Support ban on dog auctions

To the Editor:

Yes, Ohio does have dog auctions; check out http://www.banohiodogauctions.com/.

If you love animals and especially if you love dogs, your help and signature is needed to stop the dog auctions that occur in Ohio on a regular basis. No reputable and responsible breeder would sell his or her dog(s) at an auction or to a pet store. So these are not reputable breeders who are auctioning dogs.

For these breeders, there is no concern for the welfare of the pregnant females, their male counterparts, and offspring. To save money, these dogs are not screened for genetic diseases such as hip dysplasia, eyes or heart disease and are not certified free of these things. The breeding dogs are kept in primitive conditions, never leaving their "cages" and with no access to veterinary care.

These dogs are forced to stand in their feces summer, fall, winter and spring, never having a chance to get outside and walk on ground. In many cases, there is almost no contact with humans, and the offspring are barely given the human touch before they are auctioned off to others who want to breed them or sell them. The psychological wounds are just as serious as the physical ones.

The number of dog auctions has more than tripled in number in the last few years.

There are 45 cats and dogs for every person born. Only 1 out of 10 dogs born ever get a home. Only 1 out of 12 cats born ever find a home. So animal shelters are already filled to overflowing with unwanted animals and have no choice but to euthanize the large numbers of dogs that have not been adopted. Eight hundred dogs and cats are KILLED each HOUR in the U.S., because there are not enough homes for them. Irresponsible backyard breeders are contributing to this problem of pet overpopulation and over-stretched resources at shelters statewide.

A statewide group of dog lovers, Coalition to Ban Ohio Dog Auctions, has begun a petition drive to put an initiative on the ballot in 2011 to end dog auctions once and for all. Some 121,000 signatures gathered by Dec. 14, 2010 are needed to get this issue on the ballot in Ohio. Please contact the Athens County Humane Society or stop by their adoption event at the Market on State (formerly the University Mall) on Saturday, April 24, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:03 p.m. to read and sign a petition that would make it unlawful for any person to auction or raffle a dog within Ohio for any purpose. Petitions will be available for anyone who wants to gather names on his or her own, as well from the Web site above.

Please help spread the word that everyone needs to help end this most sordid and inhumane activity by signing the Petition to Ban Ohio Dog Auctions.

Vivian Stevenson
Box 136
Stewart