Our country has a huge problem when it comes to animals. Thanks to backyard breeders, and terrible laws for animal welfare, kill rates in shelters are at an all time high, especially in states like Texas and California. There are so little laws regarding animal rights, most abusers, hoarders, and backyard breeders get away with a slap on the wrist. And there are even less laws governing our animal control units, leading to mass murder of animals across the country, many shelters killing thousands of animals every month. And even worse, animal control all over the united states often target rescues accusing them of being "hoarders" even when all basic care needs of the dogs are being met and they are well fed and loved. Did you know there are some areas where the the max limit for number of dogs you can own is 4, even if you own 20 acres of land, and that the costs of kennel permits even to a licenced 501.3c can be thousands of dollars? Something has to change. 

This petition is to go out to the lawmakers of our country to call for better laws regarding animal welfare. This will mean the requirement of the public to spay and neuter their dogs and cats, unless owned by a LICENSED breeder, with much larger fines for those who fail to have their pets fixed. It will also call to set a limit of spay and neuter costs (some vets charge up to $800 for spay/neuter) so that veterinarians cannot overcharge for this service. We need more low cost/free spay and neuter services for TNR for feral cats. 

No more slap on the wrist for animal hoarders, dog fighters, animal abusers, backyard breeders and those who neglect their animals. These laws need to be changed to as higher consequences, larger fines, and jail time. 

We need new laws in place to monitor animal control as well, how they treat animals in the shelter, and how they label animals. Many animals who come into the shelter have often been brought in by a trap or a catch pole. These animals are often terrified. Upon initial intake these animals are evaluated and labeled as fearful or aggressive from the start just for being scared. Often these animals are only given a couple of days before being reevaluated, still terrified, and often labeled as rescue only or put on the euthanasia list. Many of these behavior assessments are done by shelter staff with little training and not by trained behaviorists and trainers. This needs to change. Animals need time to adjust to new surroundings especially in a loud and stressful environment and their assessments should only be done by trained behaviorists who can do a proper assessment. There also needs to be limitations on animal control for under what conditions they can seize animals, as often dogs are seized from owners simply because they have "too many" for their area, and not because the animals are not well cared for. These dogs are often very well cared for and healthy and still seized by animal control and often euthanized. There needs to be more regulations on how animal control deals with certain situations with the public as well. 

We also need more rescues and rehab facilities and sanctuaries. There is alot of unused public land for sale. Parcels of 200 acres and more. Some of these parcels could be donated and used to build larger shelters and sanctuaries for dogs where the dogs who are often misjudged and killed can go and be put through basic training to make them more adoptable, and some can even be selected to be trained as working dogs and therapy dogs. 

We also will call for prison dog programs across the US. Existing prison dog programs have saved countless dogs from death row. These programs help rehabilitate dogs and inmates alike. Can you imagine if every prison had a prison dog program? There are currently 290 prison facilities that have implemented dog training programs. There are 1,833 state prisons, 110 federal prisons, 1,772 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,134 local jails, 218 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories. Can you imagine if the 6,849 eligible jail programs in the USA all had a prison dog program?? How many animals would that potentially save? And what about a prison cat program? This would allow for cats to be taken in the same way as the dogs to learn new social skills. Inmates have plenty of time to bottlefeed kittens that would otherwise be put down in the shelter for being too young. These types of programs in every prison would not only benefit the animals but it would benefit the inmates as well. Opportunities could exist for them as dog rehabbers and trainers when they get back to the real world. 

These are just some examples of the things that need to be changed. We all see the posts of the dogs on death row, we all know what a huge problem we have in this country with stray dogs and cats. And the death rate is so high, with hundred of thousands of animals dying in shelters across the US every month, and backyard breeders adding to the problem there has to be better measures put in place to counteract the problem. Many of these animals don't deserve to die, and if enough people are willing to band together and say enough is enough, we can bring about change. 

Thank you.