HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
Writing a Persuasive Essay
Time for a Lifesaving Change
INTRODUCTION
Attention-getting
opener
On August 14, an adorable corgi mix who came to be
known as Riley was brought to the Calhoun City Animal
Shelter. Because she was not wearing tags, she was placed in
one of the shelter’s “Lost and Found” cages. Due to a backlog
of strays to be evaluated, it was several days before she was
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
moved to the cages where families view adoptable pets. On
August 22, this healthy, sweet-natured animal would have died,
Emotional appeal
a casualty of an outdated and cruel policy that limits a pet’s
stay in the shelter to one week. Luckily for Riley, a heartbroken
shelter employee saved her by taking her home to join several
other once-doomed animals he had adopted. Most animals that
enter the city shelter, however, are not as fortunate as Riley.
Thesis statement
The Calhoun City Animal Shelter must change its euthanasia
policy by adopting a no-kill policy.
BODY
Background
information
The shelter deals with an extraordinary burden. People
abandon pets by dumping them or leaving them at the shelter
for many reasons—from serious behavior problems to owners
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
Writing a Persuasive Essay
moving to a new city to shedding black fur on the owner’s new
white couch. In addition, far too many pets are abandoned
because their owners failed to spay or neuter parent animals.
Evidence: Fact and
statistic
While the over 10,000 pets who wind up at the shelter each
year are there because of a variety of circumstances, they all
face the same fate if not adopted quickly. No animal deserves
to die because it sheds too much or scratches the furniture.
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
Evidence: Statistic
However, 63 percent of the animals received at the shelter are,
in fact, euthanized because they have reached the shelter’s one-
Ethical appeal
week time limit. This is unacceptable in a modern, civilized
society.
Reason #1:
Outdated policy
Evidence: Facts
Routine euthanasia is a barbaric holdover from another
era. When the shelter first opened in the 1950s, far fewer strays
wound up there, and adoptable animals were on view for nearly
a month before being euthanized. As the shelter grew more
crowded over the years, the amount of time an animal could be
held there was shortened in order to free up cage space for
incoming animals. Because there were more strays to be
evaluated, though, it began taking increasingly longer for
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
Writing a Persuasive Essay
animals to be put on view for adoption. This unfortunate
concurrence has shrunk the window of opportunity for these
animals from both sides. As it stands now, some animals are on
view for only four days before being destroyed as unwanted
Evidence: Analogy
pets. Because choosing a pet is like choosing a spouse—the
owner and pet must be compatible in order to spend a happy
lifetime of ten to fifteen years together—it may take longer
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
than a few days for just the right person for a particular pet to
Emotional appeal
stop by the shelter. What a shame it is that a person could miss
out on the perfect pet by a few days and the pet could be
euthanized when it should instead be bounding through the
door of its new home. Clearly, we need a fresh approach in
order to more effectively place these animals with people who
will love them.
Reason #2: Models
to follow
Around the country, many shelters have adopted no-kill
policies for adoptable animals. Under such policies, only
animals with serious behavior problems or untreatable illnesses
Counterargument
addressed
or injuries are euthanized. Opponents of instituting a local nokill policy may wonder how the shelter could avoid being
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
Writing a Persuasive Essay
overrun with strays under such a plan. Our shelter can look to
dozens of successful no-kill programs to see how they
Evidence: Facts
gradually accomplished this goal. These programs all support
aggressive campaigns to spay or neuter as many animals as
possible, especially through educating pet owners. They also
work with animals to improve minor behavior problems and
carefully screen potential pet adopters in order to make pet
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
placements permanent and happy. Several shelters also manage
feral colonies of sterilized wild animals. Finally, these shelters
reach out to potential owners by taking adoptable pets to public
places such as pet stores, making sure every animal has
numerous opportunities for adoption. By instituting similar
measures, the Calhoun City Animal Shelter can start on the
path to becoming a no-kill shelter within the next several years.
No one expects this change to be made overnight, but we must
begin laying the groundwork now.
Reason #3:
Positive effects
A no-kill policy is a winning solution that will produce
ripples all over town. For one thing, our city’s reputation will
improve; treating abandoned animals humanely will reflect
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
Writing a Persuasive Essay
positively on Calhoun. Many people consider cities that
routinely euthanize large numbers of animals to be backward
Emotional appeal
and unfriendly. Our citizens want to be proud, not ashamed, of
how our city handles challenging problems such as animal
overpopulation. Surely city officials want visitors to see our
town as forward-looking and compassionate, which might
translate into new businesses locating here and boosting the
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
Logical appeal
Evidence: Facts
local economy. As a bonus, the no-kill policy’s aggressive spay
and neuter campaign would mean that fewer stray animals
would wander our streets posing a health and safety nuisance.
This, too, would make our city look better in the eyes of
visitors and would help our citizens feel proud of where they
Evidence: Facts
live. Finally, instituting a no-kill policy would protect the city
from the costs of any potential protests by animal-rights
groups. Even a peaceful demonstration requires some police
Counterargument
addressed
protection. While we should not change every city policy that
might offend someone, in this case it serves Calhoun’s interests
to do so.
Reason #4:
Improved morale
The positive impact of changing the euthanasia policy
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
Writing a Persuasive Essay
would be felt most strongly at the shelter itself. Making the
change to a no-kill policy will improve morale among the
shelter’s employees and volunteers. Although taking on new
Evidence:
Testimony
roles will require more effort, the workers I talked to said they
would prefer the challenges of organizing adoption outings and
setting up a spay/neuter clinic over the depressing and mindnumbing activities that currently take up much of their day.
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
Evidence:
Anecdote
Some workers complained of spending countless hours
processing the dozens of strays that arrive every day, knowing
their probable fate and never getting to know the animals.
These people work at the shelter because they genuinely care
about animals. Allowing them to spend more time with the
animals by removing the dreaded task of euthanasia will
certainly make work more enjoyable for them and will in turn
Evidence: Statistic
reduce the shelter’s unacceptably high employee turnover rate
Logical appeal
of 54 percent. Also, getting to know the animals better will
make the shelter employees better adoption advocates, helping
pet adopters choose the animals best suited to their
personalities and lifestyles. This benefit will help shelter
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
Writing a Persuasive Essay
workers feel more valued by the public and will result in more
permanent adoptions.
Reason #5: Cost
Counterargument
addressed
Supporters of the status quo might worry that taking the
steps to become a no-kill shelter and housing some animals for
longer periods of time might cost the city more money and
potentially increase taxes. However, as with the shelter’s other
activities, dedicated volunteers and generous local sponsors can
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
shoulder much of the burden of these measures. The city
should explore partnerships with veterinarians, pet stores, and
even grocery stores to provide sterilization services, space for
adoption fairs, and supplies, as well as financial contributions.
Logical appeal
Ordinary citizens would be more willing to donate money to
the shelter if they knew the money would not be used to
continue euthanizing animals. Much help is available in our
community, and, in fact, extra money may not even be needed
Evidence: Facts
to fund a no-kill policy. Greatly reduced costs may result from
no longer having to purchase supplies for euthanasia and no
longer needing to dispose of the sad results of that act. Also, a
successful spaying and neutering campaign would result in
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
Writing a Persuasive Essay
fewer animals coming into the shelter, reducing the cost of
Evidence: Facts
processing strays. Any financial shortfall could be made up by
increasing slightly the currently low adoption fee paid by new
pet owners and the impound fee paid by owners picking up
their lost pets. Obviously, changing the Calhoun City Animal
Shelter to a no-kill facility requires changing attitudes not only
Ethical appeal
about the shelter’s role, but also about its funding. Surely no
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
one would place the convenience of retaining the current
system above the lives of so many helpless animals.
CONCLUSION
Currently the Calhoun City Animal Shelter euthanizes
Evidence: Statistic
thousands of animals each year. According to one shelter
Evidence:
Testimony
employee, “Most of these animals die because nobody wants
them.” While many citizens would prefer to ignore this
tragedy, no one can be pleased by these statistics. Of course, as
a city facility, the shelter must protect public safety by
continuing to euthanize animals with rabies or other dangerous
communicable diseases and aggressive animals that pose a
Restatement of
thesis
threat to others. However, far too many healthy, well-behaved
animals are losing their lives to a system that places order
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
Writing a Persuasive Essay
Emotional appeal
above compassion. Every day, a pet as lovable as Riley is
Call for action
euthanized for the sake of convenience. This must stop. We
must write letters to our local animal shelter demanding a
change in its policy of euthanizing animals. The sooner the city
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
enacts a more humane policy, the more pets’ lives we can save.
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