May 31, 2011
One Hundred Thousand Hearts is a very well-produced documentary of the plight of animals in municipal shelters. The numbers are both staggering and heartbreaking, and while Houston is a very large community in Texas, it is still just one. When you add the numbers across the state, for municipal shelters big and small, it is a sobering reminder that we have a great deal of work ahead of us to wipe out this horrific practice of ‘catch and kill shelters’ and the disposable society we have become.
Official photograph of documentary "One Hundred Thousand Hearts" ThunderBear and Tobey Bear Khalsa
This documentary interviews veterinarians, shelter workers, rescue groups, fosters, volunteers, and pet lovers on the importance of spaying and neutering pets, as it uncovers and pieces together one of Houston’s (and America’s) most overlooked and under addressed problems: the staggering number of pets that are killed each year due to overbreeding. Through the voices of the people who see it every day, solutions are examined and explained that can stop this animal holocaust from happening, because it is both a humane disaster and an economical nightmare. This is the One Hundred Thousand Hearts website. Click the arrow below to watch this great video!
Sources Referenced:
The nationwide statistics used in the documentary are from:
The Humane Society of the United States
and
The Spay Neuter Assistance Program SNAP
The Houston area statistics used in the documentary are from Spay/Houston’s Community Assessment, which includes “the findings of the Mayor of the City of Houston’s findings of the Animal Task Force to demonstrate averages by shelter. This was s study conducted by the City of Houston to determine why so many abandoned animals existed and why the euthanasia rate was so high.” Spay/Houston will send their Community Assessment statistics to anyone who requests it.
The Reproduction chart and reproduction statement are courtesy of North Shore Animal League America
This video was originally shared on our Pawsitively Texas social network page February 13, 2011; it is such a great educational video, I wanted to share it again. Great work to the folks in Houston that produced such a great, informative video about the problems facing our beloved pets.
This is just an aweful thing that when these animals r born they r already on death row…. Why can’t we pass a law for so many years that until over population is gone that they cease animal breeding for sales of animals…then put regulation of the # of times breeders can breed per year…make it mandatory that every animal that goes to the vets & shelters be neutered & spaded…..the money saved from not putting it to use on overpopulation could then be used for every vet & shelter to do spading & neutering these animals that come in…. There would have to be jail time for people that disobey these laws & stiff fines so they follow by the law & make every pet owner report pet ownership & send copies of the vet papers to local animal control showing they r following the laws….by then everything would be like they do on deer etc… To keep up with over populating…this could be done if every animal born is registered like humans, then go from there…. We really need to get this under control or eventually it will be definitely out of control… Not enough places to even despose of the ones that r put down or maybe even animals running wild with rabies or who knows what…. I LOVE ALL THE ANIMALS IN THIS WORLD & GOD TOLD US TO TAKE CARE OF THESE ANIMALS…ITS TIME THAT SOMETHING BE DONE !!! ;-((