JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Animal welfare groups say the pandemic is exacerbating the overpopulation crisis for cats and dogs.

According to Lisa Lange, senior vice president of communications with "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals," more than six million cats and dogs enter shelters in the U.S. each year. And with COVID-19 safety protocols in place, she explains shelters are unable to let people come in for pet adoptions, or host off-site adoption events.

"And yet there's still a flow of animals coming in, made worse by people being out of a job," says Lange. "So, we're getting reports from around the country that people are giving up their animals because they can't afford to keep them anymore."

A survey conducted before the pandemic estimated that 44% of Missouri pet owners struggle to afford their pets.

Lange says prevention is the best solution, and her group encourages spaying and neutering for cats and dogs. According to PETA, one female dog and her puppies can result in the births of 67,000 dogs in just six years.

Instead of purchasing a pet from a breeder, Lange urges Missourians to always adopt from animal shelters. Right now, many are holding appointment-based adoptions.

She notes a silver lining to the pandemic has been the uptick in people becoming pet foster parents, which takes pressure off the shelter system.

"Really, in the best of all possible worlds, shelters should have a small number of animals," says Lange. "But we shouldn't be seeing animals breeding anymore. We have far too many homeless animals, all of whom are deserving of good homes. But we need to bring that number down. "

She adds that low-cost and free spay-and-neuter programs, often available through humane societies or veterinarians, are key to the overpopulation crisis. And she says people should encourage their local governments to subsidize these programs.



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The University of Wisconsin won a recent legal battle tied to accusations of animal abuse within its research facilities. Activists hope that doesn't end the conversation - or the scrutiny.

The case had to do with the university restricting social media comments critical of certain conditions. Those comments were posted by Maddie Krasno, who graduated from UW in 2013 and now is an animal-rights advocate. Her lawsuit was dismissed, but Kranso said she feels what she witnessed while working in the school's facilities as a student is commonplace across the United States.

She said neither school administrators nor those enforcing standards are willing to act meaningfully.

"The people who are making the decisions are not considering, truly, the needs of these animals," she said, "and that would have to change."

Kranso's primary role was an animal caretaker, saying she witnessed deplorable and traumatizing conditions for primates. In recent years, UW was cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. The school did not respond to a request for comment, but in a statement from 2020, it said similar accusations, by the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, were misleading, and that it takes animal care seriously.

Rick Bogle, a volunteer with the group Alliance for Animals, agreed that the University of Wisconsin's situation isn't unique. He said he feels federal officials can do their part by improving their inspection protocols when assessing these labs.

"Most of them are inspected annually, and annually appears not enough," he said. "Sometimes, these visits are just a few hours, or less than a day. And a place like the University of Wisconsin, there's labs all over campus."

Federal officials also did not respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile, Kranso said universities need to take into account the emotional impact on the people who perform daily tasks in their research facilities.

"There should be a non-affiliated psychologist or therapist with these institutions that have to check in on workers, especially student workers."

The opossum has become a popular part of the internet, with memes dedicated to the funny-looking animal across the web. In the wild, an Idaho researcher says the scruffy marsupials deserve our respect.

Donna Holmes Parks PhD is an associate professor in the biology department at the University of Idaho, who has studied opossums since the 1970s. She said people probably shouldn't keep them as pets but they aren't dangerous.

"Since they live in so many people's backyards, I think it's nice for people not to be afraid of them," said Holmes Parks, "because they're really harmless, unless you go grabbing one, and they're not difficult wildlife to deal with. You can handle wild ones if you know how."

Holmes Parks said the sudden interest in opossums is fascinating, if also a bit confounding. But this could also be a moment for people to learn more about these creatures.

Opossums in the United States originate in the Southeast. While they typically don't like rocky areas, the marsupials can be found on the West Coast.

Cousin to creatures such as koalas and kangaroos, opossums are the only marsupials found in North America. The rest live in Australia.

Holmes Parks said they do well in suburban areas and will eat compost and dead animals, but aren't pests like rats.

"They're kind of recyclers of the world," said Holmes Parks, "and they're just good at taking advantage of whatever circumstances they find themselves in."

She described them as living fossils, most likely resembling the first mammals that walked the earth.

And that may be the extent of their purpose, so to speak, which Holmes Parks said is just fine.

"It's not like they're a keystone predator or something like a wolf or important like a moose," said Holmes Parks, "but they're just part of the richness of our environment, as far as I'm concerned."

Three dozen wild horses have been shot and killed in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, and an Arizona group is advocating for protection for wild horses in the area near Alpine.

Another 15 to 20 horses are missing.

Simone Netherlands, president and founder of the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group, is convinced the total number of horse killings will increase as the group continues to search the vast 500,000-acre forest.

She said she believes the negativity about wild horses has been catalyzed by agencies and organizations that see these animals as a threat to the ecosystem.

"The problem is they have zero protection," said Netherlands. "They are not protected by federal law and they're not protected by state law. They're not protected by anything. It is almost easy to go out there and shoot them."

According to a U.S. Forest Service website, the wild horses are considered "unauthorized livestock" that competes for food with other animals and plants.

Netherlands said she recognizes that grazing animals have an impact on the environment, but said the close to 400 wild horses in Arizona are the minority among thousands of "authorized" cows, elk and deer - which she contends have a much greater impact on the ecosystem.

While it's still unclear who's killing these horses and why, a $35,000 reward is available to anyone who provides information that leads to a conviction.

The wild horses are periodically rounded up by the Forest Service and taken to auction.

Netherlands said the agency doesn't use other forms of herd management, and she encouraged members of the public to ask for a change.

"The worst waste of compassion is a tear and a sigh," said Netherlands. "And the best use of compassion is to turn it into action. We can turn around this terrible injustice that is being done to wild horses."

Her group has successfully led efforts to save other wild horse populations - like the Salt River wild horses, now protected by an Arizona state law.

The group manages that herd size with darts that contain birth control for the mares.

Netherlands said now, instead of having 100 foals on the Salt River, there is currently only one.