The St. Petersburg Times should be ashamed of the article criticizing the SPCA Tampa Bay. As a volunteer at the shelter for the last year, I can attest that the staff and volunteers work tirelessly to ensure the well-being and comfort of the animals in their care.

The SPCA has never promoted itself as a no-kill shelter. The harsh reality is that there aren't enough adpotive homes for healthy, well-adjusted pets - let alone ones that suffer serious behavioral and medical problems.

Rather than criticize the organization and withhold much needed donations, perhaps people should consider volunteering their time to provide round the clock foster care to newborn kittens or to help a dog overcome behavioral problems. The issue here is not how many animals are euthanized at the shelter but how many animals are surrendered or simply thrown away by their irresponsible owners who fail to spay/neuter their pets, fail to provide them with proper training and socialization, and fail to recognize that owning a pet is a full-time commitment for the life of that pet.

The problem of pet over-population and the associated problem of shelters having to make the heart-wrenching decision to euthanize an animal will not come to an end until people take responsibility for their animal's well-being.

Since the reporters seemed so intent on getting accurate numbers from the SPCA, how about an accurate accounting of the advertising dollars that the St. Petersburg Times receives from the pet stores that obtain their puppies for sale from mid-Western puppy mills and from the irresponsible "back-yard breeders" who are producing puppies purely for profit with absolutely no regard for the life that the puppy will lead?

I urge anyone to visit the SPCA and to see the efforts put forth by the staff and volunteers to ensure that every adoptable pet finds a home.

Laura Spelman, Clearwater