As you develop new regulations for determining whether a private animal shelter meets the purpose of finding permanent adoptive homes for animals, I ask that you NOT impose arbitrary adoption quotas or euthanasia caps.

The criterion should be simple and clear:  if private animal shelters are offering animals for public adoption, and placing them in homes, then they have adoption as a purpose.

Adoption quotas and euthanasia caps would only lead to unintended consequences that would be bad for animals - e.g. private shelters would turn away more animals than they already do, or respond by cramming animals into already overcrowded spaces. 

I am very familiar with the work of animal shelters and rescue organizations. Over the last 20 years, I have contributed hundreds of hours of volunteer time to these organizations, and I have donated well into the six figures to support them.  I have also adopted 18 rescued animals, and currently live with ten of them - three horses, two dogs, and five cats.  All of these came from Virginia-based organizations - including three horses and one dog from PETA, one dog from Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, and cats from the SPCA of Northern Virginia, Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation, and Siamese Cat Rescue. 

Thank you very much.