The National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy's most recent survey found that 56 percent of dogs and 71 percent of cats that enter animal shelters are euthanized. From these numbers, it was determined that 9.6 million animals are euthanized annually in the United States.
Kelly Parker, founder of an organization known as PAWS New England and BC '03, has devoted hours of her time to changing these numbers. Though a long-time volunteer, Parker wasn't always devoted to the cause of homeless animals.
Parker, an English major with a pre-med concentration, worked in social work and community action upon graduation from Boston College, and strove to get subsidized housing and health care for the homeless before entering medical school at the University of New England in 2006, where she is now in her third year.
Her endeavors in animal rescue began almost accidentally. "I had always wanted a dog," Parker said, "but we didn't find any dogs in the shelters that fit what we were looking for."
Parker said she stumbled onto Petfinder.com, where she received a "quick and sad education" on the dire situation of homeless animals. "I started looking on the urgent boards on Petfinder.com, which were cruel and unusual. That's where I found my and my husband's two dogs," Parker said. The Petfinder.com urgent boards frequently list the amount of time animals in shelters have left before they are euthanized.
"Once I found out what was happening, and there were so many dogs I would have taken in a heart beat, I couldn't block it out of my head. I had to do something," Parker said.
PAWS New England got its start as a small organization, rescuing animals from a rural shelter in Tennessee and posting ads on Craig's List, an activity that Parker said was very successful. From there, Parker and her business partner started their own Petfinder site,and eventually achieved non profit tax status with the federal government. PAWS recently received its first grant from the American Humane Society.
"We've been blessed that the people who adopt from us become so entrenched in the cause. They volunteer, they donate, they help in any way they can. We've been lucky to find a community of animal lovers who have turned this into a full-fledged organization," Parker said.
A majority of Parker's rescue efforts are focused on the South, where she got her start attempting to reduce the euthanasia rate at the Tipton County Animal Shelter in Brighton, Tenn.
"In the South and Midwest, animals are viewed more as property and you see more cruelty," Parker said. "The spay and neuter programs have been less successful because people are less willing to get their pets veterinary care. That leads to very adoptable dogs being put to sleep - puppies, purebred dogs, dogs with no behavioral issues."
PAWS New England, which started in Tennessee and has since expanded to Kentucky, Texas, Arkansas, and special cases in New England, rescues dogs from shelters and transports them to New England for foster care or adoption. Some shelters in the South, Parker said, are forced to euthanize 85 percent of dogs in their facilities due to overwhelming issues of overpopulation.
"In New England, we don't have as much of an issue with population, and shelters euthanize for space on a much smaller scale," Parker said. "There are a lot of families up here willing to help out."
Parker noted that her organization does not put undue pressure on the New England shelter system. "The adoption doesn't end when you hand the dog off," Parker said. "If there are problems, we can escort the dog into our New England foster program and make sure those dogs stay out of the New England shelter system."
Parker's company removes as many animals as possible from shelters and meets their veterinary needs prior to travel. PAWS then works with animal transport groups to move animals to New England foster or adoptive homes. In the three years since the organization's founding, PAWS has managed to place close to 1,000 dogs in homes in New England.
Volunteers make the organization's success possible. Volunteers act as foster families, a two- to three-week experience during which PAWS provides families with food and covers all medical costs associated with veterinary care. Other volunteers help with Web site maintenance, advertisement, grant writing, and fundraising. Others still help transport, walk, and watch dogs.
"We always have the need for people to process the adoption applications, do home checks, even market the dogs, and get them up on Craig's List, which exponentially increases a dog's chances of getting adopted. Really, anything someone was willing to do, I would happily entertain it," Parker said.
Parker said student assistance would be more than welcome in her organization. "There's nothing I would love more than to start a BC chapter of PAWS," she said. "If there were even just a handful of students who would want to work for us, there are a vast number of volunteer opportunities."
Parker said she credits BC with providing her with the drive to give back to society. "I truly believe BC is a community that fosters this community spirit," Parker said. "BC gave me the foundation to put that into action. I'm in medical school now, and I run my own non-profit, and I couldn't have gotten there without BC."
Recently, PAWS was entered in a national contest to determine "America's Favorite Animal Shelter," sponsored by Adopt-a-pet.com. The group with the highest number of votes will receive $10,000 toward operating costs. "We were in the top 10," Parker said. "We've dropped to No. 14, but we truly believe we can get into the No. 1 spot." Parker said that the current economic crisis has significantly decreased the number of donations PAWS has received; the extra funding could help save the lives of countless dogs. "Our budget determines how many dogs we can pull off death row," Parker said.
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