PaLC: Stamp Out! Why not a semi-postal stamp?

Why Not a Semi-Postal?

NOT ONLY STAMPS!
BUT ALSO, AN AMERICAN PARTNERSHIP!

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE STAMPS, SPAY/NEUTER AND THE PARTNESHIP AT

The American Partnership
for Pets Website

STAMP OUT
Campaign History
(1996-2001)

Campaign FAQs
An Interview with Hope Tarr
Campaign Milestones
Why a stamp?
Why NOT a Semi-Postal?
Stamp Out Press Releases
Fabulous Farley!
Celebrity Support
Stamp Endorsements
USPS Criteria
Please Mr. Postmaster!

"The habit of looking on the bright side of every event is worth more than a thousand pounds a year.

-- Samuel Johnson

Since the nation's first semipostal stamp (stamp to raise funds in support of a designated cause or charity) was issued in July 1998 to raise funds for breast cancer research, many of you have contacted PaLC to suggest that we follow suit and ask that the U.S. Postal Service issue the proposed Spay/Neuter Your Pet Stamp as a semipostal to raise funds for spay/neuter programs.

To date, we have **not** elected to go the semipostal route, choosing instead to pursue our goal of a U.S. commemorative stamp to serve as a humane educational tool for the public at large.

PaLC's official position on the Spay/Neuter Semipostal concept is that it's a fabulous idea but one whose time has yet to come. Why? A number of reasons, a few of which we'd like to share with you now.

--Foremost, we don't like to muck with success! On August 22nd, STAMP OUT coordinator Hope Tarr received a telephone call from David Failor, Manager of Community relations for USPS, to confirm that the Spay/Neuter Stamp will be issued in 2002 not as one stamp but as TWO! Spay Your Pet will depict a cat; Neuter Your Pet will depict a dog; both will feature high-quality photos designed to pluck the heartstrings of even the most jaded of hearts. Victory is at hand, folks, and so we at PaLC would be concerned, very concerned, that to rock the boat now by asking for more might very well result in all of us getting not just less but perhaps nothing at all. (It's not unheard of for a stamp project to be canceled or put on the backburner--only witness the recent brouhaha over the planned stamp to honor controversial Mexican artist, Friedo Kahlo).

-- Secondly, until Congress mandated that USPS issue the Breast Cancer Semipostal, the nation's first fundraiser stamp, Postal guidelines for stamp proposals stated that no semipostals -- charity stamps -- would be considered. Period. Philatelists at large also fought the BC proposal. In fact, then American Philatelic Society (APS) president Randy Neil went so far as to send a letter to President Clinton urging him **not** to sign the legislation. Their argument--stamp collectors shouldn't have to subsidize charities in order to have a complete collection and that the BC Semipostal would actually amount to levying a "tax" on the hobby.

-- But of course, the Breast Cancer Semipostal was issued and by and large has done well as the postal sales window. Owing to its success in raising funds for research, Congress has legislated that there be a semipostal program, with a different charity stamp to be issued at two year intervals through 2010. This past winter/early spring USPS called for the public to submit suggestions for future charity stamp topics. Sounds perfect, right? But -- and here's a big 'but' -- the current guidelines state that future semipostals must be reserved for charities that deal with "human problems." And then of course, even if this caveat were removed, any proposal would still be required to delineate what organization or organizations would receive the generated S/N monies.

Harkening once more to the BC example, one oft forgotten fact is that the semipostal BC stamp was, in fact, predated by a Breast Cancer Awareness stamp (a woman viewed in profile and from the back along w/ the pink ribbon logo). That BC Awareness Stamp was in 1993 and was, at the time, a wee bit controversial in some circles but it seemed to resonate w/ the public at large as reflected in good sales, and thus paved the way for the Semipostal BC five years later. We at PaLC believe -- and granted this is just our opinion but we do think it's an informed opinion -- that if it hadn't been for the public awareness version of that stamp, we never would have seen the charity/semipostal version.

In closing, we'd like to take this opportunity to yet again thank all of you for your steadfast support over the years. The average print run for a U.S. commemorative stamp is 80 MILLION. That's a heck of a lot of SPAY/NEUTER YOUR PET messages hitting the streets, not to mention being showcased in the country's more than 40,000 post offices.

If there was ever opportunity to get our message mainstreamed -- heard -- this is it! That we have the opportunity to reach literally millions is a cause for celebration to be sure. But if we can open just one mind, soften just one heart, the project will be a success, all the hard work more than worthwhile. We hope you'll agree.

Note: Please do be aware, that part of the American Partnership for Pets agenda is to help community groups raise funds for spay/neuter programs.