Feces littered the floor and black mold covered the walls of a house that held 34 cats—many of them hungry, thirsty, and sick. Some animals were hunched over in tiny cages, covered with their own excrement. Even the beds of the humans who lived there had feces on them. Dogs and chickens were found outdoors without any food.

Sounds like something you might see on Confessions: Animal Hoarding, right? Surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly) this hellhole—raided a few days before Christmas by Harrison County, Indiana, animal control—billed itself as a no-kill animal shelter called "Frisky Felines Foundation."

Multiple similar cases have made headlines in just the past few months. In September, the SPCA of Upstate New York seized 68 animals from Peaceable Kingdom Animal Rescue, a no-kill facility. The animals were emaciated, dehydrated, and suffering from mange, eye infections, dental problems, diarrhea, and other health issues that appeared to have gone untreated.

PETA's investigation of Angel's Gate, Inc., a self-proclaimed animal "hospice and rehabilitation center" in Delhi, New York, revealed that paralyzed animals dragged themselves until they developed bleeding sores, animals were denied veterinary care (one dog suffered with an infected, rotten, broken jaw), crowded conditions were so stressful that fights erupted daily, and animals were kept in urine-soaked diapers for days at a time, resulting in urine scald. Angel's Gate promised unsuspecting people that "special needs animals" would "live out their days in peace, dignity and love." Although its founder and operator, Susan Marino, now faces charges of cruelty to animals and criminal possession of a controlled substance, hundreds of animals remain in her hands—a situation that you can help change.

This elderly, weak Chihuahua—given to Marino by an animal
shelter—suffered terribly without veterinary treatment for about two
weeks before dying.

The line between hoarders and no-kill facilities has always been a blurry one. After all, many no-kill animal shelters' modus operandi is to avoid euthanasia at all costs, even if it means caging animals for the rest of their miserable lives. But thankfully, awareness is growing about the many ways in which the no-kill philosophy promoted by Nathan Winograd and others fails animals. Writer Phyllis M. Daugherty explained the situation brilliantly in her recent Opposing Views column:

We all would love to see an end of the need to euthanize behaviorally and physically sound discarded pets, but there are just not enough homes to adopt them. Humane euthanasia to relieve shelter overcrowding cannot be stopped just because it is uncomfortable or unpopular without subjecting thousands of innocent animals to suffering in packed kennels plagued with disease and injury or death from attacks and fighting.

We must not allow them to be "rescued" by those who are unprepared for or unable to provide for all their needs. We also cannot, in the name of "No Kill" and in our rush to feel good about having them "leave the shelter," release them into the hands of someone who can sadistically watch them suffer and/or starve to death, often with food available on the premises.

How You Can Keep Animals Safe From Hoarders

The abundance of homeless animals in nearly every community makes it easy for hoarders masquerading as rescue facilities and sanctuaries to acquire their victims. Spaying or neutering even one dog or cat can prevent thousands of additional animals from being born only to end up homeless, hoarded, or worse. It's also crucial to support open-door animal shelters, which accept every animal in need and never keep animals stored away like surplus merchandise.

Lawmakers who are considering legislation based on the philosophy of the bogus "no-kill" movement should look closely at the disastrous results of California's Hayden Law, as Phyllis M. Daugherty details in the first of a series of articles for Opposing Views about limited-admission ("no-kill") shelters.

Dangerous overcrowding is a common problem at no-kill shelters.

Making Matters Worse

As Daugherty makes clear, the Hayden Law was put together by lawyers and aides with no experience running animal shelters. And it shows: The bill did nothing to curb breeding (the real cause of the animal overpopulation crisis); instead, it took away shelters' ability to make the critical decisions needed to keep the animals healthy by controlling the spread of contagious diseases and to give the most adoptable animals the best chance of finding a home through necessary means, including euthanasia of less adoptable animals.

Under the Hayden Law, shelters couldn't euthanize the animals they took in unless the animals were already to the point of death—even if that meant enduring prolonged suffering from diseases or injuries that made them unlikely prospects for adoption. Fortunately, this constraint was recently suspended but not before wreaking havoc on animals, shelters (along with their staffers and volunteers), and state budgets.

California's animal shelters continue to be required to surrender any animal scheduled for euthanasia—no matter how aggressive or otherwise unadoptable—to any group claiming to be a "rescue" organization upon request, which forces them to continue to house the animals until they are claimed (up to two weeks later) and puts adoptive guardians at risk from animals with a known tendency toward aggressive behavior. Daugherty describes how 20 percent of one animal shelter was occupied by pit bulls awaiting pickup by one such organization, leaving less room for animals who might have had a good chance of adoption but instead were euthanized because of a lack of space.

A Terrible Toll

It is tragic and ironic that the law cheered on by misguided "no-kill" advocates like Nathan Winograd ended up costing animals their lives; Daugherty reports that the North County Times, in an article titled, "Too Close for Comfort: New State Law Is Killing Animals," explained how the law was "increasing the number of animals destroyed and reducing adoptions …"

While this is sad, it isn't really surprising. As Daugherty notes, "no-kill" is a misnomer, since the refusal of limited-admission shelters to accept the responsibility of euthanasia means that they fill up quickly, leaving the turned-away animals to be taken to open-admission shelters (merely shifting the burden of euthanasia) or, worse, to be simply abandoned to face disease, traffic, starvation, predators, and other dangers.

Limited-admission shelters also tend to attract animal hoarders who take in far more animals than they can possibly care for. PETA’s undercover investigation of South Carolina's now-defunct Sacred Vision Animal Sanctuary—which was really just a front for a hoarder—produced evidence that finally prompted authorities to rescue hundreds of caged cats who had been suffering through a living nightmare of constant filth, disease, and injuries.

Avoidance Won't Fix the Problem

We all want to see the number of euthanized animals decreased, but the Hayden Law debacle shows that this goal can't be accomplished just by making it nearly impossible for shelters to use euthanasia to address the current crisis. As one former shelter volunteer explained after visiting a shelter overburdened because of the restrictions imposed by the Hayden Law, "As I passed the kennels, each crammed with too many dogs and puppies, many of them sick or diseased, I was reminded again that euthanasia is not the worst thing that can happen."

To become a truly no-kill nation, we must first become a no-birth nation by mandating spaying and neutering of dogs and cats to stop the flow of unwanted litters into our shelters. If you are concerned about euthanasia, you'll do far more good by adopting a dog from an open-admission shelter or sponsoring a spay/neuter procedure for a cat than by supporting a limited-admission shelter. 

California Gov. Jerry Brown has announced plans to completely repeal the ill-advised Hayden Law, and let's hope he succeeds—for the animals' sake.

I just received the gift of a 2012 calendar illustrated by Mutts artist Patrick McDonell to go along with my PETA "Rescued" calendar. But my walls won't be the only ones sporting the designs of this talented and compassionate artist in the new year. PETA's mobile SNIP (Spay and Neuter Immediately, Please!) clinic received a facelift earlier this month when it was rewrapped with colorful Mutts artwork, courtesy of McDonnell.

PETA's fleet of state-of-the-art mobile low-cost to no-cost clinics—we now boast three—spayed and neutered more than 10,000 dogs, cats, and rabbits in 2011, and we hope to surpass that number in 2012, thereby preventing thousands of unwanted animals from being born into a world long on suffering and short on good homes. We've spayed and neutered more than 75,000 animals in the last 10 years!

If you'd like to support SNIP's lifesaving work (the clinics operate at a loss and rely on donations to keep "snipping"), we can hook you up.

They may have been born as strays on a porch, but thanks to the efforts of some wonderful volunteers, seven Labrador retriever–mix puppies spent their first Christmas indoors, surrounded by their loving adoptive families.

Quite a few longtime PETA friends and faves were among the celebs who told the Associated Press about their animal-oriented New Year's resolutions, including Bob Barker ("To continue urging folks to have their pets spayed and neutered—including rabbits."), Lea Michele ("I wish that [my cat] Sheila would stop going into my bathroom, taking out all my cotton balls out of the jars and spreading them all over."), and Katherine Heigl (whose dogs want her "to feed them consistently on time in the morning"), not to mention superhot Josh Duhamel and music legend Roberta Flack, whom we love all the more after hearing about their rescued animal friends.

Other pro-adoption superstars? How about George Clooney, who recently talked to Esquire about adopting his shelter mutt, Einstein? Or Charlize Theron, who wants more people to, well, be like George?

If anyone you know needs convincing that tofu scramble is the real breakfast of champions, you can remind him or her that vegan WWE superstar Daniel Bryan has been awarded the world heavyweight title. Then break a chair across his or her back just to get the point across. (PETA's lawyers would like us to note that this is a joke and that violence is never the answer.)

Not to be outdone, the UFC took to Twitter to urge fans to vote for Jake Shields for peta2's Most Animal-Friendly Athlete Libby Award.

A number of other stars offered up pro-animal tweets as well:

And the always amazing Oscar-winner and Raising Hope star Cloris Leachman raised some hope for animals abused in circuses by writing to the mayor of Orlando and asking him to protect the elephants scheduled to perform in the city with Ringling Bros.

We Southerners are famous for getting a lot of use out of our porches. Maybe that's why a stray mother dog in Mississippi thought that the comfortably cluttered porch of an elderly couple would be the best spot to deliver her seven puppies.

When the surprised couple discovered their new tenants, they immediately gave them food and water as well as towels and blankets to burrow in for warmth. For eight weeks, the couple cared for the dogs, but they knew that with a limited income, no transportation, and several dogs of their own, they were in no position to permanently provide proper care for a growing litter of puppies. So they called PETA for help. 

Through our network of supporters, we found a volunteer named Teresa, whom we came to think of as Mother Teresa. She drove two hours to the couple's home (they were just as impressed with her dedication as we were), gathered up all eight dogs, and delivered them to foster homes.

After vaccinations, check-ups, spay-and-neuter surgeries, and loads of love, the pups all found forever homes. And their mother? Well, she had an instant connection with another mother—Teresa's! And now she has a new indoor home as well. Are you like Teresa? Join PETA's Action Team to help us help animals in your area.

Yoshimai | cc by 2.0

In college, I volunteered at a small animal shelter in Ohio. I never thought much about the shelter's policies. Only later did I realize how much suffering its limited-admission policy caused. All "no kill" animal shelters—big or small—are limited-admission facilities.  

The dogs no one wanted sat for years (yes, years) in solitary concrete and metal cages. The only bright spot in their day was when a volunteer would walk them for 15 minutes and give them a bit of time to wander in a dirt pen outdoors. Otherwise, they spent their days and nights confined to cages. On weekends, when everyone else was in the park or at the movies … on holidays, when everyone else was with their families and opening presents … 365 days a year, they sat in a cage. Occasionally, a puppy would be brought in and quickly adopted, but many of the older, bigger dogs sat hopelessly month after month.  

I befriended a dog named Tigger, who probably weighed 80 pounds, was very cute, and had a wonderful personality. He was one of the sweetest dogs. (I suspect that he wasn't adopted because of his size, because he was a mutt, and because he didn't look like a dog you'd see in a magazine. I would have adopted him without hesitation, but animals weren't allowed in my dorm.) It broke my heart to leave him after our walks because I could see how lonely he was and how our walks were all that he looked forward to each day.

Looking back, I think of all the Tiggers languishing in limited-admission shelters and all the animals who are turned away from those shelters only to suffer on the streets or in abusive households. I wonder why people think those fates are preferable to giving animals a chance to be adopted at an open-admission shelter and, if no home can be found, a peaceful, dignified, painless exit in a loving person's arms. I sympathize with the folks who run limited-admission shelters—as I saw, many of them really do care about animals. But they often have such a fanatical fear of euthanasia that they will let an animal's spirit die for lack of joy or love or a home, just to keep them breathing for breathing's sake. The limited-admission model has proved over and over again that it isn't the answer—it's just sweeping the problem under the rug.  

I have so much gratitude for people who work in open-admission shelters and have the thankless task of having to euthanize the animals they have fed, walked, cared for, and loved while constantly dealing with the question "Why aren't you 'no kill'?" We all need to speak out in support of shelters that accept every animal in need and support aggressive spay-and-neuter and "adopt—don't buy" campaigns. And next time you are chatting with staffers or volunteers at an open-admission shelter, thank them for their courage and compassion.

Written by Chris Holbein, associate director of special projects

Sophie is a rescued dog who accompanies PETA Vice President Lisa Lange to work at PETA's Los Angeles office. Not to be outdone by Bubbles, Sophie has also written to Kris Kringle, asking him to help less fortunate dogs.

Bubbles, one of the resident cats at PETA's Norfolk, Virginia, headquarters, has written a letter to Santa (with a little help from the author of 250 Things You Can Do to Make Your Cat Adore You):

When PETA suffered a "van down" earlier this year, longtime President's Circle members Adam and Leni Sender stepped up to the plate. The Sender family—tireless animal advocates who have opened their home to numerous rescued animals, including a refugee from Hurricane Katrina—donated the money for PETA to buy a new and improved van, and we dedicated the vehicle to the memory of their beloved cat Patti.

The "Patti Wagon" will urge people to save lives by spaying and neutering their animals while it ferries animals in need to and from appointments with PETA's no-cost to low-cost spay-and-neuter clinics. We love the Senders as much as the Senders love animals. Thank you for being the animals' "Spay Santas"!

And the van's namesake? Well, we think Patti would be purrfectly pleased with her mobile memorial.