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Cristobal Nicolas Rodriguez-Rodriguez
Mrs. Ayik
Writing 10 Section 35
27 April 2015
The Number of Animals in Shelters is Too Damn High
The golden state of California is overpopulated by unwanted pets. Particularly in the
Central Valley city of Merced. Merced resides in Merced County which approximately populates
eighty-one thousand citizens with majority being White or Latino. Through the high numbers of
pets on the streets, Merced Animal Control has become forced to euthanize these sad creatures
who could not choose their home. Animal euthanasia was at its peak in Merced in 2002 with
82.98%, according to Merced County Animal Control. It was during that time that New
Beginnings, a non-profit organization, decided to dedicate themselves in helping animals at
Merced County find new homes. Fast Forward thirteen years later and Animal Control reports
their annual euthanasia for pets at 45.45%. At first glance, this evidence shows significant
improvement from a decade ago; however, the statistics of these euthanasia reports have been
steadily increasing since 2007 when the annual report showed that euthanasia for animals in
Merced County being 33.36%. These findings are important because the increase in euthanasia is
reflecting an increase in animal population. Claire Hargrave, an animal behaviorist, wrote
“Anxiety, Fear, Frustration And Stress In Cats And Dogs -- Implications For The Welfare Of
Companion Animals And Practice Finances” and described the behavior of cats and dogs to be to
“thrive and survive.” So if cats and dogs can’t survive with their owners then they will revert
back to their animal instincts and owners will send their pets to animal control for disobedience.
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Hargrave found a study that “suggest that the majority of cats and dogs euthanized, abandoned or
re-homed…” is due to a “behavioral problem that [a] family can no longer tolerate.” Therefore
the increase in animal population will lead to animal abuse and euthanasia.
Animal right have not only been violated in Merced County but also throughout the
country. Some farmers who take care of livestock like cows and chickens have harassed animals
for their job. Humane Society of America whose purpose is to allow coexistence between animal
and human did an undercover investigation to understand how farm workers treat their livestock.
Wayne Pacelle wrote what the investigator discovered which were “blades of a forklift, jabbing
[a cow] in the eyes, applying painful electrical shocks often in sensitive areas, dragging them
with chains pulled by heavy machinery and torturing them with a high-pressure water hose to
simulate drowning, all in attempts to force crippled animals to walk to slaughter.” Animal
awareness must be seen through Merced citizens as farmers also exist in Merced County.
Animal abuse can stem from population growth within animals as home owners become
threatened with the increase of animals on the street and fear of being attacked or people not
having a tolerance for dogs. Such was the case of Kimberly Saesee, a Merced resident, who’s
Germen Shepard was brutally killed by Sam Clendenin and Tony Clendenin, Kimberly’s
neighbors. They were arrested for cruelty to animals and conspiracy to commit a crime as they
were caught through a surveillance camera killing Kimberly’s Great Shepard, Kuma. Sam
Clendenin explained to the police that he “wasn’t expecting to see a 200- pound dog growling
right in [his] face in the dark in [his] own backyard” and later on says that he should feel secure
in his own property. This act of panic caused an animal to die and this intolerant man was not
educated in the behavior of dogs.
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Although Kuma did not initiate the attack there have been other reports of animals
attacking people such as with the fifty-five year old man being attacked by a female pit bull near
H Street in Merced in September of last year. Leonard Castillo the owner of the pit bull had to
keep the dog quarantined while being investigated. Although no serious injury occurred to the
man the Merced Police Department did notice an increase in animal attacks during the past six
months and the department is trying to “determine what, if anything, could be done to reduce the
number of animal attack incidents in Merced.” By focusing on animal attacks, the Merced Police
Department overlooked the deeper problem of overpopulation in Merced. With a higher animal
population a higher probability of animal attacks rises.
Paul Morris, a doctor in psychology and his fellow scientists created a study where they
“examined the attribution of various emotions to a number of domestic species by people with a
range of experience with animals.” Through the study he found that pet owners showed more
positive emotions towards themselves and animals than the people who had no pet. This suggests
that owners are more aware of not only their pets but other animals as well.
As animal population is increasing in Merced shelters are being filled up with unwanted
pets as well. When animal shelters have no space for animals the employees “are left with two
options: turn away more animals than they take in or warehouse animals, often in substandard,
filthy, and severely crowded conditions, for weeks, months, or even years on end” explains the
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) the largest animal rights organization in the
world. In Merced once an animal is with Animal Control there is roughly a 48.81% chance of an
animal being sent to a rescue group, becoming adopted, or returning to their owner. The rest
being euthanized or dying in the shelter. The increase in animal population will force animal
control employees to decide which animals live and which will have to be euthanized and
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disposed of properly. The Merced County shelter annual statistics showed that in 2013 around
3,571 dogs and puppies were adopted or sent to a rescue group with kittens and cats being only
1,230 even though nearly the same amount of pets are in shelters. The population growth of
animals is forcing cats to be euthanized more than dogs. Henceforth, Merced county children and
adults will begin to consider pets such as dogs and cats as filthy animals and consider them as
garbage due to the copious amount of animals on the street and shelters.
As more animals appear in Merced County, citizens will have less sympathy to dogs and
cats. Through animal abuse people have shown that they are not educated enough or responsible
enough to take care of or show respect to animals. Consider Lorenzo Segundo a nineteen-yearold man who beat a Chihuahua to death with a wooden plank and then placed the dog in a
garbage can because it approached his Pit Bull. This incident was not his first time abusing an
animal, as Lorenzo has been suspected to have shot the left eye of his neighbor’s dog with a BB
gun. Lorenzo is currently studying medicine in Merced College and although he seeks a higher
education animal ethics need to be taught as it appears that he gives no consideration to what an
animal feels and clearly sees them as garbage. Two cases have already appeared in Merced
County of men brutally killing an animal and more specifically dogs. Therefore, Merced County
has shown little consideration to stray animals.
A more shocking event that has occurred in Merced was how Police officers had the
authority to kill an injured animal through the California penal code, a document that gives
jurisdiction in law enforcement. This document is what gives police officers the power to uphold
the law. In California officers were given the right to remove injured animals from public areas.
The California penal code reads, that any officer given permission from their superior can “. . .
humanely destroy any abandoned animal in the field in any case where the animal is too severely
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injured to move or where a veterinarian is not available and it would be more humane to dispose
of the animal.” Although through the public, officers have stopped this inhumane act but to have
gone this extreme shows how big the animal population is and how inconsiderate people are
being.
Some Merced citizens might say that they all don’t think alike, citizens might dispute that
an increase in animal population does not affect animal abuse. While others say that no-kill
shelters would dramatically decrease euthanasia in Merced. They are wrong. Numerous
examples of failed no-kill shelters occurred these past four months. PETA found states such as
Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Texas where no–kill shelters
would become overcrowded and unable to take more animals in the shelter. As pet owners
attempt to take unwanted pets to a better home and unable to do. Owners will seek to get rid of
animals through other means like how an Animal Care Service spokesperson saw a man throw a
Chihuahua from a car and then speed away because there was no space available at the animal
shelter. While in Phoenix, Arizona ABC15 reports animals in the no-kill animal rescue Woofs,
Wiggles, n Wags show “. . . inattention, overcrowding and filthy conditions” where a kitten was
found “hanging dead from a cage after his or her foot became tangled in the cage’s wires, and
accusers claimed that animals were left alone in cramped, dirty cages for up to 22 hours a day.”
These incidents show that no-kill shelters fail when there is an overpopulation in animals and
euthanasia must occur for animal population to be controlled. However, euthanasia is not the
soul solution to animal population Merced needs to be educated in the responsibilities of animal
care and understand how animals act when feeling threatened.
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Work Cited
"Animal Control Statistics." Merced County, CA. Merced County. Web. 6 April 2015.
Benedict, Patrick, and Shawn Martin. "Neglect Allegations Aimed at Local Animal Rescue
Woofs, Wiggles, N Wags." ABC15 Arizona. ABC, 15 February 2015. Web. 4 April 2015.
Hargrave, Claire. "Anxiety, Fear, Frustration And Stress In Cats And Dogs -- Implications
For The Welfare Of Companion Animals And Practice Finances." Companion Animal
20.3 (2015): 136-141. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
Miracle, Veronica. "Caught on Camera: German Shepherd Beaten to Death in Merced." ABC30
Fresno. KFSN-TV Fresno, 17 January 2015. Web. 17 March 2015
Morris, Paul, Sarah Knight, and Sarah Lesley. "Belief In Animal Mind: Does Familiarity With
Animals Influence Beliefs About Animal Emotions?." Society & Animals 20.3 (2012):
211-224. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
"'No-Kill' Label Slowly Killing Animals." PETA. PETA, 1 February 2015. Web. 4 April 2015
Pacelle, Wayne. "Animal Rights." CQ Researcher 8 January 2010: 1-24. Web. 20 April 2015.
“Pit bull attack in Merced prompts police response.” Modesto Bee. Merced Sun Star, 9
September 2014. Web. 4 April 2015.
Saucedo, Carlos. "Atwater Teen Allegedly Kills Chihuahua with a Wooden Board." ABC30
Fresno. ABC, 11 July 2013. Web. 4 Apr. 2015.
Turbeville, Brandon. "California Police Shoot Injured Animals at the Range." Activist Post. 13
September 2013. Web. 17 March 2015.