Cruel solution sparks controversy

Some organizations say killing off animals is only way to survive; others say they have no right

By Dan Bentsur|Published: 04.05.05 , 01:47

TEL AVIV - A number of animal welfare organizations do manage to support themselves financially, but they put hundreds of animals to sleep each month to make room for more.

Gadi Vitner, spokesman for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Tel Aviv, says the organization’s shelter treats 250 animals at a time, but 1,000 additional animals arrive each month.

“The animal welfare situation in the country is bad, and we are forced to kill hundreds of animals a month,” he says.

Vitner emphasizes most animals that reach the organization are not suitable for adoption, and are subjected to a humanitarian mercy killing only after the group’s veterinarian examined them and made a decision on the matter.

“The Society does everything in its power to find adoptive homes for the hundreds of animals staying at the shelter,” he said. “Unfortunately, the grim reality in the State of Israel shows that only 1 in 10 deserted animals will find a loving home.”

Moreover, the Society built the most modern shelter in Israel and maintains the highest standards of animal welfare, Vitner notes.

He says the organization maintains itself financially through donations from Israel and abroad.

“We are not one of those organizations that do not know how to take care of themselves,” he says. “The organization should be treated like a business.”

Michal Semo, the founder of Four-Legged Friend, an organization that keeps between 300-400 dogs in its shelter near Tel-Nof, says she does not believe in euthanasia as a solution to the animal over-population problem.

“As people who love animals, we have no right to destroy them,” she says.

Etti Altman, founder and spokeswoman of Let Animals Live, agrees with Semo, and says animals are entitled to the same rights as humans.

“The animals are also sabras (native-born Israelis), and they deserve they same rights people do,” she says. “However, because they are animals and cannot speak up, I speak for them.”