HUMANE SOCIETY NEEDS PLENTY OF HELP

For people who love animals, the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri can be a tough job. Oh, the joys are there. There's surely nothing more enjoyable than finding a good home for a bouncing puppy or tiny furball of a kitten, or reuniting lost pets with their owners.

But these animal lovers must also perform the most difficult kind of tough love. They must euthanize thousands of animals each year that are forgotten and abandoned.

In 1998, the numbers were even more devastating than normal. First off, more animals were taken to the shelter: a whopping 5,438. Of those, nearly 1,000 were adopted. Another 237 were returned to their owners.

You do the math. That means more than 4,200 animals were put to sleep because people didn't do their part to squelch the pet overpopulation.

And that's just here in Southeast Missouri. Multiply that number by thousands of animals in other shelters in Missouri and across the nation. The numbers are mind-boggling.

Why aren't people up in arms over the fact this many animals must be put to sleep every year because no one wants them?

Guilt may be partly to blame. Some pet owners don't care enough to have their own animals spayed or neutered. This simply adds to the pet problem of too many unwanted animals.

Other people could adopt a pet but don't -- or forget about the Humane Society when they decide to bring a new pet into the home. There is always a multitude of wonderful pets just waiting at the Humane Society.

While the vast majority of pets brought to the shelter are dogs and cats, the numbers from 1998 also included hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, snakes, lizards and birds.

Typically, exotic animals brought to the shelter find a home. Dogs and cats aren't so lucky. About 70 percent of the dogs brought to the shelter are euthanized. Nearly 87 percent of the cats brought to the shelter are put to death.

And that's the toughest of jobs for people who love animals.

Euthanasia for unwanted pets is a humane choice, but it's not an easy one. But domestic animals left in the wild face other, more painful fates such as starvation, disease, attacks by other animals or roadkill.

The Humane Society has launched a campaign this year to find homes for all animals. It's a grandiose notion. But even if the adoption numbers improve, it is certainly cause for celebration. However, instead of pushing pets with special needs as was recently announced, the society might be better off to promote healthy pets that can't find a home.

Don't just take the Humane Society's word about pet overpopulation. Visit the shelter at 2536 Boutin Road and judge for yourself. A first-hand look can make a believer out of anyone.

Reducing the pet overpopulation will take a combined effort -- from owners who decide to spay and neuter all pets to increased adoptions to more benefactors who can support the Humane Society 's efforts throughout the region.