The Campaign Slogan: "Be a Human Being - Care for your Dog"On May 14, 2007, Minister of Agriculture Shalom Simhon and Minister of Environmental Protection Gideon Ezra launched a national campaign, aimed at improving the lives of the dog population in Israel by means of spaying and neutering. The campaign will allow dog owners to spay or neuter their dogs for a third of the normal price. In parallel, a radio broadcast recorded by actress and animal welfare activist Ornah Banai will be aired to explain the importance of spaying and neutering and information brochures will be distributed among all veterinary clinics in Israel. The Governmental Advertising Agency will be responsible for advertising and information. Objectives of the Campaign Hundreds of thousands of dogs are abandoned in Israel every year. Official data put the number at 50 thousand while unofficial estimates reach 100 thousand. Most of these dogs are destined to die - either on the streets or through euthanasia in dog pounds. Ministers Ezra and Simhon have stated that they initiated the campaign in order to reduce the numbers of unwanted births and prevent suffering to many tens of thousands of homeless dogs. "Spaying and neutering are the right and humane way to stop the vicious cycle of hundreds of thousands of births - and hundreds of thousands of deaths," said Simhon. Minister Ezra stated that the cycle of births and deaths also carries an economic price beyond the suffering caused to dogs. The cost of addressing the problem of abandoned dogs is estimated at some 25 million shekels each year, with the costs borne by the state through the Minister of the Interior, local authorities and animal welfare organizations (which are in turn funded by the Ministry of Environmental Protection). Some 3 million shekels have been allocated for the campaign. The Ministries of Agriculture and Environmental Protection have each allocated one million shekels, and following intervention from the Prime Minister?s Office, the Treasury has agreed to allocate an additional one million shekels. Of the total, 600 thousand shekels have been allocated for publicity and information and the rest, 2.4 million, for subsidizing spaying and neutering surgery. The average cost of spaying is some 750 shekels and of neutering 450 shekels. During the course of the campaign, the dog owner will only pay a third of the cost, the veterinarian will waive a third of the fee and the state will be responsible for a third of the cost. Therefore, during the campaign period, the dog owner will only pay 250 shekels for spaying and 150 shekels for neutering. The names of the participating veterinarians appear on the website of the Minister of Agriculture and the dog owner will be able to choose a veterinarian out of the list. Some 100 veterinarians in Israel have committed to participate in the campaign and others will hopefully join once the campaign takes off. Developing the Campaign Message The campaign message was developed by an interministerial staff, headed by Dr. Deganit Ben Dov, responsible for animal welfare in the Ministry of Agriculture, with the participation of Dr. Moshe Rafalowich, Chief Veterinarian of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, Uri Yaffe, Chairman of the Noah Federation of Israel Animal Welfare Groups (the umbrella organization of animal welfare organizations), and professionals from the two ministries - Agriculture and Environmental Protection. The principles were formulated in coordination with the Association of Pet Veterinarians headed by Dr. Yoni Litwin. The campaign message was formulated based on a survey which revealed that the vast majority of dog owners (80%) are aware that puppies are euthanized in pounds or abandoned in the streets. Yet most prefer not to spay and neuter their dogs. Others are concerned about possible side effects or argue that spaying and neutering are either immoral or unnatural. Dr. Deganit Ben Dov said that the findings of the survey made the team recognize that dog owners care first and foremost about their own private dog and are less concerned by the sad state of abandoned dogs in general. Therefore, the team decided to emphasize messages which relate to the advantages of spaying and neutering your dog, and the campaign slogan was accordingly chosen to be: "Be a Human Being - Care for your Dog." Information Components of the Campaign
The information campaign includes several components: - Radio broadcasts by actress and animal welfare activist Ms. Ornah Banai about the importance of spaying and neutering.
- Distribution of information brochures among all veterinary clinics.
- Production and distribution of posters and stickers.
- Direct mailings to dog owners in Israel about the advantages of spaying and neutering, in both Hebrew and Arabic.
- Announcements in Arabic in two newspapers. Dissemination of information on the Hebrew, English, Arabic and children?s websites of the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
The information materials will present the advantages of spaying and neutering including health benefits, disease prevention, improved quality of life and behavior of the dog, and marginality of the side effects of the procedure which can be reduced with the right treatment. The campaign will also address the question of the "unnaturalness" and "immorality" of spaying/neutering. According to Dr. Rafalowich, it is important for dog owners to know that dogs do not have sexual or maternal instincts; rather they respond to hormonal changes. When the production of hormones responsible for sexual behavior is prevented, the dogs do not feel any loss. Uri Yaffe has stated that "whoever says that it is not immoral to spay and neuter dogs should understand that it is much less moral to allow the birth of puppies that will never find a home and will be destined to die" The dog spaying and neutering campaign was launched in a press conference on May 14, 2007, by Ministers Simhon and Ezra. The two ministers also visited the dog shelter of the NGO "Let Animals Live" in the Dror Farm in Moshav Talmei Menashe at the entrance to the city of Ramle, which confronts the problem of abandoned dogs on a daily basis. They were accompanied by actress Ornah Banai, who will take an active part in the information campaign. For more information:
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