Pet overpopulation a prevalent problem

 

Sitting on the living room couch or just lounging in the backyard, your dog or cat probably looks as comfortable as can be. And he probably is. While that’s a reality for many domesticated animals, it’s a situation many more animals never get to experience.

The chief reason for that is the overpopulation problem pertaining to cats and dogs throughout the country. The Humane Society of the United States estimates between three and four million cats and dogs are euthanized each year, which translates to nearly 10,000 cats and dogs being prematurely put to rest every day. That pushes the problem to epidemic standards.

 

Part of the problem in addressing overpopulation is a failure of pet lovers to realize just how damaging it can be, and how quickly things can get out of hand. Consider the following: in just six years, a female dog and her offspring can give birth to 67,000 puppies. That means that unless your dog is already spayed, it could become the matriarch of a family that will be 67,000 strong by 2012. The numbers are even more staggering for cats, as one cat and her offspring can produce 420,000 kittens within the next seven years. But what to do? A mountain of misinformation exists that forces many people to see spaying or neutering as inhumane when in reality it’s the most humane thing to do, lest a situation arise where animals are born solely to end up euthanized.

 

HSUS points to legislation and education as an effective means for curing the overpopulation problem. Some legislation has already been enacted to do just that. For instance, spaying and neutering fees are often expensive, leaving less incentive for pet owners to spay or neuter pets or their offspring, which in turn leads to more animals being euthanized. However, in communities where spay/neuter programs have been subsidized (hence lowering the costs), the number of animals euthanized has declined sharply.

 

What’s more, many animal shelters mandate that adopted animals must be spayed or neutered prior to leaving the facility. This ensures that any adopted animals will not contribute to the overpopulation problem.

But as much as legislation is necessary, in the meantime the best thing pet owners can do is to spay or neuter their pets and adopt those pets from a shelter.