentations inspired many responses in me. Here are my thoughts in a list:
- It was great to see an organized, free, local event to help local shelter animals and local feral/ free-roaming cats.
- It was great to see so many caring people all in one place.
- From the very beginning I disliked the term “overpopulation” because it focuses on the animals as the problem, not on humans as the problem. The entire issue is framed as though animals must be controlled/ managed by humans, which simply isn’t the case.
- I support spay and neuter programs and I support TNR, but I do so because I see them as an alternative to shelter killing. I don’t believe there is a true “overpopulation” problem. I think that’s a false concept.
- I wanted to speak up and ask why they titled the conference “overpopulation” and ask if it wasn’t time to use more up-to-date terminology, but after hearing other questions from the audience of purportedly “the choir” of “animal rescuers” it became clear to me that my local community IS a bit out of date on these issues. That’s OK, we’ll catch up. Vegas is all about change.
- However, I can see how even if cats and dogs are not “overpopulated” and there are enough safe places for them to live (in human homes and in the “wild”), the concept of overpopulation might be useful in persuading people to get more active to save animals lives. That is, for some people it might bridge the gap between a) thinking that animals are a nuisance and if they can’t be adopted then they must be killed and b) thinking that “nuisance” animals can be controlled and managed without being killed.
- The entire conference felt very 1989 to me. The concepts were so old. It makes me sad that we’re still fighting for the rights of shelter animals to be sheltered, not killed. It makes me sad that people still see feral/ free-roaming cats as a “nuisance.” It makes me sad how few people have ever heard of TNR. It makes me sad that so many people still think shelter animals are “damaged goods” and that some people refer to them as “used.”
- I see a clear need for better “marketing” of shelter animals to help them get adopted and overcome common misconceptions. If the shelters won’t do it themselves, it’s time for others to step up and help them.
- It makes me sad that successful campaigns to change people’s perceptions of shelter animals have hinged on a sort of anti-AR view. It makes me sad how many people gleefully subscribe to a true animal welfarist perspective, rather than an animal rights perspective. (Those people are not PETA and the HSUS, by the way. I’m talking about those who wear the “animal welfarist” badge with pride.)
and… most importantly…
- In the US in general, the leading cause of death for animals are slaughterhouses, but in my community, the leading cause of death for animals are shelters. I see the two issues as intrinsically linked because they both stem from the false concept that any trivial human desire trumps the most profound animal need – life.
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PS – Another conference dedicated to helping shelter animals and free-roaming cats will take place in Las Vegas soon: No More Homeless Pets. That conference is more geared to the national campaigns, however, and not local. And that conference is not free. (For the record, a Soapbox writer will attend that one and will likely post a review.)
I always support folks helping animals. This “Pet Overpopulation Conference” is organized by a meat eater, so the use of language in “Pet Overpopulation” is not as tuned in as most vegetarians.