We Have Failed Our Best Friends - An Open Letter to President Obama

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama:

I want to preface this with the information that I voted for you in the 2008 primaries, the 2008 election, and again in 2011.  I am proud you are my President.  From what I can see, we believe in the same things, and I truly feel as though we are similar people.

One of the main reasons I voted for you is because I believed that treatment of animals in this country would get better under you, and would get worse under your opponent.  I understand this may seem ridiculous to many.  I often get asked how I can care so much about animal suffering when there is human suffering going on.  To me, the two are not mutually exclusive.  I believe you can stand for both.  I have taken up the rights of animals first and foremost because I believe they have no other voice besides humans that stand up for them.  They cannot voice opinions; they cannot pay lobbyists.  They are truly at the whim of humans.  And so far, it has not worked out so well for them.  I also see a compassion and kindness within animals that often humans lack.  I believe animal life and animal spirits to be sacred and worth protecting.

While there are many complaints I have with the treatment of animals in our society, from circuses to the industrial farming industry, right now the one that brings me so much pain is the overpopulation and euthanizing of dogs and cats, the very animals we domesticated and claim to be our best friends.  Between 3-4 million dogs and cats are put down every year in our shelters, and more than half of those are believed to be healthy and non-aggressive, and are simply put down for lack of homes.  Many states even still use gas chambers, where dogs and cats are cramped together and scream for their lives while toxic gas is pumped in to kill them.  Perfectly healthy dogs, cats, puppies and kittens.  If you ever want to see one in action for yourself, just google it.  It is beyond horrifying.

Picture courtesy of Michelle Riley/The HSUS

While all this is going on, there are breeders everywhere.  From the good, family-like breeders I used to buy my dogs from (I only rescue now), to backyard breeders, pitbull breeders who breed for fighting, and then to large-scale commercial breeders, a.k.a. puppy mills.  At such facilities animals are often locked in cages their whole lives.  They receive no human attention whatsoever.  The females are bred repeatedly and not cared for properly, leading to sick dogs and cats.  Just open your eyes and watch a video of a puppy mill raid, say on the Humane Society’s website to see exactly what is going on.  The abuse is indescribable, and it is horrible to even imagine that we have come to this.

But, we have.  We have allowed, once again, money to take precedent over the pain and suffering of what are supposed to be our “best friends.”  We have decided to shield our eyes, turn our heads, from this horrible problem within our country.  The question now is why is nothing being done to stop it?  Is this a complex and complicated issue with many ins and outs?  Not really.  It would actually be quite a simple issue to tackle, and one that does not even require federal legislation (even though that would be ideal).  The USDA is in charge of the sales and distribution of animals within this country, but unfortunately the USDA has done little to nothing to protect our best friends.

Please, President Obama, urge the USDA to shut down puppy mills once and for all.  Ban large-scale commercial breeding facilities.  These are not places where dogs and cats are loved and treated well.  These are not places where people care for the breeds they are breeding.  These are places of abuse and terror.  Urge them to ban the selling on pets over the internet, with an exception for rescue organizations and shelters.  After all, many of these pets wind up in the animal shelters, most of which are supported by the people’s tax dollars.  We are essentially paying for these horrendous operations to continue to operate.

Picture from: http://www.speakingoutforanimals.org/puppymills.html

Every day I am overwhelmed by the tireless work of people to try and save dogs from backyard breeders, from puppy mills, from sitting alone and rotting away in shelters, from being literally dragged into the euthanasia room.  I have put endless amounts of personal money towards this cause.  And to be quite honest, without new restrictions, regulations, and hopefully one day – federal laws – there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. 

How can we all sit back in the face of such suffering, and such cruelty?  How can we all sit back when we have failed them?  We have failed our best friends.  If you do not act on this, then you will also have failed them, President Obama. 

Sincerely,

Katherine Lee


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If you want to help, please adopt, boycott puppy mills (sold online and in puppy stores), and go here to urge President Obama to make the USDA take action:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact