Homeless
Animals
Each year, in the United States an estimated 27 million cats and dogs are born. Between 5 and 8 million are euthanized because homes are unable to be found for them. Hundreds of thousands of healthy dogs and cats are killed each month for many reasons, including commercial and backyard breeding and the sale of animals in "pet" stores, all of which are preventable. The answer to this huge problem is simple: reduce the number of animals coming into this world. The routine procedure of spaying and neutering dogs and cats would result in fewer unwanted animals, thus reducing or eliminating the heartbreaking process of euthanizing innocent animals left in our overcrowded shelters. Irresponsible guardians, pet shops, puppy mills, and commercial and "backyard" breeders share responsibility for this epidemic. Just one litter of puppies or kittens can be responsible for reproducing thousands more in just a few years.
Irresponsible Caretakers
While there are many breeders and pet shops, the greatest cause of the overpopulation tragedy is individual caretakers who refuse, have limited financial resources, or are afraid to have their companion spayed or neutered. Sometimes parents want their children to experience "the miracle of birth." Other times people let their unaltered animals wander, and their companion animals end up mating with others. Some people are genuinely uncomfortable having their companions neutered, or as they claim, "taking away their masculinity," which often results in accidental mating. All of these factors add up to many innocent animals in need of homes.
Commercial and "Backyard Breeders"
Commercial and "backyard" breeders also contribute to the millions of animals who need homes. These people contribute to a market driven by the American ideal of buying brand-name products because of the associations that accompany them. Many purebred animals are bought for the same identification purposes. There is also a tendency for inbreeding purebred animals to attain certain desirable characteristics. This has led to health problems in the animals, such as deafness, hip dysplasia, and epilepsy.
Mixed-breed animals are not the only ones who end up in shelters. Surprisingly, purebred dogs comprise 20 to 25 percent of shelter populations. Sometimes a family that just wanted to breed one litter cannot find homes for all the puppies, or the pet store is unable to sell the animal. Some people who buy purebred animals come to find that the breed that they sought out was too high-strung or has some other behavior that they consider undesirable. Others tire of dealing with the bladder problems inherent with some over-bred breeds and take the animals to the shelter as a last resort. Breeding animals not only adds to the problem of there not being enough homes for too many animals, but it creates animals with serious health problems.
Pet Stores and Puppy Mills
Puppy mills are facilities that mass breed dogs in almost assembly-line conditions. Dogs on puppy mills are considered nothing more than products. Puppy mills are able to survive because of the demand for purebred animals. The animals are usually kept in squalid conditions, with just enough sustenance to keep them alive until they can be sold at wholesale prices to pet stores. They are prone to disease because of the horrid conditions in which they are raised and the stress of being shipped over great distances at a very young age.
Precautionary steps must be taken to prevent more dogs and cats from being born than there are homes for. People must be made aware of the plight of the millions of homeless animals killed in shelters or the problem will only increase. Programs must be created to educate adults and children about the causes of overpopulation and to direct them to the many wonderful animals waiting in shelters for caring families to adopt.
The Solution to Companion Animal Homelessness
Spaying and neutering are important steps toward ending animal homelessness. They are simple surgical procedures that are done on the reproductive organs of female and male animals. Formerly the procedure was done on animals aged six months or older, but veterinarians now recognize that spaying or neutering animals before sexual maturity is risk-free and in fact is important in helping to end animal homelessness. The American Humane Association has endorsed early neutering prior to adoption as a "feasible solution to decreasing pet overpopulation and the tragedy of resulting deaths." The procedure eliminates the animal's ability to reproduce and, in the long term, can prevent many difficulties, such as tumors or bacterial infections that can occur in older animals. Each animal purchased from a pet store or breeder potentially takes up a home for an animal that could have been adopted from a shelter. Please do your part by spaying and neutering your animal companions.
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