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OC’s dead pets enter the food chain. Mmmm.
July 21st, 2008, 3:04 am · 75 Comments · posted by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer
Every week, a truck pulls up to the county Animal Shelter in Orange. The carcasses of some 400 dead dogs, cats, bunnies and other unlucky creatures are loaded up. Then the truck hauls them to the West Coast Rendering plant in Vernon.
There, the remnants of Fido and Fluffy (alongside the carcasses of slaughtered cows, pigs, chickens and restaurant scraps) are essentially cooked at very high temperatures for hours.
What happens next?
- The entire contents of the rendering vat are expelled as one substance, which is then dried and milled, emerging as a solid. This is “dry rendered tankage,” or crude protein.
- It is then exported to “large aquacultural operations” in the Pacific Rim, where sea creatures, including shellfish, are cultivated.
Other rendering methods - not done at West Coast, its attorney stresses - separate out frothy fats (which make their way into lipsticks, lubricants, polishes, waxes); harder fats (which go into soaps, candles, drugs, gummy candies); and the densest stuff, which is dried and ground into protein powder that’s a key ingredient in animal feed.
Enough to make you a vegetarian?
The County of Orange sent about 23,000 animal carcasses to the vats last year, and set 
aside $49,000 to pay West Coast Rendering for this service (a little more than $2 per carcass).
Those 23,000 carcasses include:
- animals euthanized at the shelter (about 15,000),
- road kill scraped off the streets (about 8,000).
Rendering, according to the National Renderers Association, is an efficient form of recycling that plays a vital role ”in our environment and in our economy.” If you tried to burn all the animal carcasses, you’d have a heck of an air pollution problem, some renderers point out.
The obvious question for policymakers is: Can we, should we, try to reduce the number of companion animals sent to the vats?
Some want the Orange County Board of Supervisors to consider a mandatory spay and neuter law for pets to do just that. More on that tomorrow.
(Don’t know about you, but I’m having a bean burrito for dinner tonight!)
NEXT INSTALLMENTS:
- OC’s dead pets enter the food chain, part two (the grand jury recommends mandatory spay/neuter law in OC)
- OC’s dead pets enter the food chain, part three (OC’s Board of Supervisors has the power to enact said law; will they do it?)
- OC’s dead pets enter the food chain, part four (animal activist group says mandatory spay/neuter is wrong, and have other ideas to curb the killing, coming Thursday)
- Waste not, want not (a look at the rendering industry, and some safety studies, coming next week)
See other Watchdog posts here.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:57 am
Well. That’s just disgusting. Thanks for sharing.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:04 am
OMG I just threw up in my mouth. Just saw Fast Food Nation a couple of weeks ago and haven’t had a burger since. This just puts me over the edge.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:13 am
Does West Coast Rendering profit from this? If so, why are we paying them and not the other way around? Is there more than one rendering plant? Might they compete for our carcasses? Not to be too blunt, but this seems like simple (if unappetizing) economics.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:16 am
Gee, I hope that padlock is big enough to hold that kitten inside.
Who wrote this article? Don’t you think the “humorous” tone of reporting about euthanized animals might be a “lttle” politically incorrect (and not funny at all)? You will know doubt hear about this one.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:16 am
mmm roadkill soap
waxing your surfboard with fluffy was never more fun…
July 21st, 2008 at 9:16 am
(of course they profit… they’re a for-profit business)
July 21st, 2008 at 9:34 am
Thank you for bringing attention to this horrible fate that our “unwanted” pets are subjected to daily. There’s got to be an answer - I really wish people would adopt from the shelters rather than buying from a pet store or a breeder. There are so many sweet pets just praying to find a loving home rather than ending up dead in a barrel with hundreds of others. It just breaks my heart.
Perhaps if puppy mills and breeders could no longer sell an animal for hundreds of dollars, it wouldn’t be worth their time to do anymore. Supply and Demand.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:35 am
AGAIN OF COURSE IT IS ALL ABOUT MAKING MONEY.
BUT UNDER THE GUISE OF SAVING THE PLANET B.S.
STOP BELIEVING ALL THE LIES ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE CLAIMING AS
THEIR NEW FOUND DEFINITION/ EXPLANATION FOR POLLUTION.
IF WE LOOKED AT IT HONESTLY BY “THEIR” TERMS PEOPLE WOULD
HAVE TO SEE THAT WE HUMANS MAKE POLLUTION EVERY TIME WE BREATH, FART OR GO TO THE BATHROOM.
GOD MADE US TO GIVE OFF GASES AND NOW THESE FOOLS ARE TRYING TO CONTROL THE BASIC FUNCTIONS OF LIFE.
HOW FAR ARE WE GOING TO LET THEM GO WITH THIS?
That is called oppression.
IN THE 80′S, IT WAS A COMING ICE AGE, AND ALL THE SCIENTIST’S WERE BEHIND THAT.
AND AS USUAL THE COUNTY SHELTER CARES NOT MORE FOR THE ANIMALS, BUT THEIR POCKETS.
DISGUSTING !
I WOULD SEE THIS AS A HUGE CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
THE KILLING OF SO MANY ANIMALS DOES NOT NEED TO BE ACTED UPON, BUT IT’S DONE FOR PROFIT.
SICK.
,,,
July 21st, 2008 at 9:36 am
Good question, Andre. Yes, West Coast Rendering does profit…and the county pays them in the same way that you pay the trash hauler to pick up the recycling (even though there is some money to be made there). There are costs associated with the actual pickup service, and that’s one of the things you’re paying for.
That said, companion animals are a very small slice (if you’ll forgive the pun), of the rendering business, and many don’t accept companion animals at all any more because of how distasteful it seems to the public. We’ll get to the renderer’s perspective on all this on Wednesday. And yes, it *is* all simple economics - as most everything is at its heart.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:40 am
Irving -
I’m sorry if my tone offended you. We take this topic very seriously - you’ll be seeing several more installments on this over the next couple of days - but it’s one of those laugh-or-cry sort of things.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:46 am
Should we try to do something about this problem.
Frankly, I don’t see any problems with rendering plants. they are useful, safe and necessary.
The problem with all the stray animals “roaming” the streets ending up at the renderer doesn’t seem like a major issue to deal with at all, when we can’t even deal with criminal illegal alien gangs “roaming” the streets who kill innocent people.
And what “should” be done with the carcasses? bury them? burn them? throw them in the dump? not of these sound as good as a rendering plant.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:50 am
i got some kittens. think that they buy live animals?
July 21st, 2008 at 9:58 am
good, nothing’s wasted.
July 21st, 2008 at 10:02 am
Not too far off from the movie Soilent Green.
July 21st, 2008 at 10:03 am
Do you think you may have just single handily killed off the gummy candy industry?
July 21st, 2008 at 10:04 am
I amazed that the FDA allows this to be added to candy, lipstick, and feed. Shame on them!
July 21st, 2008 at 10:15 am
Support your local shelters and SAVE a pet. Why pay hundreds more for a pet store animal. & Don’t buy pets for xmas presents if they will not be taken care of!
July 21st, 2008 at 10:21 am
Soylent Green anyone?
July 21st, 2008 at 10:22 am
This is such a cold article. Here you have this sweet picture of a kitten in need of a good home and then you have this insensitive article about the fate of “Fluffy” & “Fido” if they aren’t found these homes. First of all, why cant you just say “cat” & “dog”? Why do you have to attempt to be humorous with pet names, this article is not meant to be funny!! And what’s with the bean burrito comment at the bottom? The article could have been informative with out the cold and callous humor
July 21st, 2008 at 10:33 am
Although informative,if true, there is absolutely nothing humorous about this story. Anyone who thinks there is should spend some time in the cage themselves. They have obviously lost any sense of compassion. Or they are so insecure in their manhood, that they have to make fun of something that has no choice and can’t fight back. Big man,………right.
July 21st, 2008 at 10:39 am
SW - please see note to Irving re: tone. Sorry if I offended you. We take this topic very seriously - you’ll be seeing several more installments on this over the next couple of days - but it’s one of those laugh-or-cry sort of things.
In this blog, I’ll be telling this stuff to you the way I’d tell it to my friends. I tend to have a wee bit of tone on occasion.
July 21st, 2008 at 10:42 am
I am never wearing lipstick ever again. That story really turned my stomach upside down. It makes me wonder about all of the other products we use.
July 21st, 2008 at 10:51 am
tsforza: We can certainly see how you take this topic very seriously, your article certainly says it all. I would think a professional journalist like yourself would write for your “readers” and not for your “friends”. Being that this isn’t a high school newsletter and you are writing for a more diverse audience that you would be more sensitive in the words you choose. If this is the “tone” that you chose to inform your readers then I would say you have a great future in journalism
July 21st, 2008 at 10:52 am
tsforza,
You are showing your ignorance. It is NOT a laugh-or-cry issue. There is no laugh. What’s wrong with you?
July 21st, 2008 at 10:56 am
tsforza
“Sorry I offended you” is a typical response that implies that those responding are gulity of some kind of weakness or inabilty to “understand”. You haven’t “offended” anyone. Rather, I believe we are responding to some irresponsible journalism here, that makes light of a serious, tragic situation. Besides that, your comments are simply not funny. Offended? Your editor should be “offended”.
July 21st, 2008 at 10:59 am
This isn’t really news to anyone who is involved with or interested in animal care. What I would like to know, Teri, is what happens to the pets who are euthanized at veterinary offices, when the owners don’t pay for cremation or burial? Do those pets also go to the rendering plant? Or do they go to some sort of mass burial? (I know most vet offices freeze the remains of euthanized pets if the owner doesn’t ask for the body back for private burial, and then send the frozen remains for either burial or cremation at owners’ request.) I would also be very interested in knowing more about the pet cremation business. I have always paid extra for “individual cremation” of my pets — my pets are beloved members of my family, and after years of love and companionship I feel it’s the least I can do. My vet assured me that when you request and pay extra for “individual cremation,” that’s exactly what happens - and the ashes you get back are those of your pet and your pet alone. Anyone who pays for cremation and doesn’t request “individual” will have their pet cremated in a combined cremation, and then if you get the ashes back you will get mixed ashes of yours and other pets. My question is, what kind of oversight is there over the pet cremation business? Who can really tell if we’re getting what we request — and what we pay for — when we ask for an individual cremation? It seems to me this is the kind of business which is ripe for shenanigans — who’s going to be able to tell if the ashes they get back are really their pet’s? And unlike the human cremation industry, I can’t imagine there’s much real oversight. I guess it’s all about trust — can we trust them?? I think it’s worth a story!
July 21st, 2008 at 11:06 am
tsforza:
To quote your own bio: “Let us make this very clear: We are news reporters, not editorial writers. Our job is to find stuff out”.
This story is short on facts and long on inappropriate “humor”. How do you expect to be taken seriously?
July 21st, 2008 at 11:15 am
Disgusting. And you’re no help with your shallow humor. This is not a “laugh-or-cry” sort of thing, it’s just sad. Your pathetic skills in writing will no doubt take you far. OC Register indeed.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:18 am
SciDudette - that *is* an interesting question, and I’ll see what I can find out about it.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:26 am
Well, the Register is obviously going for (rather desperate?) sensationalism lately! That homepage headline — “Dead pets end up as soap, candles, fish food” is obviously sensationalistic and meant to get you to click on the story — one might say this is not exactly hard news in OC! But in the reporter’s defense, she doesn’t write the headlines…and you know what, it worked…it got everyone to click on it and read it. And what she’s saying is the awful truth — and people need to read it.
The larger story here, I think, is the whole “food chain” angle. If spongiform encephalopathies (”mad cow disease”) or any other “prion” diseases are out there in the animal population and actually ARE passed along by humans consuming parts or rendered goop from infected animals — then we are all in a lot of trouble. Because the rendered combined goop from dead shelter pets, dead meat carcasses, probably “downer” animals (animals too diseased or weak to make it into the slaughterhouse), road kill (rabies? Elk wasting disease?) and maybe carcasses from your vet’s office all go into the soup, and become our makeup, candy, car wax, jello, etc. Prions apparently are not destroyed by heat or rendering, so yay. Putting bone meal on your garden? Wear a mask and don’t breathe it in! Vegetarian? You can’t escape from it — you’d have to monitor exactly where many non-food products you use came from. Even your pets may be eating the remains of other pets — most popular pet foods contain “meat by-products” (which can be anything) and the slurry of “flavor” that is sprayed as a coating on most dry pet foods is reportedly mostly from the rendering-plant stew. Now there’s a Register headline — “Are your pets eating other pets?”!
July 21st, 2008 at 11:34 am
you cannot claim that the remnants of companion animals are rendered into “edible tallow” or any means by which a human could consume. from what i read on the national renderer’s website is that only slaughterhouse remains and typically eaten animals are rendered into edible fats. i would also find it hard to believe that any fish fed companion animal feed would make it into the US food chain. as offensive as this story is, you have to think about what we would actually do with the remains if they weren’t being “recycled.”
July 21st, 2008 at 11:49 am
The headline most certainly grabbed my attention to the article and I am very interested to know more about the recycling of animal remains. After reading this piece made me want to do a little more research to answer some of my own questions. I just think that it could have been written without the callous humor. I could tell the journalist wanted to be informative and I did get a lot of information from it but I also couldnt help but be sick from the heartless choice of words and remarks that were used. This article could have been nicely written without all of the bad humor.
I’m still on the fence with the whole bean burrito comment, its juvenile and has no meaning in this article
July 21st, 2008 at 12:11 pm
and that is why I burry all of my dead animals, I don’t let the vet keep them. Who knows where my best friend would end up, or as what they’d end up.
Who knows, we might start having to “render” humans next!
July 21st, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I’m not eating any more gummi bears!
July 21st, 2008 at 12:28 pm
CREMATING WILL NOT DAMAGE OUR ENVIRONMENT.
IT IS NO DIFFERENT THAN BURNING THE WASTE FROM HOSPITALS.
OR CREMATING PEOPLE.
STOP THE INSANITY OF DOWNING ANIMALS FOR PROFIT.
AND THEY DO NOT THINK ANYTHING OF IT.
NO CONSCIENCE.
.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:01 pm
WOW. Way to ripe the writer apart guys. All she did was report the story and try to keep her sanity. In a situation like this, where you are virtually helpless in saving the thousands of animals euthanized each year, what can you do? Theres no point in crying over it. We have a million reasons to spend our day crying about the worlds problems and our own. I do not think this article is funny, but why shoot down people for trying? Why do you think Jon Stewart is so popular. He’s making light of a crappy situation so that people can stomach it. I think you people are getting mad at the wrong person. How bout you get mad at your neighbors who don’t spay or neuter their pets? Or puppy mills and pet shops? Until you actually do something about this problem by protesting or speaking out at city council to support laws for spaying and neutering, your harsh comments toward the writer mean very little. I think humor is a good way to get the news out there. If we got the straight facts about every horrible thing going on in the world, we’d go insane. And obviously by getting this story out the writer is reaching people and getting them passionate about making a change. Is that bad? Why don’t you spend time making an effort to fix this problem rather than trying to fire this writer. Give the lady a break. Geez.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:42 pm
alot
This is a newspaper, not the late show. Jon Stewart is an entertainer. Teri Sforza is NOT. The “humor” was not meant to soften the blow. It was meant to entertain at the expense of the victims. It was out of place. It was inappropriate. It was not funny. It shows extreme insensitively. The writer deserves all the negative comments. And how do you know that some here at not involved in other attemps to save animals. You don’t know. Some things are just not funny. Would you want your doctor to make a joke while he told you that you had a deadly illness? “Well, Jon Stewart does it”. I don’t think so.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Try
http://www.petakillsanimals.com/
RF ☺
July 21st, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Alot: I have 3 cats and 1 dog all of which were saved from various animal shelters. They are also “fixed” so I dont have to worry about adding to the already oversized pet population. So being the animal lover that I am, I was quite upset at the lack of tact and sensitivity that Teri Sforza had when she wrote her article. I’m not asking her to love animals and to be respectful for their sake but have a little more class and professionalism since she is representing a large newspaper that have readers that will most likely not understand her strange humor.
Like the comment that was already mentioned, she is a journalist not a comedienne so if she wants to be funny then maybe she should be looking for a job writing for SNL
July 21st, 2008 at 2:45 pm
VoiceofReason
I know exactly what you mean. I have no idea what they’re are going to do because I also have too many shoes. It’s really not funny because they will have to be copied onto DVD’s soon. God will be by our side in times of oatmeal demolition.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I think Alot has a great point, and I think this writer is being nothing but brutally honest. And there’s nothing wrong with having tone in your writing.
I think VoiceofReason needs to have a sense of humor. “Entertain at the expense of the victims”?? So more kittens were ground up into gelatin because this article was written? Um, no. This writer actually is helping bring the situation out in the light.
VoiceofReason needs to be more like VoiceOfLightenUpPleaseAndActOnThisArticleInsteadOfBashingTheAuthor
July 21st, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I think Teri deserves our thanks for bringing this to the attention of many people who would otherwise not be aware or not want to think about this. It’s a reality, and it happens every day, and people need to know in a blatant way that this is what happens when there’s an overpopulation of pets.
I think we would all like to know about the safety factor of the rendering slurry, too — how concerned should we be that this rendered organic goo is going into food and personal products that all of us use every day? Assuming rendering kills infectious diseases, but obviously not prion diseases…the worst-case scenario, of course, is that we’ve all been infected with some form of encephalopathy that, because of its extremely slow rate of development, won’t show up in us for 20 or 30 years. (And because of the widespread use of rendering goo in non-food items, vegetarians are not off the hook — in other words, don’t wax the car and rub your eye, or enjoy a gummi bear or dish of jello!) There is a faction that believes that Alzheimer’s disease may be caused by prions and may be a form of “mad cow” — of course this is all still a mystery. But the theories are out there. The sad part is no one truly knows the origins of spongiform encephalopathies, including Alzheimer’s. Even if one or two “mad cows” made it into the food chain ten or 15 years ago, there’s no way we could tell how many products their, um, products went into, and how many people might have been infected as a result. The government doesn’t have enough veterinarians to inspect all meat animals. And there’s not much we could do about it now if it suddenly were discovered that we’ve been infecting ourselves through the remarkably widespread use of cooked-down animal goo that percolates through almost every level of human consumption. Soap, toothpaste, mouthwash, hair dyes, nail polish, photographic film, crayons, glue, solvents, shoe polish, toys, anti-freeze, pharmaceutical products (all those gelcaps we consume in medicines, for one thing), cosmetics…you can’t avoid rendered animal goo any more in our society. But — you can’t become a recluse and not live your life, unless you want to move to an uninhabited stretch of land and grow your own food. Yup, definitely a story or series of stories there!
July 21st, 2008 at 3:48 pm
yay! I like SciDudette. How about we work together to make things better rather than ragging on each other. I assume everyone in here is an animal lover since everyone is so P.O.ed at this article. SAVE THE ANIMALS! I’m doing what I can by fostering 4 kittens through an adoption service so they won’t be put to sleep. Just so everyone knows, fostering is a good way to help out if you can’t permanently have animals. You get them out of cages for a while and provide a temporary loving home while they get adjusted to people.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Christopher Clark and Alot, I think you two are friends of the writer that didnt want to blog in her own defense so she called you two up instead to do it for her. How pathetic, by any chance are you guys all in the same high school journalism class together?
Teri, your article was very informative but you could have left the sick humor out of it. I give you a B+. Let me know how that bean burrito tastes tonight. We want to hear all about it later
July 21st, 2008 at 5:30 pm
OH REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY?!?! You know what???
We’re actually part of the same high school journalism swingers group and she called us up to DO HER. Get your facts straight.
By the way you have an amazing sense of humor and everyone wants to hear your opinion. What comments we write in these blogs will affect the world one day.
I’m patiently awaiting what CRAP you all will come up with next
JESUS CHRIST
July 21st, 2008 at 6:20 pm
WELL ALOT
If you really were who you claimed to be you, would already know what is to be.
Do not use the Lord’s name in vain, you will not be held guiltless.
.
July 21st, 2008 at 6:23 pm
alot’
Your posts confirm that you don’t have the intellect to form coherent thoughts or grasp the obvious. You and people like you are what make blog sites an intellectual wasteland. Go watch your VHS tapes of Jon Stewart.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Now THAT’S recycling!
July 21st, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Too funny but true voice of reason.
.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Well, if you REALLY wanted to be efficient, people would go into the vat, too. Why waste good resources sticking them into the ground, or burning them? We could come back as lipstick, K-Y jelly, soap, and fish food.
Personally, I’d like to be useful to the end, and beyond.
“Mommy, my Tilapia tastes like grampa!”
July 21st, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Now I know what happened to my cat. Stop crying you peta freaks, You all created this problem. You want to walk around with your fancy mutts in your expensive doggy purses and feel that you have reached Paris Hilton status when all you do is look foolish. So next time you splatter on your lipdick or wash your body with dove or even light a candle for a romantic evening remember you also add to the problem. So relax in your nice leather dead cattle couches and sip a glass of merlot
July 21st, 2008 at 9:34 pm
thats ghetto. i didnt know mac had labrador brown lipstick!
July 21st, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Ugh… Just what do they call this “ingredient” in lipstick??? At least give us a head’s up on what this by-product is called. There are many makeups that do not use animals, and they state that…
I would like to know more about this issue. Jackdaripper you’re rather jumping to conclusions. PETA? I doubt anyone here posting belongs to that group. It appears just some concerned animal lovers. Who wants to be Paris Hilton? Who splatters on lipdick (I think you meant lipstick) on their body, and I don’t use Dove (with a capital by the way), nor do I light candles for romantic evenings, and I don’t have a dead cattle couch (I do have a nice leather chair), and I drink Cabernet. Why did we create this problem? My cats are fixed and live indoors.
July 21st, 2008 at 10:29 pm
1. Typically, I write in to criticize OCR staff/writers for poor story, poor proofing….NOT THIS TIME!!! EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT JOB ON THIS STORY!!!!
2. To all the ignorant people who wrote in with their STUPID comments….you are probably the same people (normally guys) who don’t want your dogs nad choppped off because it is a reflection on your own manhood, and lack thereof. SPEND ONE LOUSY DAY IN ANY SHELTER ON ANY DAY AND HOPEFULLY YOU WILL SEE THE LIGHT WHEN THESE ANIMALS ARE PUT TO DEATH PURELY BECAUSE THEY EXIST.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Why do dogs and cats get such special treatment? What makes them above the rest of the animal kingdom?
“Vegetarians” my hide.
It’s evolution baby, they lost.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:38 am
Why do you care what I say? My mind is just an intellectual wasteland and apparently the good Christians here have sentenced me to hell already
I’m going to go feed my kitties. Have fun fighting and calling people ignorant. I’m sure that will solve problems.
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:00 am
i lost both my dogs this year at age 14 and 12. i thought this was an informative article and im surprised so many people were offended by it and were so mean to the user above. i can only hope these people will be more accepting in everyday life.
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:08 am
[…] So yesterday we told you about the County of Orange’s $49,000 contract with West Coast Rendering, the firm that picks up some 23,000 animal carcasses (roadkill, euthanized dogs, cats, rabbits, etc.) a year and recycles them into (among other things) protein meal that’s sold overseas. (Read the original post here.) […]
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:57 am
jack
Some people have respect for all life. especially those that want nothing more than a toy and some companionship. You are obviously not one of them. so why worry? Do us all a favor and never have a pet. Anyone who chooses the screen name that you did obviously has a serious personality disorder and shouldn’t be allow around animals anyway. It would be an insult to the animals!
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:25 am
The problem is not what they do with the dead bodies, the problem is that there are SO MANY dead bodies. The OC Shelter kills 50% of the animals that go in there - 13,000 last year. And they have been killing about 13,000 a year since the century began. We (in OC) have one of the highest kill rates in the nation, and significantly higher than our neighbors in LA and SD. What is everyone else doing that we are not?
Aggressive spay and neuter programs. Not mandatory, but aggressive. Other counties offer mobile spay and neuter, discounts, events, etc. As a result, they spay and neuter far more animals than we do, and, as a result, they kill fewer animals and the number of animals they kill each year goes down, not up. OC does almost nothing in this area.
Aggressive feral cat catching, neutering, and releasing. Feral cats are a major part of shelter admissions. Other counties have very good programs that identify the feral cat colonies and then systematically trap, neuter, and release. Again, OC does practically nothing.
By all means be horrified about what happens to the dead animals. But be more horrified by the fact that they are killed for space, and be even more horrified that in wealthy Orange County we do such a poor job that this problem could be significantly reduced.
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:59 am
Will your story cover and details about which high schools in Orange County are taking the bodies of departed pets into their science classes and using them for instructional purposes?
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:08 am
Oh, and Dr. Gardner…
You should probably identify yourself and explain the “Dr.” part of your title before you start throwing “facts” around like ” We (in OC) have one of the highest kill rates in the nation, and significantly higher than our neighbors in LA and SD.”
That statement along makes be suspect you’ve not visited any shelters in Los Angeles County, especially the infamous Carson “Shelter”.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:33 am
Not to mention that rendered animal carcasses end up in our pet foods. They’ve done studies over the years about the use of domestic pets that are euthanized and then sold to rendering companies (after veterinarians noticed the normal dosage of euthanasia chemicals were not effectively euthanizing the animals). Those euthanized pets, chemicals and all, are going into pet foods and building up a resistance to the euthanasia chemical (sodium pentabarbitol).
Do a search on the net for ‘What’s Really in Pet Food?’.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:38 am
On a side note, Santa Ana offers a free spay/neuter program for residents. All they have to do is fill out a form (which is available in Spanish, too) and request a voucher. Do you think the majority of the residents of Santa Ana give a darn? Nope, all the animals I see wandering are still in tact. Perhaps, the Cities need to do a better job of educating the general public AND also informing them that they will start enforcing and penalizing those that do not alter their pets. How can people not alter their pets when it’s free? That’s pure stupidity or just apathy to the situation.
Those who don’t alter their animals should have to spend a week at a shelter being present when animals are euthanized. Perhaps that might cure some people!
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Thank you Teri Sforza, another article of truth from you. Not pleasant but definitely reality. It is very sad but unfortunately not surprising that many people find it impossible to think beyond themselves to look at the facts and the greater good in the neuter/spay issue. That is the kind of thinking that is causing the severe pet overpopulation and the 13,000 deaths of pets last year who didn’t get to have any say in this matter in Orange County. Apparently those of us who choose to be responsible pet owners and those who don’t have pets don’t seem to have a say in this matter either. The State, the County and the Cities are continuing to require us to pay huge amounts of money to kill pets that we don’t want to kill. Where are our rights and why are we expected to pay for the hobbies or bad behavior of others? Many people are hobby breeders and others just breed animals randomly for money. What if I ask the State to charge everyone else for my hobbies or an “individual right” of mine that I selfishly allow to become the responsibility of everyone else? If you think that is okay multiply that by the numbers of people who have ads under pets for sale and you get the idea. AB1634 is now watered down to the point that is only affects people who have pets that have not been neutered or spayed and are allowed to repeatedly run loose in the neighborhoods to create more unwanted pets and be a nuisance to people and other pets. Is that really something we all want to continue to support with our tax money? I will not be voting for any politicians who support that. People can still have a pet that is not neutered or spayed, they just have to pay more. That is fair. People have to pay more for everything else they want that is more of a risk to others, why not this. If people insist on being part of the pool of people who have pets that are not neutered or spayed they should also be part of the pool of people who pay for the consequences of that behavior.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
[…] most popular entry on the blog so far is this one, which details what happens to the 23,000 animal carcasses the county of Orange (they go to Vernon, […]
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:49 pm
More animal “rights” garbage -
Animal Welfare or Animal Rights?
Here are some of the differences:
As animal welfare advocates. . .
• We seek to improve the treatment and well-being of animals.
• We support the humane treatment of animals that ensures comfort and freedom from unnecessary pain and suffering.
• We believe we have the right to “own” animals — they are our property.
• We believe animal owners should provide loving care for the lifetime of their animals.
As animal rights activists. . .
• They seek to end the use and ownership of animals, including the keeping of pets.
• They believe that any use of an animal is exploitation so, not only must we stop using animals for food and clothing, but pet ownership must be outlawed as well.
• They want to obtain legal rights for animals as they believe that animals and humans are equal.
• They use false and unsubstantiated allegations of animal abuse to raise funds, attract media attention and bring supporters into the movement. (The Inhumane Crusade, Daniel T. Oliver)
http://www.naiaonline.org (check this out if you REALLY want to help animals)
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:03 am
Hi digitaldude
You asked for an explanation of my doctorate and also for the details about the statistics I quoted. I’m happy to oblige.
I have a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Ohio State University, an APA approved program. By itself this isn’t necessarily a qualification to be able to handle statistics. However, during my career, I have been a Professor and Department Head and taught classes in experimental design and research, authored more than 100 scientific papers published in scholarly journals, and for a few years, worked as a management consultant to Fortune 500 companies doing market research.
With regard to the kill rate at OC, I have a paper on this subject and I would be happy to share it with you if you’ll write me at socoasc@yahoo.com. Let me give you some comparative kill rates for “open shelters” in California all of which have significantly lower kill rate than the nearly 50% in Orange County - Nevada 2%, San Francisco 2%, San Luis Obispo 3%, Richmond 21%, Peninsula 27%, Palo Alto 27%, Los Angeles City 32%, Merced 33%, Santa Cruz 36%, Monterey 36%, San Diego 37%.
August 3rd, 2008 at 5:38 am
This is disgusting. This is why it is so important that we research our pet food before we just feed it to them. So sad…and sick!
August 4th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
I wonder who else is getting kickbacks? Any cities who don’t want to have an animal shelter perhaps?
This makes me very sick and very sad. It’s all about the money once again.
Please Cities…………do the right thing. Listen to your residents who want an animal shelter. There is enough support and money for it.
This is a tragedy that this is happening in the once great United States of America. This story sounds like it should be coming from a 3rd world country - not here.
DeeDee
August 19th, 2008 at 6:56 am
[…] OC’s dead pets enter the food chain. Mmmm. […]
August 19th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Great subject, terrible presentation of material. Obviously an intern who chunked an opportunity to inform the reader with her careless wit and humor.
August 25th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
[…] OC’s dead pets enter the food chain. Mmmm. […]
August 26th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
[…] OC’s dead pets enter the food chain. Mmmm. […]
August 26th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
[…] Recent Comments Alan on The “smear campaign” against the Boy ScoutsKymSue on The “smear campaign” against the Boy ScoutsChristina on OC Boy Scouts see steep drop in revenuesThe half-billion-dollar Boy Scout stash - OC Watchdog - OCRegister.com on On watch at the nuclear plant: ZzzzzzzzzzzzzThe half-billion-dollar Boy Scout stash - OC Watchdog - OCRegister.com on OC’s dead pets enter the food chain. Mmmm. […]