Please rethink your programming agenda for "That's My Baby". Countless animal advocates across Canada and the U.S. are working tirelessly to educate people about the horrors of pet overpopulation. The Discovery Channel would be an ideal medium to promote spaying and neutering, and informing the public about the cold, hard facts - that approximately 15 million companion animals are euthenized every year at SPCA's in North America. It is estimated that if public and private pounds (which have daily intakes that far surpass those of SPCA's) were factored in, the numbers would rise to as many as 100 million animals every year because not enough good homes are available.

Your program may instead wish to air segments on puppymills and the horrific lives these animals are forced to endure, petstores that sell animals and the inhumane conditions many of these animals are housed in, and show a family who is unable to find homes for their new litters experience watching these little souls die by euthenasia. This would provide far greater educational value than showing the short-lived joy of producing yet another litter of puppies or kittens to end up who knows where. You may also wish to contact the State of New York or the ASPCA which can provide you with information on their breeding legislation which was passed on July 1, 2002, which aims to curtail breeding and provide fines to those who are not licenced to breed.

Your program may also wish to consider airing a segment on what really happens to animals in the "Free to Good Home" section of the newspaper. The truth is that most of these animals do not go to a good home because most often people do not value what they do not pay for. Many of these animals become part of the food chain or pawns in the cycle of abuse - gerbils and kittens are ideal snake foods, puppies and cats make terrific bait for pit-bull fighting rings, and large breed dogs make wonderful chained guard dogs in industrial sites. You may wish to encourage your viewers to contact their newspaper editors and have the Free section removed from the newspaper.

You have the viewers and you have the means to really make a difference to animals across Canada and the US. I would be happy to provide a number of websites that deal with the above issues. The site directors have a wealth of good solid knowledge and hard facts to support their sites.

I look forward to your response.

Vera van Diepen, St. Albert, Alberta, Canada