Sable, a three-legged beagle-mix, lives at the Animal Protective League's Waggin' Tails no-kill shelter in Sangamon County, awaiting adoption. In hundreds of other shelters across Illinois, thousands of cats and dogs will be put to death. Sadly, the problem could be minimized if owners would simply spay or neuter their pets.

The ribbons and wrapping paper that brought so much delight to Christmas puppies and kitties long ago were destroyed. Now the pup is piddling on the carpet and barking at everything, while the kitty is shredding the couch. Sadly, it means many of those pets now are lining up in shelters across the state, waiting to be destroyed themselves.

"The problem is huge. And it is getting bigger every day," said Melissa Skilbeck, president of the Sangamon County Animal Protective League. "We have come to think of pets as disposable."

Holidays, especially this last Christmas with the release of the Disney hit "101 Dalmatians" and St. Valentine's Day, create a problem when people get caught up in the spirit of giving and toss normally rational judgment by the wayside, she said. The notion that it would be cute to buy a loved one a kitty or a puppy takes over, and they fail to consider carefully what the animal's needs are and how they will properly care for it.

"So, we have a tendency to start seeing all kinds of Christmas presents and St. Valentine's day presents about three to six months after the occurrence," said Skilbeck.

"It's getting worse. And it's getting worse quickly and its getting worse for one reason, and that's because people won't spay and neuter their pets."

Phil Snyder, regional director for the Humane Society of the United States, said about 12 million animals will be lodged in a shelter in any year. Of those, 7.5 million will be put to death.

For rural residents, the scenario is common: People don't want to take the animal to a shelter because they think it will be killed; they instead dump animals along a rural road and think they'll be able to forage, or find a nice farm home where they will be welcome.

Well, it just doesn't work that way," Skilbeck said. "Cats and dogs have undergone thousands of years of domestication. They can't just go out there and take care of themselves."

In fact, Snyder said, in addition to the 7.5 million that are put to death, another 7.5 million, or many more, die a much crueler death. They starve, become diseased or poisoned, or are shot or hit by cars. Survivors, if they are not spayed or neutered, will produce still more homeless creatures.

Spaying, the removal of a female's reproductive organs, and neutering, the removal of a male's reproductive organs, not only reduces the unwanted animal population, it has long-term health benefits for pets and reduces the desire of animals to roam.

Each unaltered female dog or cat running at large ultimately could be responsible for thousands of offspring. Female dogs can, on average, produce two litters per year of up to 10 puppies each. An unaltered female dog, her mate and all their puppies and their puppies could, in three years' time, produce 512 puppies; in six years that figure soars to 67,000. Female cats, on average, can produce three litters a year of up to six kittens each. An unaltered female cat, her mate, and all of their offspring producing only two litters a year with two to three surviving kittens, could produce 376 kittens in three years; in six years that figure climbs to 66,088.

"If you start doing the math, " said Skilbeck, "it adds up incredibly rapidly."

Skilbeck is charged with one of about a dozen "no-kill" shelters in Illinois. Most shelters are city or county

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operated and are funded by tax dollars. They are obligated to pick up stray and abandoned animals. The vast numbers of animals sheltered at these municipal pounds means unclaimed animals must be put to death. Alternative no-kill shelters, on the other hand, generally rely on donations and frequently are operated entirely by volunteers. Often they are too small to take in all abandoned animals, but they do keep lists of animals available for adoption and some maintain foster family programs.

Dixie Morlen no longer recalls exactly what force brought her a decade ago to the city animal shelter in Highland, except that she was part of a group of people interested in starting a Madison County Humane Society in Edwardsville.

"But I remember the old holding cage they had was just an outside cage with wire around it that was falling down. A lot of the animals just jumped right out of there anyway," she recalled. She owned her own business and started stopping on her way to work and on her way home every day to walk her new little friend.

"One day I came down and he was having a seizure. And it scared me. I got him out of the cage and rushed him to the vet, and I ended up keeping him," said Morlen, who sold her business to become the full-time unpaid director of the Highland Animal Shelter, also a no-kill shelter.

"From that point on, I felt that the animals needed friends. They needed somebody to help them and the people who work down here are all so wonderful. They believe the same way I do. They believe all these animals deserve a chance. Granted, some of them are here quite awhile. But they're taken care of."

All of the animals at the no-kill shelter are considered to be abandoned or have been allowed to run free. Their irresponsible owners haven't come looking for them. She also is called upon to investigate neglect and abuse cases, and said she has seen some severely abused and starved animals.

But at the shelter, animals are fed and their cages cleaned twice a day. They get veterinarian care. And they are loved by "dedicated volunteers who really care about the animals. That's what keeps us all going," said Morlen, who now owns five dogs. "We're all strictly volunteer. This all comes from the heart. For the good of the animals."

Communities like Highland benefit when animal lovers band together to form these shelters. Once Morlen and her friends recognized the need and demonstrated the desire to change conditions, the city of Highland donated a building for use and maintained it free of charge. The city saves the expense of funding its own shelter and transporting animals to the Madison County Humane Society, where the animals eventually would be destroyed if not adopted. "We just worked as friends helping friends—the city and the Highland animal shelter," Morlen said.

Both the Highland and Sangamon county shelters have purchased land and are building new shelters so they can accommodate more animals. "It's kinda going slow now," said Morlen, "but we'll make it."

There is a need at both shelters, and others that offer this program, for foster care homes, where animals can live with families until a permanent home can be found. Foster care programs help animals adjust to family living, making them more adoptable.

Morlen does think the problem of animal dumping has diminished, although slightly, recently in her area largely because of laws requiring spaying or neutering for animals adopted at the shelter.

"It's such a throwaway society, and I don't believe in that," she said. "Animals have the same rights as people do. You just don't put them to sleep because there's too many of them. I just wish there were more people who believed like I do, and I think there would be fewer animals. I wish someday that I'm put out of business. If people would just spay or neuter . . ."

Phil Snyder, regional director of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), said the most important factor in successful pet ownership is careful advance research comparing your home and lifestyle with the characteristics of potential pets. Those looking for the perfect pound puppy or kitty, or for information about selecting, raising and training a new pet are urged to look in the local telephone directory for the nearest shelter. If you can't locate one, call HSUS, which maintains a regional office in Naperville, at (630) 357-7015, for a referral.

A local shelter can provide a referral to a low-cost spay/neuter program, or call SPAY/USA, a program of The Pet Saver's Foundation of New York at (800) 248-SPAY.

Concerned citizens and businesses can help, too. The National Association for Humane and Environmental Education, the youth education division of HSUS, publishes Kind News nine times during the school year. For a small fee you can "Adopt a Teacher," whose classroom will receive the magazine. For details, call NAHEE at (860) 434-8666.

The International Society for Animal Rights, an educational and legislative organization, works to enact more mandatory spay-neuter laws. It also sponsors a candlelight vigil every year on the third Saturday in August in remembrance of all the animals that have been put to death. Call them at (717) 586-2200.

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