Over the objections of PETA, Lawmakers in Pima County, Arizona (Tucson area) approved a trap, neuter & release (TNR) program to reduce the overall number of feral cats while preventing existing cats from being euthanized. In a letter to the County’s Board of Supervisors, PETA encouraged the County to euthanize feral cats on the grounds that they are not meant to live outdoors; they prey on wildlife; and they send a message to it’s okay for humans to abandon their pets. PETA also says that euthanasia is less painful than the deaths experienced by cats in the street.

I know I open up a can of (faux) worms when I ask this question, but are some feral cats better off being killed in a shelter than sent back into inhospitable and dangerous streets where their demise could be far more painful or where they are they abused by people? Do they depend on the kindness of strangers for food, only to be neglected? Do they prey on local wildlife?  Does their presence give people license to abandon their own cats, as PETA claims? Does the presence of feral cats give people license to abandon their cats? I don’t know. What I do know is that we are reckless and cruel by domesticating animals and then tossing them out into the street like garbage when taking care of them becomes inconvenient. I also know is that we must continuously remind the general public to spay and neuter companion animals and adopt from shelters instead of buying from pet stores and breeders.

According to the NY Times, a city in southern China is “trying to lower the profile of its much-criticized dog-eating festival. The feasting is expected to go ahead as scheduled this weekend, but local officials have taken steps to deflect outside attention from the annual event, at which thousands of dogs are consumed.”  The article goes on to say that, “the dog meat trade has become a key target for Chinese animal rights advocates. In 2011, a group blocked a truck transporting nearly 500 dogs to a slaughterhouse and paid $18,000 to free them.”

Photo: China Network/Reuters

This NY Times article provides us with a hook to ask our dog-loving, meat eating friends why we should be any more disturbed by people eating dogs instead of pigs, cows and chickens.  As Mercy For Animals asks in its  campaign, “Why love one and eat the other?”  That said, ending or compromising any animal eating event is a victory, especially for the victims.

The NY Times reports that pet store owners in Las Vegas attempted to set their puppies on fire in order to collect insurance money: “Security video (see video blow) showed a woman letting a man in through the back door; he splashed a liquid from two gas cans around the shop, even into the cages, and ignited newspapers. The sprinkler system doused the fire, and firefighters rescued the dogs.

Being burned alive would have been a fitting end to a life in which puppies are kidnapped from their mothers and confined in cages at the puppy mills and in the pet store where they are ultimate sold as merchadise. With homeless shelters for animals killing thousands of healthy animals every year and rescue groups trying to find families for countless animals, why do municipalities even allow the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores? Thankfully, some cities, such as Chicago and L.A., have banned the sale of commercially bred pets. Last Chance for Animals offers advice on how to end the sale of puppy mill animals in your area.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the City Council today voted 49-1 to ban the sale of commercially bred dogs, cats and rabbits in Chicago. According to a City clerk, the law “cuts off a pipeline of the animals coming from the horrendous puppy mill industry and instead moves us towards a retail pet sales model that focuses on adopting out the many, many homeless animals [from shelters and rescues] in need of loving homes in this city.” Chicago joins Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and many other U.S. cities have already instituted a ban. In January, New York state passed a law giving local municipalities the power to impose their own regulations on pet sales, according to the Daily News. The NYC Council has since introduced a bill that would prevent city pet stores from buying cats and dogs from unlicensed breeders.

Until every homeless animal in a shelter or at a rescue finds a forever home, we must continue to lobby for the passage of laws banning the sale of companion animals from commercial breeding operations. And, even then, we must always fight for the closure of puppy mills, which are cruel and dangerous businesses that treat animals like commodities. To anyone working in animal rescue, the “kill lists” are a daily reminder of the crisis of overpopulation and the importance of adoption and animal birth control. If helping homeless animals is important to you, please consider volunteering at a local shelter, helping place animals in foster homes, lobbying for laws banning the sale of commercially bred animals, and, of course, encouraging people to adopt, not shop.

After the Russian government hired a pest control company to slaughter the stray dogs of Sochi in advance of the Olympics, a Russian billionaire donated funds to build a makeshift shelter to save as many as possible. According to the NY Times, “local animal rights workers say many of the strays were pets, or the offspring of pets, abandoned by families whose homes with yards were demolished over the past few years to make way for the Olympic venues.”

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

The round up and slaughter of strays in Sochi shined a light on the plight of homeless animals around the world and the taxing and unending job of rescuers to save them.  All of us can help by promoting adoption and animal birth control, by volunteering at local shelters and by using our social networks to help find forever homes for homeless animals.