SHELTERS ARE SYMPTOM, NOT CAUSE, OF PET PROBLEM.

Byline: Phyllis M. Daugherty

HOLIDAYS provide an opportunity for all animal lovers and activists to address the pet-overpopulation problem. It's a perfect chance to inform potential adopters that, each year, up to 30 percent of purebred animals and thousands of adorable mixed breeds are sheltered by Los Angeles city shelters, and many are awaiting new homes now.

Official figures show euthanasia in L.A. city shelters has decreased from 72 percent in 1999 to 42 percent in the first half of 2003. This is due to public response to city spay-and-neuter programs, including the mobile van in low-income communities, and to efforts by General Manager Jerry Greenwalt and his staff to bring adopters into the shelters and to work cooperatively with responsible placement groups.

It is also because L.A. city leaders are committed, even in a challenging economy, to continue the maximum possible spay-and-neuter funding, as well as 24-hour city rescue services for animals in the streets.

Recent charges and rumors have attempted to discredit the accomplishments of the Los Angeles Animal Services Department, but figures don't lie. In July-August 2003, Animal People, a highly respected nationwide publication renowned for statistical analysis, reported on the latest U.S. shelter euthanasia data. Los Angeles ranked seventh in the nation in lowest number of animals euthanized per l,000 human population - a rate less than half the national average.

The ``No Kill'' concept promoted by some activists may be seductive, but it is a myth for public shelters, which accept all animals so that they are not dumped in the streets to suffer. Many of these unwanted pets have unresolvable health and aggression issues, making them dangerous to other pets and humans.

No-kill advocacy can also be counterproductive because it absolves the public of responsibility. Animal shelters are a symptom, not the cause, of surplus animals. Attacking those who run them is senseless and destructive to efforts to bring the realization to pet owners that they alone have the power to stop the problem. It's the creation of litters of unwanted puppies and kittens, and the failure of some pet owners to make a lifetime commitment to a pet, that cause euthanasia - not animal shelters.