April is National Prevention of Animal Cruelty month. The group Actors and Others for Animals marks the month by helping people to spay and neuter their pets.
Executive Director Susan Taylor said in a news release, “We passionately believe that pet overpopulation is the greatest breeder of animal cruelty because it promotes a false and harmful impression that there will always be a loving and permanent home for every dog or cat born, when in fact many are born merely to be killed.”
The group she has led for 11 years gives direct, tangible help. They help people of limited means pay for the surgery. “Money, especially today, in 2010, is the primary reason [owners avoid the surgery], especially for people who would want to get their animal spayed or neutered,” she said.
She described a person having to choose between veterinary care and going to a movie or buying a six-pack, and choosing the beer.
To make it easier, the group operates a hotline to refer people to nearby, affordable vets. Actors and Others will chip in to defray the cost, and the group helps with other medical care such as cancer treatment.
“Of course we have a soft spot for the seniors, people on a fixed income, living on social security,” Taylor said.
The city of Los Angeles operates a spay-and-neuter van to bring the service to lower-income areas, she said. The city has recognized that it is more cost effective to prevent unwanted animals from being born, as well as more humane, than to deal with the problem of overpopulation.
Taylor told The Epoch Times she had seen progress over the 40 years her group has existed. Once spaying and neutering were things no one thought of, and now they are household words.
Animal shelters are less crowded than they were decades ago, but 500 cats and dogs enter Los Angeles shelters each day, and about half of them are euthanized. “We have to stop the uncontrolled breeding,” she said.
A person has to have a passion for the work to weather the emotions that go with it, Taylor said. “I am an only child. My foundation for loving animals came from my family.” Her family always had pets, which they treated as family members, she added.
She started volunteering with the group soon after it was founded, and never left. Groups like hers are in every city in the country, Taylor said.
Executive Director Susan Taylor said in a news release, “We passionately believe that pet overpopulation is the greatest breeder of animal cruelty because it promotes a false and harmful impression that there will always be a loving and permanent home for every dog or cat born, when in fact many are born merely to be killed.”
The group she has led for 11 years gives direct, tangible help. They help people of limited means pay for the surgery. “Money, especially today, in 2010, is the primary reason [owners avoid the surgery], especially for people who would want to get their animal spayed or neutered,” she said.
She described a person having to choose between veterinary care and going to a movie or buying a six-pack, and choosing the beer.
To make it easier, the group operates a hotline to refer people to nearby, affordable vets. Actors and Others will chip in to defray the cost, and the group helps with other medical care such as cancer treatment.
“Of course we have a soft spot for the seniors, people on a fixed income, living on social security,” Taylor said.
The city of Los Angeles operates a spay-and-neuter van to bring the service to lower-income areas, she said. The city has recognized that it is more cost effective to prevent unwanted animals from being born, as well as more humane, than to deal with the problem of overpopulation.
Taylor told The Epoch Times she had seen progress over the 40 years her group has existed. Once spaying and neutering were things no one thought of, and now they are household words.
Animal shelters are less crowded than they were decades ago, but 500 cats and dogs enter Los Angeles shelters each day, and about half of them are euthanized. “We have to stop the uncontrolled breeding,” she said.
A person has to have a passion for the work to weather the emotions that go with it, Taylor said. “I am an only child. My foundation for loving animals came from my family.” Her family always had pets, which they treated as family members, she added.
She started volunteering with the group soon after it was founded, and never left. Groups like hers are in every city in the country, Taylor said.
