Sample Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor:

I encourage our community to support animal shelters that accept every cat and dog in need, without restrictions.

Facilities that make it difficult for people to surrender animals by putting them on waiting lists, charging surrender fees, and creating other obstacles often turn away the animals who need help the most—those who are elderly, ill, aggressive, or feral. This leaves them with nowhere to go, and they suffer and die in agony as a result. Many end up (or stay) on the streets, where they breed and produce more homeless animals or are injured or killed in traffic, poisoned, or infected with fatal diseases. Others are abused, neglected, or crudely killed by people who don’t want them.

Open-admission shelters, on the other hand, welcome every animal in need. They get animals out of danger and off the streets and give them food, water, care, a safe place to rest, and a chance at finding a loving home.

We will never end the homeless-animal crisis by turning our backs on animals in need. The key is to prevent the problem in the first place, by ensuring that all animals are spayed or neutered and by passing laws that restrict the sale of animals by breeders and pet stores. That’s where people who care about animals should focus their efforts.

Sincerely,