PETA Calls On House Ways and Means Committee Chair to Give a Tax Break to People Who Get Their Cats and Dogs Fixed

Law Would Save Cities and Counties Money and Help Prevent the Suffering and Death of Countless Homeless Animals

For Immediate Release:
April 12, 2010 

Contact:
Ashley Byrne 757-622-7382

Washington, D.C. -- This morning, PETA sent a letter to Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, urging him to introduce a bill that would provide a tax credit to citizens who have their animal companions spayed or neutered. In the letter, PETA points out that the measure would stimulate the economy; promote responsible citizenship; save municipalities money that's currently spent on picking up, sheltering, and euthanizing homeless animals; and help save some of the millions of unwanted cats and dogs who are taken to animal shelters or are killed on the streets each year.

"Our proposal is a win-win situation: A tax credit for spaying or neutering companion animals would save the lives of countless cats and dogs and save precious funds for cash-strapped cities at the same time," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "Every unwanted or homeless cat or dog who is euthanized in an animal shelter or killed on the streets comes from parents who weren't spayed or neutered."

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

PETA's letter to Rep. Sander Levin follows.

The Honorable Sander M. Levin
Chair
Committee on Ways and Means
U.S. House of Representatives

Dear Mr. Chair,

I am writing on behalf of PETA and our more than 2 million members and supporters to urge you to help abate the U.S.' animal homelessness crisis by introducing a bill that would give a tax credit to citizens who are responsible enough to spay and neuter their dogs and cats. There are excellent reasons for introducing this measure.

Every year, approximately 8 million unwanted animals enter U.S. animal shelters. Shelters are forced to euthanize about half of these animals, including millions of healthy, friendly, and loving dogs and cats whose only "crime" was being born into a world already bursting at the seams with homeless animals. Countless others are abandoned to starve, are hit by cars, or find themselves at the mercy of cruel people. Simply put, all new puppies and kittens either take away a chance at finding a home from an animal who is dying for one in a shelter or end up discarded and homeless themselves.

The only way to end this national tragedy is to ensure that dogs and cats are spayed and neutered. Preventing more animals from being born means that fewer animals will suffer and die because of a lack of suitable homes; it would also save taxpayer funds--to the tune of $2 billion or so every year--that are now spent on picking up, sheltering, and euthanizing the nation's homeless animals. It would make neighborhoods safer, too, because unaltered dogs are three times more likely to attack and bite than are sterilized ones. And it would make animals healthier because spaying and neutering slashes the risk of several deadly cancers.

In these tough economic times, many families simply can't afford to pay for this simple procedure. A tax credit would help struggling Americans save animals' lives through spaying or neutering without having to reduce their food budgets or heating bills. As the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, you are in a position not only to introduce this bill but also to help ensure its passage. Please save animals' lives by introducing this bill in order to reward responsible animal guardians and help show that Americans do care about companion animals.

Very truly yours,
Ingrid E. Newkirk