The Palo Alto Humane Society Eloise Gilbert-Fagen
The Palo Alto Humane Society Eloise Gilbert-Fagen
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Dedication
I dedicate to this book to my tortoise, Trotsky, for sticking with me throughout this project. I have enjoyed our six years together and I’m looking forward to the 34 years we have left.
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photo courtesy of the Palo Alto Humane Society
acknowledgments
Thank you to everyone who made this project possible. Special thanks for Carole Hyde, David Rutan, and Leonor Delgado for being my interviewees for this project. Thank you to Freestyle Academy for giving me the resources I needed to create this project.
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Preface: pg. 8
Chapter One: pg. 12 Introduction: pg. 11
Chapter Two: pg. 14
Conclusion: pg. 23
Chapter Three: pg. 18
preface
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his project was definitely a process for me. I would say the most difficult part was actually scheduling the interviews, as the schedules never really matched up. The writing was also a difficult part of the process. However, I will say that I’m proud of what I did and this will definitely be an experience that I will look back on fondly.
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introduction
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nimals are a very important part of a large part of the population’s lives. According to Gallup, six in ten americans have some kind of pet that’s a part of their family. Most of us would do anything for our pets and would protect them at all costs. Although individually, it ’s important to take care of our pets, there needs to be organizations protecting animals in general. The Palo Alto Humane Society is one of those organizations. The Palo Alto Humane Society is a nonprofit organization located in Palo Alto, California. Their overall mission is to raise awareness for animals and educate people about animals. According to the ASPCA, the number of animals euthanized in shelters has declined from 2.6 million in 2011 to 1.5 million today, and PAHS hopes to continue that trend through their spay and neuter program and offering financial aid re-
garding vet bills to lower income families, as well as educating the public through offering courses about animal care. Something that makes the Palo Alto Humane Society unique is that they don’t have a shelter. This allows them to focus on keeping animals out of shelters and educating the public, as well as educating people on how to take care of animals.
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Chapter One
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alo Alto is a city located in the heart of Silicon Valley, and is home to many iconic tech companies, such as Facebook, Tesla, and Google. One of America’s best universities, Stanford, is also located there. However, Palo Alto wasn’t always such a hub of innovation. Back when it was founded in 1894, it was a small town that largely depended on agriculture, and with that agriculture came animals. These animals required protection, and thus, the Palo Alto Humane Society was founded. The Palo Alto Humane Society was founded in 1908, in an attempt to address immediate problems within the community, such as police killing strays, and work animals being mistreated. According to Carole Hyde, the original goals were mostly to provide relief to animals that weren’t being treated humanely. A
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lot of stray dogs were being killed by police, and some concerned citizens wanted to put a stop to it. Many service animals, such as horses and cows, were also facing brutality. This led to the founding of PAHS. In the 1920s, PAHS acquired the shelter and began to take on more of an education initiative, teaching children about animals and how to care for them. This is more in line with what PAHS does today, which is more focused on education. One of the biggest shifts in PAHS’s history was when they transferred the shelter and animaWWl control responsibilities to the city of Palo Alto. This allowed them to focus on education, the spayneuter fund, and raising awareness.
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he most significant change has been the fact that we started the shelter for fifty years for the community. We no longer have the shelter; the city has the shelter, but we have had an enduring mission over 110 years of promoting the status of animals in society and making sure that they are more kindly treated.� -Carole Hyde
photo courtesy of the Palo Alto Humane Society
Chapter Two
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ne of the main causes of euthanization of animals is overpopulation of animals. According to the ASPCA, each year, about 1.5 million shelter animals are euthanized. The shelters often don’t have enough room due to people abandoning pets (mostly cats) and leaving them to live on the street and reproduce, leading to an overabundance of cats. This can be fixed by neutering and spaying pets. This not only prevents overpopulation, it also is useful preventing certain health conditions, such as cancer. Also, according to the Humane Society, unneutered pets are more likely to want to roam, which exposes them to fights with other animals and also being hit by cars. Something the Palo Alto Humane society does to address the issue of animals not being neutered or spayed is dedicating a large portion of their budget to their spay/neuter program, which allows animals from financially disadvantaged families and homeless animals to be
neutered or spayed. If people didn’t have access to the spay/neuter fund, then many pets would remain unneutered, which would be bad news. This is one of the most important things that PAHS does because it not only prevents health issues, it also prevents overpopulation. Another reason that shelters have to euthanize so many animals is that people buy animals instead of adopting. Only about 25% of shelter animals end up being adopted, so that means a large amount are being euthanized. For dogs especially, it’s a better idea to adopt than to buy a purebred dog due to certain health risks being more prevalent in purebreds. According to the Institute of Canine Biology, purebreds are more at risk of a long list of diseases and disorders, including bloat, cataracts, and epilepsy. Some of the most popular dog breeds, such as labradors, golden retrievers, and German shepherds, are plagued with a large amount of health problems.
An especially notable dog that is unhealthy from breeding to get desirable traits is the English bulldog. Because of their shortened face, they struggle to breathe a lot of the time. They also suffer from a myriad of other health issues, such as hip dysplasia. According to the Smithsonian, English bulldogs have so little diversity in their gene pool that their health problems will only get worse. These dogs are the prime example of inbreeding in order to get the perfect specimen gone too far. The desire to get a good-looking show dog should not affect the dog’s quality of life. It’s a real issue that people continue to buy these dogs that can’t even breathe when there are millions dying in shelters each year. Overall, adopting animals is a better option because not only are you saving a life, purebred animals are more prone to genetic health conditions due to irresponsible breeding and inbreeding in order to get desirable traits
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o a lot of euthanization happens when you can’t find homes for animals. So, what you wanna do is to tackle the spay/neuter problem. So if you can keep the poplations of animals to an amount where they’re not breeding like crazy and can find homes, then you don’t have to euthanize as much. -David Rutan
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Chapter T hree T
he Palo Alto Humane Society also deals with educating people in order to prevent abuse to animals due to not being educated. PAHS has many educational courses related to animals that they have in classrooms and community centers. According to David Rutan, people of all ages can learn everything from how to take care of common domestic animals to how to approach wild animals. This is very important, especially in more suburban areas, because a large amount of people have dogs or outdoor cats, and it’s essential for people to know how to safely approach them so that they don’t get hurt. It’s also important because occasionally, wildlife like coyotes enter suburban animals and people should know how to react safely. Education is important because if someone doesn’t know how to take care of an animal, there’s a risk of the animal not being cared for properly or the animal being abandoned because someone didn’t know how much work the animal would be. According to Leonor Delgado, the education manager at PAHS, when people who have cats move, they often leave them behind based on the belief that cats can fend for themselves. This kind of thinking stems from being uneducated about their own animals. Not only would
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this be bad for the cat, it’s also bad for the environment because an excess of feral cats can prove to be a threat to local wildlife such as rodents and birds. Lack of education endangers both animals and people, and PAHS is working to educate the public on proper animal care and fix the issue of not being educated.
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t ’ s all a question of educating the public. The first step in educating the public is taking care of your own animals.“
-Leonor Delgado
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Conclusion T
he Palo Alto Humane Society had been an integral part of protecting animals in the Bay Area for over 100 years. They educate the public, as well as raising money so that disadvantaged families are able to take better care of their pets. Animals are often overlooked in society and need a voice, because they can’t speak for themselves. Palo Alto Humane Society often is that voice. It’s essential for every community to have an organization that speaks out for animals and their rights, as well as educating people on animal safety. If people don’t have access to an organization like this, it can often endanger them or their pets. The Palo Alto Humane Society has had a very important role in protecting animals in northern California for over a century, and their rich history and current efforts make them a truly impressive organization.
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works cited “Animal Shelter Euthanasia.” American Humane, www.americanhumane.org/fact-sheet/animal-shelter-euthanasia-2/. “Pet Statistics.” ASPCA, www.aspca.org/animal-homelessness/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics. “Shelter vs Breeder.” Victoria Stilwell Positively, positively.com/dog-behavior/new-dogs/shelter-vs-breeder/. “Why You Should Spay/Neuter Your Pet.” The Humane Society of the United States, www.humanesociety.org/issues/pet_overpopulation/facts/why_spay_neuter.html. “Health of Purebred vs Mixed Breed Dogs: the Actual Data.” The Institute of Canine Biology, www.instituteofcaninebiology.org/blog/ health-of-purebred-vs-mixed-breed-dogs-the-data. “Celebrating 110 Years with 110 Stories.” Palo Alto Humane Society - Creating Compassionate Communities., www.paloaltohumane. org/. Gallup, Inc. “Americans and Their Pets.” Gallup.com, 21 Dec. 2006, news.gallup.com/poll/25969/americans-their-pets.aspx. Interviews Wondra, Sora. “German Shepherd Hip Dysplasia.” PetCareRx, 6 Dec. 1970, www.petcarerx.com/article/german-shepherd-hip-dysplasia/1508. Handwerk, Brian. “Bulldogs Are Dangerously Unhealthy, But There May Not Be Enough Diversity in Their Genes to Save Them.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 29 July 2016, www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/bulldogs-are-dangerously-unhealthy-there-may-not-be-enough-diversity-their-genes-save-them-180959963/.
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About the Author
Eloise Gilbert-Fagen is a junior in high school who enjoys art, music, and animals. She currently owns chickens, a cat, a gecko, and a tortoise. Eloise is enrolled in animation at Freestyle Academy and spends her free time playing guitar and drawing. Eloise enjoys learning about history and plans to study psychology in college.
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The Palo Alto Humane Society Eloise Gilbert-Fagen