The human face, wearing a smile, the single most appealing adornment then and now, is framed by the surrendered animal.
We have abundant information, including the recent testimony of a whistleblower, who worked at PETA fifteen years ago: "I was told regularly to say whatever I had to say in order to get people to surrender animals to me: lying was not only acceptable, it was encouraged".
The county also has begun a partnership with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in which the society's staff intervene with people coming in to surrender animals and try to direct them to resources that could help them keep their pets.
But Mr. Alexander surrendered his animals quietly, and claimed, according to Mr. Pastore, that he had a permit for the pets, something ordinarily issued only to laboratories, educational institutions or circuses.
People surrender animals to shelters hoping, for the most part, that they will be re-homed.
The result is that more dogs are being bred and sold, and then surrendered to animal shelters once the novelty of having a little dog wears off.
Sadly, it looks unlikely.As the number of job losses and foreclosures has mounted over the past two years, some people have chosen to surrender their animals, unable to afford pet food let alone veterinary care.
Diamond's event comes as a crucial time when an overwhelming number of pet owners are surrendering their animals to shelters because of the doghouse economy and the increase in home foreclosures.
Puerto Ricans who find they can no longer afford to keep their pets often choose to drop their dogs, sometimes even whole litters of puppies, at a beach -- sometimes under cover of night, in secret -- rather than surrender the animal to a city or state-run shelter where the animals will face grim conditions and almost certain death by euthanasia.
But adopting out problematic animals surrendered by their owners has proven more difficult, she said.
Let's give you the time to focus on yourself, and if the end result, if they have to surrender the animal, it will be the reality for some, but we hope not for most".
