FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT
Contact Person: Terri Haase, President
Organization Name: Save the Dalmatians and Others Canine Rescue
Email Address: terri@savethedals.org
Web site address: http//www.savethedals.org/

Contact Person: Elaine Gewirtz
Organization Name: The Dalmatian Club of Southern California
Email Address: egewirtz@west.net
Web site address: http//dcsc.icomplus.com/

New Disney Movie Prompts Fears of Dalmatian Overbreeding

Los Angeles, CA, 8-2-2000 -Save the Dalmatians and Others Canine Rescue, a non-profit Dalmatian rescue organization, and the Dalmatian Club of Southern California expressed concern that the impending release of Disney's "102 Dalmatians" this fall will renew massive overbreeding of Dalmatians to meet public demand for cute spotted puppies.

Since the live-action version of "101 Dalmatians" was released in November of 1996, Southern California shelters have experienced a surge in abandoned Dalmatians coming through their doors. Last year an estimated 10,000 Dalmatians passed through Southern California's more than 60 shelters and the majority died there. Novice breeders were abandoning not only their adult Dalmatians but whole litters of puppies at shelters because they couldn't sell them. This year the numbers of Dalmatians in Southern California shelters has fallen by 33%, a trend that Dalmatian fanciers hope will continue.

Save the Dalmatians and Others Canine Rescue and the Dalmatian Club of Southern California strongly encourage the Dalmatian-owning public to spay or neuter their Dalmatians rather than breeding them. The number of Dalmatians needing homes still far exceeds the number of families interested in owning Dalmatians.