Katie's Articles

• Pet Overpopulation
• Animal Cruelty
• Habitat Destruction & Pollution
• Pets Shops vs Pounds
• Declawing

Pet Overpopulation

Pet overpopulation is a huge problem in our world today. On average, 6 to 8 million cats and dogs go to shelters a year; and about 3 to 4 million cats and dogs are euthanized by shelters because there are just too many of them.

Think of something- one cat can have 3 litters of 4-6 kittens a year which means 18 cats in one year. During the next 7 years 420,000 kittens will be born. For dogs, a female dog can have 2 litters of 6-10 puppies a year meaning at most 20 dogs a year. For the next 6 years, about 67,000 puppies are born. That is 487,000 newborn cats and dogs.

Here’s a quote I found on the Humane Society website that explains there is more then just one problem with overpopulation: “However, there are other equally tragic problems that result from pet overpopulation: the transformation of some animal shelters into "warehouses," the acceptance of cruelty to animals as a way of life in our society, and the stress that caring shelter workers suffer when they are forced to euthanize one animal after another. Living creatures have become throwaway items to be cuddled when cute and abandoned when inconvenient. Such disregard for animal life pervades and erodes our culture.”

To take another look at the site, go to http://www.hsus.org/ace/11829, it’s packed with information and has pictures too. Animal shelters are packed because of strays and too many animals that are not spayed or neutered.

So how can you help? There are many ways. The first and best step is to spay or neuter your animals. Spaying or neutering an animal a procedure that takes away the animals ability to make babies. Spaying and neutering your animal is not that expensive, in fact some places have lowered their costs for people’s pets to be sterilized so it’s more practical. Spaying or neutering an animal is healthier for the animal. It prevents health disorders, some cancers and allows a longer, healthier life.

Other ways to prevent overpopulation are adopting pets rather then buying one at a pet shop and spreading the word about shelters and get more people to go there instead of buying the animals at stores.