et lover fights animal cruelty
owners’ loss of interest
cited as biggest problem
By MARTHA BLISS
Of the Emerald
Outcries against wild animal
mistreatment echo throughout
society today, and the concern is
valid.
But what about all those cats
and dogs that are literally over
running our city streets? Although
their plight is quite the opposite of
extinction, they suffer just as
much from man's selfish lifestyle
as the blue whale and the Sumat
ran tiger.
Sam Newson, a 1973 Oregon
graduate, is one animal lover who
focuses his attention on the prob
lems closest to him For seven
years he has worked on getting
equal time for domestic animals in
the fight against animal cruelty.
To alert his fellow city dwellers
of the problem, Newson teaches a
new SEARCH class called Un
wanted Animals: The Great Di
lemma. The class meets every
Wednesday night, when Newson
creates an active awareness of
domestic animal cruelty and
proposes solutions to the prob
lem.
According to Newson s statis
tics, 10,000 cats and dogs are
born every hour in the United
States. Of this needlessly large
amount, only one-sixth of them
will survive to maturity. And of
those that do survive, many are
homeless. Newson estimates that
the United States has 50 million
cats and dogs either wandering
around aimlessly or crowding
already-full pounds. Lane
County's averages are only
slightly better than the nation s,
with a survival rate of one out of
four.
The biggest problem in animal
control,'' Newson remarks, “is the
owners' loss of interest after the
puppies and kittens grow out of
the cute stage.’ After that, the
pets become mere burdens. Many
times, they are cast off and-or
forgotten."
Stray animals, then, are the
crux of the dilemma. Having no
home, these wanderers tip over
trash cans in search of food, defe
cate on both public and private
property, and most importantly,
breed like mosquitoes in Panama.
To avoid total disaster, dog
catchers pick up most of the strays
and cage them for up to five days.
Then, if no one claims them, the
animals are destroyed.
The primary method of killing
the unclaimed animals is called
euthenaire, a suffocation process.
Newson objects strongly to this
method, arguing that it is too pain
fully slow and not 100 per cent
effective. He suggests that the
animals be put to sleep by injec
tions, as veterinarians do. The
main problem with this method,
however, is that the animals must
be treated individually.
After the animals are dead, they
are then destroyed, usually by in
cineration.
Lane County uses incinera
tion,' Newson comments, and
it's a fairly good method. At least
they don't throw them in a trench
like they do in Clatsop County.
According to Newson, the key
to animal control is prevention, not
cure.
Every conscientious pet owner
Starts
TODAY
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7:00 & 10:20
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8:40
"...ONE
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MESS AFTER
ANOTHER -
THOUGHT I D
NEVER STOP
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starring PIERRE RICHARD • JANE BIRKIN
writtenanddirecteoby CLAUDE ZIDI •producedby CHRISTIAN FECHNER
PANAVISION ano EASTMANCOLOR
A SEABERG FILM DISTRIBUTING. INC RELEASE
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the tall blond
man with one
should have his pet sterilized," he
remarks. "This runs from $40 to
$70, which I think is overcharging,
but necessary. But if people can’t
afford this fee, how can they afford
to feed the pet for 10 years or so?"
Newson also proposes higher
license fees for fertile pets and
volunteerism on the part of vet
erinarians to sterilize pets as a so
cial benefaction.
Newson has fought against
domestic animal cruelty ever
since he lost his own dog to the
dog catcher seven years ago. In
1971 he voluntarily helped build
new facilities at a Deschutes
County dog pound. He quit, how
ever, when he found out that they
were shooting the unwanted ani
mals.
Drawing by Vanessa Wallace
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