Pet Overpopulation A pack of dogs is playing in a ditch which is in the middle of a busy road. Some people in the cars look to see if the dogs' owner is nearby and wonder why anyone would allow their dogs to play so close to danger. Some drivers seem oblivious to the motley assortment romping in the water next to the road. They all keep driving without another thought for the safety or lives of those poor creatures. Unfortunately, this is a common scene in many areas. Unwanted dogs and cats are dumped to fend for themselves because there just are not enough homes for all of them. Where have these unwanted animals come from? The huge population is attributed to out of control breeding due to irresponsible owners, breeding by owners solely for profit without care for the health of their animals and the pet population, and puppy mills or commercial breeding. In as little as six years, 67,000 puppies can come from the brood of just two dogs. In seven years, two cats and their offspring can create 420,000 kittens. There are approximately 70,000 kittens and puppies born each day (Quirk). What happens to all of these pets? Most of them will never make it to their first birthdays. According to Robert Aaron, "Every year in the United States, 8 million to 10 million cats and dogs are given up to animal shelters and others are abandoned." This may be due to the "throwaway" mentality of the populace today. Four to five million pets are euthanized every year in shelters, not always humanely (Aaron). Ideally, pet supply would be equal to the demand for wanted pets. There may never be enough caring homes for all the pets as is evident by the fact that only about 25 percent of the pets in shelters are ever adopted. F... ... middle of paper ... ...lable or if changes are needed. Are assertions in the source based on reliable evidence? Are sources cited? How are you able to tell? They do list where they get their info from within the paragraphs or quotes. Is the information consistent with the information found in print sources, other Web sites, newsgroups, or mailing lists? Is the evidence contained within the source sufficient, reliable, and relevant to your topic? I have seen some of the same info from this site on other sites. It does match. In a couple of sentences, explain the significance of this source and why it should be included in your research. This site gives a lot of pertinent information that pertains to local and national happenings as far as pet overpopulation goes. They have researched many sites and brought the info into their own.
Have you ever wondered how much it costs to have and maintain a pet? Burkhard Bilger, the author of “The Last Meow”, explains how Americans spend a lot of money on their pets and that people's “love affair” with their pets has gotten out of control. An observation I have made is that in many movies dogs are treated very well. When I was younger, I watched a movie called Bratz and one character would always have her dog inside a dog purse and they would even get manicures and pedicures together. The dog always had shiny clothes on and it was always very clean. Therefore, I agree with Bilger's argument that Americans “love affair” with their pets has gotten out of control.
Faye is fighting to re-home animals that have been abandoned and abused. Since 2012 she has re-homed more than 60 dogs, and about 20 kittens. Faye says, “I would do anything no matter what to save one animal.” It’s as if her whole entire life revolves around saving animals. Faye thinks just by adopting an animal you can help animal abandonment. Also, Faye has her own book on why animal abandonment isn’t good. Although Faye thinks her job is stressful, she thinks it’s easy because she enjoys doing her job and helping animals find a home.
There are about ten thousand puppy mills nationwide. (ISAR) There may be even more puppy mills than we know because they are unlicensed and do it in their own homes. These thousands of puppy mills are taking advantage of the breeding abilities of female dogs. There are over two million puppies bred in these mills per year. (PMP) That is more puppies than the entire population of Houston, Texas! The worst part about this is that one 1.2 million dogs are euthanized in shelters every year because no one will adopt them. (PMP) I, along with thousands of other people, believe that it is completely ridiculous that puppies are being killed because of unpleasant human beings. They deserve to have a full life and not be put to sleep because there is not enough good people in this world to take care of them and give them the life that they deserve. If you decide to purchase a puppy from a pet store, it keeps the cycle strong by encouraging more breeding, which leads to even more killing of the canine’s. (ISAR) However, if you adopt a dog from a rescue facility, it saves the puppies lives. If we stop the breeders from breeding more dogs, this would settle down and nearly all the dogs in the world will have a home. But to fix this problem, we need to get attention towards the breeders and have them
Hundreds of thousands of puppies are raised each year in commercial kennels (Puppymills Breed Misery). Puppy mills keep breed stock in horrible conditions for their short lives and produce unhealthy puppies with many issues. Not only are they committing “inhumane care,” but puppy mills are responsible for customer fraud. Many puppy mills are small and contain about twenty breeding dogs in basements, garages, or sheds “in cages stacked to the roof.” The dogs will stay in those cages without “exercise or sunlight.” Also, the dogs have two “litters” a year till about the age five. Other puppy mills contain hundreds of breeding dogs. The operators keep the puppies in “relative darkness” so the puppies seldom cry or draw attention. The dogs in puppy mills rarely receive medical attention. The females are dissipated because of the never-ending period of “producing and nursing litters.” Most dogs have “chronic ailments, rotten teeth, and ear, eye, and skin infections.” Many of the puppies purchased from puppy mills are un-healthy and not well-adjusted. The puppies have a high prevalence of hereditary syndromes and illnesses, and difficulties that occurs following the “purchase.” After the females cannot produce anymore liters...
United States. House of Representatives. Committee on Agriculture. “Puppy Protection Act.” Thomas Library of Congress. Government Publication Office. 11 Oct. 2001. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Thousands of animals are put to sleep each year due to not having any available homes for them to be adopted. According to Jennifer Sexton and Tom Warhol in Domestic Animal Overpopulation, “The average female cat can produce two litters of six kittens per year, a female dog can produce one litter of six or more puppies per year, making pet overpopulation a significant problem.” Animal overpopulation is costing money and you can help the pets with spay and neutering programs. A new solution is mandatory contracts for breeders and spay and neuter programs. This paper will talk about spay and neuter programs, contracts for breeders, and why some people don’t think animal overpopulation is a problem. Thankfully there are solutions to this issue of animal overpopulation.
Animals are beloved creatures among the human race, and are deeply cared for. As caretakers of pets, those caretakers have a responsibility to these animals. One of those responsibilities includes making sure all animals are properly taken care of and are placed in a loving home. Many of these poor animals, mostly cats and dogs, are cast unwanted onto the streets to fend for themselves. Once they are cast out, where are they to end up? The ones that survive being discarded by neglectful owners are usually found and taken to a nearby animal shelter. These shelters are set up and designed for stray animals to be taken care of until a new owner can be found. Shelters also graciously accept pets from owners who choose to surrender their animals, and are re-homed by the shelter. Some of these shelters have what is known as a no-kill policy, which states that any animal fit to be adopted out, will be. Other shelters do not have this policy, and will euthanize a healthy animal for a variety of reasons. The most common reason for euthanizing a healthy animal is space. Most shelters are not well funded, and cannot afford to take care of a large number of animals; unfortunately, more animals are being discarded than are taken in by local shelters. Though most people would claim that killing animals to make space is wrong, there are actually many practical reasons for it; in most cases shelters that lack a no-kill policy are better for the animals in the long run.
According to the article “Pet Statistics” by the ASPCA estimates there are 70-80 million dogs and 74-96 million cats owned in the United States. It is impossible to determine the number of stray dogs and cats, but the ASPCA estimates there are 70 million cats alone that are strays in the US (“Pet Statistics”). The overpopulation of dogs and cats live either on the streets and die each day, they live in a shelter and try to get adopted, but even then they die. The ASPCA states that nationwide about 7.6 million companion animals enter the shelter and of the 7.6 million approximately 3.9 million are dogs and 3.4 million are cats (“Pet Statistics”).
If we further implement the sterilization of dogs—pet, shelter, and stray—the overpopulation of the species will begin to noticeably drop, and as generations pass and more and more unfixed dogs die, the population will no longer be capable of rising quick enough to counteract the solution. Obviously, not all dog owners will fix their dogs. But this can be a good thing because as long as there are at least some unsterilized dogs, there will always be a population. If the majority of them are sterilized then this population will no longer be able to grow out of hand as it is
How many of us have seen stray animals around? How many of us have been affected by stray animals in a negative fashion? To help get a good idea on what pet overpopulation is and how it's a problem, some ideas need to be explored. We need to know the major factors behind pet overpopulation and cause it to perpetuate. We need to know pet overpopulation's larger, over reaching effects and the scale of the problems pet overpopulation causes. Lastly, we need to know what has been done and what could be done to help stem the tide of the problem known as pet overpopulation. Just to show how big of a problem pet overpopulation is there is an estimated 70 million stray cats in America alone. ("Pet statistics") That should be a sobering number on how
Animals are precious, loving, and sweet creatures but many are having their lives cut short. Did you know that 7.6 million animals enter shelters every year? Of those animals, thirty one percent of dogs are euthanized and forty one percent of cats are euthanized. If you do the math, that is 2.4 million dogs and 3.1 million cats. Why are we doing this to our animals? They're living creatures just like us, even if they can't tell us. As you read this paper, you'll learn about what euthanization is, learn the reasons for shelters killing our furry friends, and get an inside look at the terrible practice of euthanization.
Countless lives locked away in cages and forgotten about have overwhelmed our society, it has left blood stains on our history as a species and if history has taught us anything, it’s that we have a choice to change our ways of adjusting to situations. A war which was fought in pursuit of ending such criminal means, yet we as human beings do little to nothing to end the horrific crimes of animal deaths in shelters. It is no secret that this world has become infused with problems that have extended from one side of the globe to the other. Amongst these problems lies a terrible truth: nearly every year, sums of almost eight million cats and dogs have been placed in shelters around the world. Out of these vast numbers, half will be euthanized; that equals to one animal being put down every 8 seconds. Animals that are not adopted are kept in shelters until they find a home. Most of these shelters do not have enough space or resources to care for the animal. Only 15% of dogs and 2% of cats that enter animal shelters are reunited with their owners. The majority of pets are obtained from acquaintances and family members. Twenty-six percent of dogs are purchased from breeders, 20 to 30 percent of cats and dogs are adopted from shelters and rescues, and 2 to 10 percent are purchased from pet shops. In addition, only 56% of dogs and 71% of cats that enter animal shelters are euthanized. The 10% of the animals received by shelters have been spayed or neutered, while 78 percent of dogs and 88 percent of cats are not spayed or neutered, in 2009 Statistics from animal shelters in 55 counties in WV (West Virginia) shows that nearly 54% of all animals entering shelters are euthanized, The euthanasia rates ranged from the lowest at 5% to the highe...
The prevalence of pet ownership in America has more than tripled during the last several decades, rising from 67 million households during the 1970s to 164 million households in 2012 (Human Society, 2014). The conscious decision by 62 percent of American households to own at least one pet represents a long-term commitment of time, money, and dedication to the needs of a wholly dependent entity. The basic needs for all pets, inclusive of companion animals and farm animals, include several provisions. These provisions include access to safe, clean drinking water at all times, access to high quality food commensurate to the weight of the animal, and adequate shelter from excesses of heat and cold (Agape, 2014). Beyond the life-essential basic needs of animals lay commonly accepted requisites that define responsible pet ownership. These requisites or minimal standards of care include access to veterinary care, access to exercise, and freedom from physical harm.
"Pet Overpopulation : The Humane Society of the United States." RSS. The Humane Society of
Overpopulation of unwanted pets has become a major issue in the United States. According to Oxford-Lafayette Humane Society, there are 70 million stray cats and dogs in the United Stated. 6 to 8 million of those enter shelters each year. An estimated 3 to 4 million are euthanized in shelters