Animal Shelters Overcrowding In The United States
Animal Shelters Overcrowding
Whenever someone mentions having a pet, an image of furry little dogs, cats, or other little creatures that help fulfill a person’s daily lives comes to mind. What escapes thought however, is the vast number of animals that are left to roam the streets to fend for themselves and forced to fight for every meal or the roughly 6-8 million animals that manage to find their way to an animal shelters or rescues (The Humane Society of the United States [HSUS], October 26, 2009) in hopes of finding a home where they can become a part of a family. Domestic animal overpopulation is an epidemic that must be brought under control because animal shelters are so overpopulated that the majority have to be euthanized to make …show more content…
The majority of these animals came to the owners for little to no cost, either through a friend or family, adoption from an animal shelter, or gathering a stray from the streets. Most of these animals, approximately 75% are spayed or neutered (HSUS, 2009). A fertile cat can produce from 8 to 12 kittens a year, while a fertile dog can produce 4 to 8 puppies a year (Ramos, n.d.). Simple math demonstrates that a single female cat that is not spayed can product as many as fifty kittens in 4 years and those kittens will produce more. This is the cycle that must be broken. The cost of a simple surgery is usably less than fifty dollars, whereas, the cost of feeding fifty cats for one year could be astronomical. Additionally, programs are available through veterinarian schools and animal shelter to assist in the procedure. Of the 6-8 million animals that shelters receive in each year, five out of every ten dogs and seven of every ten cats are destroyed (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals [ASPCA], 2003). These innocent animals are not being killed because they are bad or sick; it is simply because there is no more room available. It is a disturbing fact that in the amount of time it takes to read this paper, 10 animals have been destroyed. Adopting an animal can help prevent this from
Whenever someone mentions having a pet, an image of furry little dogs, cats, or other little creatures that help fulfill a person’s daily lives comes to mind. What escapes thought however, is the vast number of animals that are left to roam the streets to fend for themselves and forced to fight for every meal or the roughly 6-8 million animals that manage to find their way to an animal shelters or rescues (The Humane Society of the United States [HSUS], October 26, 2009) in hopes of finding a home where they can become a part of a family. Domestic animal overpopulation is an epidemic that must be brought under control because animal shelters are so overpopulated that the majority have to be euthanized to make …show more content…
The majority of these animals came to the owners for little to no cost, either through a friend or family, adoption from an animal shelter, or gathering a stray from the streets. Most of these animals, approximately 75% are spayed or neutered (HSUS, 2009). A fertile cat can produce from 8 to 12 kittens a year, while a fertile dog can produce 4 to 8 puppies a year (Ramos, n.d.). Simple math demonstrates that a single female cat that is not spayed can product as many as fifty kittens in 4 years and those kittens will produce more. This is the cycle that must be broken. The cost of a simple surgery is usably less than fifty dollars, whereas, the cost of feeding fifty cats for one year could be astronomical. Additionally, programs are available through veterinarian schools and animal shelter to assist in the procedure. Of the 6-8 million animals that shelters receive in each year, five out of every ten dogs and seven of every ten cats are destroyed (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals [ASPCA], 2003). These innocent animals are not being killed because they are bad or sick; it is simply because there is no more room available. It is a disturbing fact that in the amount of time it takes to read this paper, 10 animals have been destroyed. Adopting an animal can help prevent this from