Persuasive Essay On Domestic Pets

Every pet owner knows there are enormous responsibilities that go along with having a domestic pet. In order to keep ones pets physically healthy they must be feed and given exercise properly and played with on a regular basis. It is also important to protect other people, property, or pets from your own animal. There is another responsibility that not all pet owners think about, however: spaying or neutering, or “fixing.” What does “fixing” your pet mean? Spaying- removing the ovaries and uterus of a female pet (Merriam-Webster, par.1.). Neutering- removing the testicles of your male pet (Merriam-Webster, par. 1.). This surgery solves more problems that pet owners may not be aware of. Due to overpopulation of homeless and animal sheltered

In every community in the U.S., there are animals sitting in shelters waiting for homes. Millions of domestic pets, every year, millions are put down at animal shelters across the country. Although a problem with aggressive pet behavior is the main reason animals are put into shelters, stray pets are the result of breeding by roaming, unaltered pets. The more pets that are spayed or neutered, the fewer pets that will be put down. Delaware Humane Association does not put down animals; however, hundreds of pets are turned away each year because there is simply not enough room at the shelter to fix all the unwanted animals ("Myths and Facts About Spaying and Neutering: The Humane Society of the United States, lines

In the U.S. there are an estimated six to eight million homeless animals entering animal shelters every year ("Myths and Facts About Spaying and Neutering: The Humane Society of the United States, lines 19-27"). Only half of these animals get adopted, the rest are put down. These are not offspring’s of homeless “street” animals; these are the pets that families cherished. “One un-spayed female dog and one un-neutered male dog and their offspring can produce 4,372 puppies in 7 years. For cats it is even worse. One un-spayed female cat and one un-neutered male cat and their offspring results in 420,000 kittens in 7 years” ("Why You Should Spay/Neuter Your Pet: The Humane Society of the United States, par. 22."). Many people might be surprised by the numbers that more than 2.7 million healthy, adoptable pets are put down in shelters annually ("Why You Should Spay/Neuter Your Pet: The Humane Society of the United States, par. 27."). Spay and neuter is the only effective method of birth control for domestic animals. Millions of healthy dogs and cats are humanely put to death each year in the United States simply because there are not enough homes to go