The Ryan Newman Foundation

Thank you for contacting the Ryan Newman Foundation.  It sounds like you are very passionate about animal welfare.  Ryan and Krissie Newman commend you for the work you have been doing for animals.  You are truly a guardian angel!  We are so glad that you came to us for advice.

Opening a no-kill shelter in your community seems to be the answer to the desperate need to save the lives of animals being euthanized today; it has been proven to be ineffective in preventing animal overpopulation.  Studies show that rescue and adoption programs simply can not keep up with the pace of the number of unwanted animals being born and then euthanized.   Although they do great work in rescue and adoption, they came to the conclusion a few years ago that they were fighting a losing battle because there are simply not enough homes for all the animals being euthanized each day.  In order to rescue all the animals in shelters at this moment, we would all have to adopt 25 animals today.  That is impossible, of course.  Local Humane Societies can start a spay/neuter transport program.

The only mathematically proven way to reduce the number of homeless animals euthanized is to prevent them from being born by offering public, low-cost spay/neuter surgeries.  Continued rapid progress against pet overpopulation in some of the fastest-growing parts of the South, the Sunbelt and the Midwest combined with continued low shelter killing volume in the Northeast and Northwest to bring estimated total U.S. shelter killing in 2002 down to 4.2 million--a record low.  That number is down from 5.7 million pet euthanasia’s in 1992.  Furthermore, spay/neuter programs are much cheaper than rescue and adoption programs. It costs us $250 to rescue, provide medical work to, house and adopt one pet.  However, it only costs us $60 - $70 to spay/neuter one pet through the low-cost spay/neuter clinic. So for the cost of saving one animal from euthanasia through rescue and adoption; you could use the same amount of money to spay/neuter nearly six pets and prevent the birth and euthanasia of thousands of unwanted animals in the future.   There is a national consensus:  Fundamental to all animal euthanization preventative work is sterilization.  Spaying/Neutering is recognized as our best defense against all sources of shelter overpopulation.  The solution to the stray, abandoned, and unwanted companion animal dilemma is this:  Only by implementing widespread sterilization programs, only by spaying and neutering all companion animals, will we get a handle on pet overpopulation.  The American Veterinary Medical Association states, "Although the cause of pet overpopulation is multifaceted, failure of owners to spay and castrate their animals is a major contributing factor."  

In July 2006, Ryan and Krissie Newman became the spokespeople for the Humane Alliance's National Spay/Neuter Response Team.  The NSNRT is an initiative of the Humane Alliance, which is a nonprofit public, low-cost, high-volume spay/neuter clinic in Asheville, North Carolina.  Humane Alliance operates a high-volume spay/neuter clinic in Asheville that has sterilized 275,000 animals since its inception 12 years ago and reduced the euthanasia rate in their community by an astounding 82 percent!  Through their NSNRT initiative, they have already helped groups across the country begin operations for 12 model clinics in just one year.  Working much like a NASCAR pit crew, the National Spay/Neuter Response team sends in groups of trained vets and techs around the country to help nonprofit organizations open spay/neuter clinics using the Humane Alliance model. The nonprofit organization first spends a week with their entire staff in Asheville at the Humane Alliance clinic, and then the Asheville staff comes back with them to their hometown for two weeks to help them open their clinic.  To read more about the Newman’s becoming spokespeople for NSNRT, visit http://www.ryannewmanfoundation.org/news/2006/07112006.htm.

If you want to prevent the euthanasia of thousands of animals in your community, we urge you to strongly consider starting your own low-cost spay/neuter referral program with local veterinarians or start a public, high-volume, low-cost spay/neuter clinic through the National Spay/Neuter Response Team.  For more information about NSNRT, please visit www.humanelliance.org.  After reading their resources about the NSNRT, you may contact them to take them next steps.

Resources:

• National Spay/Neuter Response Team:

          http://www.humanealliance.org/HA/9658915B-32D9-4521-B864-AE22ECCE2A5B.html

• Spay USA:  http://www.spayusa.org/
  • How to Start a Spay/Neuter Referral Program:  http://www.spayusa.org/main_directory/02-facts_and_education/literature.asp
• Southern Regional Spay/Neuter Leadership Conference:  http://www.spayneuterconference.org/
• Best Friends Spay/Neuter Resources on how to start a variety of programs:

          http://www.bestfriends.org/nomorehomelesspets/resourcelibrary/snindex.cfm

Thank you very much for contacting us about companion animal welfare.  People like you make a difference in this world!   We would like to stay in touch.  If you would like to be informed about the Ryan Newman Foundation's coming events, fundraisers, foundation news, volunteer opportunities, programs, Pit Road Pets book signings, and where Ryan will be appearing to help a charity, visit www.ryannewmanfoundation.org and click on Join Our Email List.