The HSPCA kills 20,500* every year... *Statistics are from the 2005 Mayor's Task Force report. Current statistics are not available for some shelters as they refuse to produce their kill rate statistics to the public.
Houston SPCA is amongst those who vehemently HIDE their kill rates and utterly refuse to provide follow up information on seized or otherwise acquired animals. The animals that go to them simply disappear into a black hole after they've used them for feel good fund raising press. Who knows how many they've KILLED in recent years as they've participated in increasing numbers of seizures and are still stonewalling any production of information on the animals. But they are importing animals from California?
Well, then, Pattie, you should damned well be willing to tell how many of the animals you take in are KILLED and WHY. Pattie got her feel good press and I'll bet we never hear what happens to these dogs!
HSPCA has nearly the same policies as HSUS as far as I can tell except they do "some" care of animals. It certainly appears that they take them in, evaluate, use them to fund raise, keep the quick easy sellers (to raise more money through sales), and KILL the rest.
Are You Enabling the Needless Killing of Shelter Pets?
YesBiscuit! has been raising the issue of needless killing for a long time and is currently focused on the HSUS "rescue" that resulted in disappeared and dead dogs. But HSUS is far, far from being alone in the killing-in-the-name-of-rescue business. Many local organizations, alleged "humane" and SPCA groups, have Rescued to Death at least hundreds if not thousands of animals.
At common law, a good Samaritan who steps in to help is held to the nominal standard of not doing what they know will cause further harm. We should expect no less from those who "rescue" animals. Snatching up animals from less than stellar homes in order to raise funds while knowing they will proceed to kill the ones that they can't sell is NOT rescue. It is a form of profiteering.
If we are going to take personal property, animals, in the public's name under public laws; then the public has the right to know what happens to each and every one of those animals. HSPCA and their brethren have an obligation to all of us to account for every animal taken in; particularly those taken in the public's name. Period, no excuses, cough up the information. No more feel good TV raids, no more "rescued from deplorable conditions" headlines without showing the end result of the "rescue".
Killing, no matter the method, is NOT humane if the animal was adoptable and there is no excuse for seized animals to be killed if they can be rehabilitated. These groups were killing animals before they started seizing them from private owners and it is reasonable to assume that kill rates go up when they participate in seizures since they couldn't get them down without those additional animals coming through the door.
Whatever circumstances the seized animals were living in, they were ALIVE.
No group who is unwilling to account for animals should be permitted to participate in animal seizures, period. No group who isn't willing to commit to improved LIFE for animals should be participating in animal seizures, period. That HSPCA who has KILLED hundreds of thousands of seized and other animals, healthy animals, and refuses to disclose information is now IMPORTING dogs (quite possibly to kill) is utterly bizarre in the extreme.
I can't imagine anyone who cares one whit about animals having an objection to disclosing what happens to them after they are seized or otherwise acquired by those who claim to be "rescuing" animals. I am beyond thrilled to see some in the established animal rescue community openly asking what the term "rescue" means and questioning the use of the term in relation to dumping animals into kill situations, into death chambers. I only wonder why it has taken so long; why that wasn't inherent from the beginning.
Rescue: "to free or deliver from confinement, violence, danger, or evil." Where does it say that rescue is to transfer from confinement, violence, danger, or evil TO confinement, violence, danger, evil or DEATH???