Animal+Euthanasia

__Guiding Question:__ How does pet and stray animal euthanasia benefit us and the animals? __Summary:__ Our documentary is going to be about the euthanasia of animals in our community. Surprisingly, 7 in 10 pet owners think that the shelters should euthanize animals because they have untreatable medical conditions or any other disease that could prevent them from being adopted.

__Current Roles:__ Researchers: Connor, Austin, Patrick Editors: Naomi, Robert Director: Robert

Interview: media type="custom" key="12702096"

__Main Ideas-__ 1)The Over Population in Shelters [|Pet Pipeline] Pet Pipeline is about how animals are treated cruelly. A couple got arrested for animal cruelty. There were 90 dogs in their front lawn getting ready to be moved to New York. Some of them were dead and some were eating their dead bodies. This shows animals should be treated nicely and shouldn't be abused. __Facts:__ [|Animal Euthanasia Wikipedia] This article tells you why animals get euthanized and it also tells you the different methods of euthanizing these poor animals. It's a good article because it gives you information about the topic. __Facts:__ __Videos:__ []
 * Research (Divided into your main ideas)**
 * Many people open shelters because they love animals but some only open shelters for quick easy cash
 * To euthanize 200,000 animals cost 30,000,000 dollars
 * While being transported, a lot of animals run away during stretch breaks
 * There are many reasons for animal euthanasia
 * Shooting, using gas chambers, injections and breaking major bones are different ways to euthanize/kill animals

[|USA Today on No Kill Facilities]

2) The solution [|A Sad Reality] A Sad Reality is about how animals are affected by euthanasia in Colorado. We think it is a good article because it includes a lot of great details and an official opinion about the euthanasia in Colorado and why shelters should and shouldn't do it. It also emphasizes the fact that many animals are being euthanized. It is useful to our documentary because it contains a lot of numerical information that is about the U.S. as a whole. It is also unbiased about what euthanasia is right. About 3.5 million animals get uthanized in the US a year. __Facts:__
 * People strongly believe that spaying and neutering is the solution to euthanasia
 * No kill zone shelters save animals from being euthanized
 * Out of 6-8 million animals that go to shelters a year, 3-4 million get euthanized according to Marcie Willms, community relations manager for Larimer Humane Society
 * Animals get euthanized due to over population and space limitations
 * 7 out of 10 pet owners said animals should be euthanized if they have untreatable medical conditions or other "problems"
 * 25% said euthanasia should be used to control space

This article is about the state representative Jessica Farrar trying to reduce the 80,000 animals that get euthanized a year in Texas. She wants to introduce "No Kill" standards in shelters state wide in Texas. I think this will greatly help to reduce euthanasia in Texas and hopefully in other states too. __**Facts**__:
 * [|Shelter,state Rep. Say NO! to Animal Euthanasia]**
 * 80,000 dogs and cats are killed a year in Texas
 * State Rep. Jessica Farrar wants to introduce "No Kill" state standards in Texas
 * This standard has saved 92% of animals that go through shelters in the city of Texas

This article is about how the West Valley Council wants to start having no kill shelters. Before they wanted this, they tried to STOP the euthanasia. I think that if they could make this possible, a lot of animas would be saved annually!!! __Facts:__ Animal Shelter To Offer Free Pet Neutering/Spaying Spaying/neutering helps animals, pets and shelters. Spay day will provide these procedures for free. This bustling shelter in San Marcos pays for them by donations. Facts: Debbie Duel debbie@warl.org Sunday at 1:00 at The Wasington Animal Rescue League. Debbie Duel will talk with you guys. Here's a link to her blog: []
 * [|No Kill Facitlity]**
 * They took in about 5,000 animals last year and they had to put down 1,700 of them
 * The council intends to approve of the no kill shelters in the community
 * No-kill shelters are not no kill, only low-kill
 * In west valley animal shelter, they use the injection or the carbon monoxide chambers to euthanize the animals
 * Spaying/neutering promotes longevity, improves pet health and improves behavior.
 * Experts & Local Shelters:**

(__bja@mchumane.org__.) I contacted this person at the Mont. County Shelter in Rockville about setting up a time to meet. This is the public animal shelter in Rockville. Here's a link to the site: []



INTRODUCTION SCRIPT: __ Script For Documentary __ There are almost 7 billion people in the world today. We are running out of space…….. are we killing innocent people for more space? This is what we do to animals every day; it’s called euthanasia………….. For the 7 million dogs and cats that are taken in by shelters annually, 3 and a half million of those animals are euthanized………… The main problem is that healthy and treatable animals are getting euthanized due to the fact that shelters are overcrowded…………………… There are more pets than homeowners… This means that many animals will never find a true home, and many will have to be put to sleep forever!............ This documentary is about animal euthanasia in shelters, and what we can do to prevent it. ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE, MUSIC, AND IMAGES FOR THE INTRODUCTION: Crowded World Euthanasia Syringe Animal Overflow Sleeping Dog Cat In Cage Cats Squeezed In Boxes agressive dog [|Sad dog in cage] [|caged dogs] [|Animal Euthanasia] Main Idea #1: Sometimes we get animals as strays, peole see them on the streets and as a good samaritan they bring them here. We check if the animal has an owner, see if it's microchipped. Sometimes animals are brought here becasue of animal control issues... the main reason is that people have a change in their home situation, some people may be moving to a place where a landlord doesn't allow pets, some people develop allergies, allergies can come and go sometimes, sometimes a family is having a baby and they didn't prepare for it with their pet.
 * Transcribe the parts of the interview you plan to use for Main Idea #1
 * Euthanasia is the humane killing of animals. 00:11:25
 * Shelters have to euthanize thousands of animals. 00:17:15
 * When people say I'm gonna keep my animal for the lifetime of that animal, i've seen people give up animals that say ohp't i've changed the color of my furniture, that black cat hair doesn't go on the white sofa. So having an animal is a permanent responsibility. 2:10:26
 * Think that a female cat by the time she's 6 months old can have her first litter of kittens, that's eliminating a lot of animals because that first litter 6 months later is gonna have their first litter and the uh um increase in population in cats and dogs escalates so quickly so by spaying and neutering cats and dogs you're elkiminating huge numbers of unwanted animals.
 * Debbie talking about the methods of euthanization/killing: 5:38:17

Main Idea #2: In the last ten years or so, there's been this enormous swell of information about good pet care available to people...
 * Transcribe the parts of the interview you plan to use for Main Idea #2
 * We don't euthanize for space. 00:45:19
 * When people get their dogs and cats spayed or neutered when people say i'm not gonna let my cat or dog have puppies or kittens, they're helping
 * The greater cost is in taking care of animals. We adopt out animals and the average adoption rate is 200 dollars for a dog, but it probably costs us 8-900 dollars to care for that dog while while the animal is here. 01:35:05
 * The main thing is getting people to understand that that cute kitten or puppy they see today is going to live for--cats can live up to be 20 years old, a dog 15. To make them understand that it's a huge time commitment, it's a huge financial commitment, uhm and an also to to make sure that people understand that all those cute kittens and puppies don't get homes; that spaying and neutering is the most important thing that somebody that takes in an animal can do. 02:45:19

Main Idea #1 Script Euthanasia happens mainly because of overpopulation in shelters. Overpopulation happens because not enough animals are neutered or spayed. 78% of pet dogs and 88% of pet cats are spayed or neutered but only 10% of animals entering shelters are spayed or neutered. The outcome of this means that there will be more offspring making shelters even more crowded. The average number of kittens in a litter is 3. A kitten can have her first litter in 6 months. That means that in just seven years, up to four hundred twenty thousand kittens can come from just one pair of cats. Many animals also experience a high level of stress when placed in animal shelters. This stress effects animals in a negative way, and often causes aggressive and negative behaviors. Therefore, this makes it less likely for these animals to be adopted. We talked to Debbie Duel from Washington Animal Rescue League to learn more about this problem. •Think that a female cat by the time she's 6 months old can have her first litter of kittens, that's eliminating a lot of animals because that first litter 6 months later is gonna have their first litter and the uh um increase in population in cats and dogs escalates so quickly so by spaying and neutering cats and dogs you're eliminating huge numbers of unwanted animals.

Dog With Puppies Sad Dog Cat Pyramid Dog Pyramid [|sad dogs] [|puppies crowded] [|pups] [|dogs overpopulation in shelters] Main Idea #2 Script But with all of these problems, there must be a solution. The simplest and most effective is neutering and spaying. It reduces the amount of unwanted animals at the source. Although euthanasia costs considerably less, spaying or neutering extends an animals life instead of ending it. The benefits of these surgeries include an extended life, smaller chance of cancer, behavioral improvement, smaller chance of roaming, stops constant crying, and prevents new animals from burdening shelters or having the hard life of a stray. It will also be much cheaper than having to take care of a litter and all of the complications that come with it. Many believe that it is wrong to take away their natural instinct, but it's like giving your children immunity injections. It is doing them a favor. Neutering and spaying reduces the amount of unwanted animals exponentially, and many animals won't have the terrible fate of a stray or an unlucky shelter animals.