Pet overpopulation Fact or Fallacy
For years, most people in the United States have been told that that there are “too many pets and not enough homes”. We have been told that there is a pet “overpopulation” problem. We have been told that the reason that America’s animal shelters are killing millions of pets every year is because of this “overpopulation”. We’ve heard this over and over and we have accepted this as truth without question. We are being told this by the “experts” in the field so of course it must be the truth right? Wrong!
According to a study done by Maddies Fundshelter euthanasia rates have decreased since 1970. In 1970, there were 24 million animals euthanized and 19% saved, and in 2010 there were 3.4 million euthanized animals and a save rate of 55%. If there were a pet overpopulationproblem the number of euthanized animals would be increasing. Also, included in the euthanasia rate are stray dogs and cats that are not reunited with their owners, feral cats that could be neutered and released into feral cat colonies further reducing the number of animals killed in shelters each year. So if you look at the numbers there are 17 million potential pet homes in the US and only 3.4 animals being killed. It is obvious that the "supply" of adoptable animals is far less than the demand of adopting families.
It is also shown that many shelters in the northern part of the United States import dogs and cats from shelters in the south to “supply” their shelters. Just recently the Tulsa SPCA sent 70 dogs and puppies to Colorado for them to be adopted out. In a news release, the PetSmart Charities Rescue Waggin' vehicle visits the Washington County SPCA every month, picking up adoptable dogs and puppies and taking them on an air-conditioned, custom-ride to their destination shelter, which is the Humane Society of Boulder Valley in Boulder, Colorado.
"The dogs are generally adopted within a few days of their arrival" said Parsons.If there is a pet overpopulation problem it would be nationwide not just in some areas and other areas need animals brought in to supply the demand for adoptable pets.There would be no need for a business such asRescue Waggin'
So why do shelters, HSUS, ASPCA, and other animal rights organizations perpetuate a myth that is unsupported by numbers? In short, MONEY! These organizations rake in millions of dollars in donations every year by pulling on peoples heart strings. What can be sadder than the picture of a puppy or kitten behind bars and the story that it will die if not adopted NOW? The real sad fact is that the money that gets donated to help these animals very seldom does! HSUS claims to help in many seizure cases but when the people that are involved are asked they never see any money or assistance.
There are many things that shelters can do that do not cost very much to reduce their kill rate but very few shelters do implement new programs. Things like more actively searching for stray dog’s owners, networking on social media sites to rehome the dogs and cats in their shelter, working with other rescue groups to place adoptable animals in foster homes until forever homes can be found, and many other programs that just take time and people but not much in the way of funds.
Further reading:
Pet Underpopulation: The Pet Shortage in the US by Loretta Baughan
Debunking Pet Overpopulation : Nathan J Winograd
Debunking the pet overpopulation myth with help from the Wall ...
The earth is flat, pet overpopulation exists and other myths we've been told by Bett Sundermeyer
According to a study done by Maddies Fundshelter euthanasia rates have decreased since 1970. In 1970, there were 24 million animals euthanized and 19% saved, and in 2010 there were 3.4 million euthanized animals and a save rate of 55%. If there were a pet overpopulationproblem the number of euthanized animals would be increasing. Also, included in the euthanasia rate are stray dogs and cats that are not reunited with their owners, feral cats that could be neutered and released into feral cat colonies further reducing the number of animals killed in shelters each year. So if you look at the numbers there are 17 million potential pet homes in the US and only 3.4 animals being killed. It is obvious that the "supply" of adoptable animals is far less than the demand of adopting families.
It is also shown that many shelters in the northern part of the United States import dogs and cats from shelters in the south to “supply” their shelters. Just recently the Tulsa SPCA sent 70 dogs and puppies to Colorado for them to be adopted out. In a news release, the PetSmart Charities Rescue Waggin' vehicle visits the Washington County SPCA every month, picking up adoptable dogs and puppies and taking them on an air-conditioned, custom-ride to their destination shelter, which is the Humane Society of Boulder Valley in Boulder, Colorado.
"The dogs are generally adopted within a few days of their arrival" said Parsons.If there is a pet overpopulation problem it would be nationwide not just in some areas and other areas need animals brought in to supply the demand for adoptable pets.There would be no need for a business such asRescue Waggin'
So why do shelters, HSUS, ASPCA, and other animal rights organizations perpetuate a myth that is unsupported by numbers? In short, MONEY! These organizations rake in millions of dollars in donations every year by pulling on peoples heart strings. What can be sadder than the picture of a puppy or kitten behind bars and the story that it will die if not adopted NOW? The real sad fact is that the money that gets donated to help these animals very seldom does! HSUS claims to help in many seizure cases but when the people that are involved are asked they never see any money or assistance.
There are many things that shelters can do that do not cost very much to reduce their kill rate but very few shelters do implement new programs. Things like more actively searching for stray dog’s owners, networking on social media sites to rehome the dogs and cats in their shelter, working with other rescue groups to place adoptable animals in foster homes until forever homes can be found, and many other programs that just take time and people but not much in the way of funds.
Further reading:
Pet Underpopulation: The Pet Shortage in the US by Loretta Baughan
Debunking Pet Overpopulation : Nathan J Winograd
Debunking the pet overpopulation myth with help from the Wall ...
The earth is flat, pet overpopulation exists and other myths we've been told by Bett Sundermeyer
Why would shelters perpetuate the myth of pet overpopulation
HSUS and other animal shelters get their money from donations from caring people that want to help homeless dogs and cats. HSUS showcases many sad puppies and kittens in their commercials and mass mailings that tug on your heart strings. Without those pictures and stories of how HSUS “rescues” so many animals from “deplorable” conditions, HSUS would not receive the millions in donations it gets every year.
Here are the estimates that HSUS puts out of animals going into shelters each year.
Estimated number of cats and dogs entering shelters each year:
6-8 million (HSUS estimate)
Estimated number of cats and dogs euthanized by shelters each year:
3-4 million (HSUS estimate)
Estimated number of cats and dogs adopted from shelters each year:
3-4 million (HSUS estimate)
Estimated number of cats and dogs reclaimed by owners from shelters each year:
30 percent of dogs and 2-5 percent of cats entering shelters (HSUS estimate)
Estimated number of animal shelters in the United States:
3,500 (HSUS estimate)
Estimated percent of dogs in shelters that are purebred:
25 percent (HSUS estimate)
Now those numbers are horrific taken at face value but what is not said by HSUS is that the numbers of animals entering shelters include feral cats that many shelters euthanize as soon as they come in, critically ill animals, stray dogs and cats that never get reunited with their owners and vicious animals. Except for the critically ill and vicious animals all the other situations can be reduced by programs to TNR feral cats and more active outreach for strays.
Maddies Fund a supporter of the NO KILL movement puts those numbers into perspective. They say in 1970 there were 24 million animals euthanized. So when the numbers are looked at with a starting point there is a vast improvement on the euthanasia rates over the last 40 years. Also, APPA says that 62 percent of all U.S. households keep a pet; with some 117.5 million households in 2010, that would be 72.9 million households. Among the four-legged variety, cats outnumber dogs 93.6 million to 77.5 million. The pet with the biggest share of households, however, is freshwater fish—171.5 million. Physically the largest pet also has the lowest population count: 13.3 million horses. Birds are also in relatively low numbers: 15 million. That is quite a lot of homes for animals. Statistics show that most households that have pets continue to own pets or add more to the family.
While those figures are compelling, they are not the end of the story. The same study found that there are reasons people do not adopt animals from shelters or rescue groups. These reasons include, but are not limited to the following:
• Shelters are often located in inconvenient places, far from where people live, work and play.
• Many shelters are not open during after work hours.
• Adoption criteria at shelters and rescue organizations are often overly restrictive and complicated.
• Shelters are often perceived as dirty, smelly and depressing places that people do not want to visit.
For these and other reasons people end up acquiring their pets from other sources. In other words, deaths in shelters are not so much a problem relating to the quantity of animals in the community; there is a problem with the marketing and availability of homeless pets.
If shelters take animals in faster than they adopt them, a SHELTER overpopulation problem occurs. Shelter overpopulation can be exacerbated if shelters are also “rescuing” animals that do not need rescue, which, it turns out, is common practice.
But these facts don't seem to get in the way of animal welfare organizations making up data to justify killing. Years after the PETA massacre, that organization continues to kill upwards of 97% of the animals they "rescue". Additionally, other groups continue to put forth false information in a misguided effort to justify killing. Take this quote from the American Humane Association, as an example... many "animal welfare" organizations cite AHA as saying:
“For every unwanted animal in the U.S. to have a home, each man, woman and child would have to adopt 15 dogs and 45 cats each year.” (American Humane Association) There are not enough loving homes to adopt and care for all the abandoned pets in the United States.
Many organizations, including "credible" news sources quote these figures. If they were true, the situation would be horrific. But, the fact of the matter is that there are more than 300 million people in the USA. If each of them adopted 60 pets (15 + 45) that would amount to more than 18 billion (yes, BILLION) adoptions required every year, when there are only 8 million animals entering animal shelters.
Animal shelters apparently need to invent these sort of "new math" statistics to explain why "pet overpopulation" necessitates that they kill animals, rather than pointing their fingers at their own failed practices and policies.
So to answer the question as to why HSUS and other shelters continue the myth of pet overpopulation, the answer is MONEY! The millions of dollars that they get from animal lovers all over that think that their $20 a month donation is going to help homeless animals but it doesn’t. The money that shelters do not spend on saving more animals with more active programs or hiring more people. It is cheaper to kill dogs and cats than it is to house and care for them until a home can be found.
Suggested by the author:
Here are the estimates that HSUS puts out of animals going into shelters each year.
Estimated number of cats and dogs entering shelters each year:
6-8 million (HSUS estimate)
Estimated number of cats and dogs euthanized by shelters each year:
3-4 million (HSUS estimate)
Estimated number of cats and dogs adopted from shelters each year:
3-4 million (HSUS estimate)
Estimated number of cats and dogs reclaimed by owners from shelters each year:
30 percent of dogs and 2-5 percent of cats entering shelters (HSUS estimate)
Estimated number of animal shelters in the United States:
3,500 (HSUS estimate)
Estimated percent of dogs in shelters that are purebred:
25 percent (HSUS estimate)
Now those numbers are horrific taken at face value but what is not said by HSUS is that the numbers of animals entering shelters include feral cats that many shelters euthanize as soon as they come in, critically ill animals, stray dogs and cats that never get reunited with their owners and vicious animals. Except for the critically ill and vicious animals all the other situations can be reduced by programs to TNR feral cats and more active outreach for strays.
Maddies Fund a supporter of the NO KILL movement puts those numbers into perspective. They say in 1970 there were 24 million animals euthanized. So when the numbers are looked at with a starting point there is a vast improvement on the euthanasia rates over the last 40 years. Also, APPA says that 62 percent of all U.S. households keep a pet; with some 117.5 million households in 2010, that would be 72.9 million households. Among the four-legged variety, cats outnumber dogs 93.6 million to 77.5 million. The pet with the biggest share of households, however, is freshwater fish—171.5 million. Physically the largest pet also has the lowest population count: 13.3 million horses. Birds are also in relatively low numbers: 15 million. That is quite a lot of homes for animals. Statistics show that most households that have pets continue to own pets or add more to the family.
While those figures are compelling, they are not the end of the story. The same study found that there are reasons people do not adopt animals from shelters or rescue groups. These reasons include, but are not limited to the following:
• Shelters are often located in inconvenient places, far from where people live, work and play.
• Many shelters are not open during after work hours.
• Adoption criteria at shelters and rescue organizations are often overly restrictive and complicated.
• Shelters are often perceived as dirty, smelly and depressing places that people do not want to visit.
For these and other reasons people end up acquiring their pets from other sources. In other words, deaths in shelters are not so much a problem relating to the quantity of animals in the community; there is a problem with the marketing and availability of homeless pets.
If shelters take animals in faster than they adopt them, a SHELTER overpopulation problem occurs. Shelter overpopulation can be exacerbated if shelters are also “rescuing” animals that do not need rescue, which, it turns out, is common practice.
But these facts don't seem to get in the way of animal welfare organizations making up data to justify killing. Years after the PETA massacre, that organization continues to kill upwards of 97% of the animals they "rescue". Additionally, other groups continue to put forth false information in a misguided effort to justify killing. Take this quote from the American Humane Association, as an example... many "animal welfare" organizations cite AHA as saying:
“For every unwanted animal in the U.S. to have a home, each man, woman and child would have to adopt 15 dogs and 45 cats each year.” (American Humane Association) There are not enough loving homes to adopt and care for all the abandoned pets in the United States.
Many organizations, including "credible" news sources quote these figures. If they were true, the situation would be horrific. But, the fact of the matter is that there are more than 300 million people in the USA. If each of them adopted 60 pets (15 + 45) that would amount to more than 18 billion (yes, BILLION) adoptions required every year, when there are only 8 million animals entering animal shelters.
Animal shelters apparently need to invent these sort of "new math" statistics to explain why "pet overpopulation" necessitates that they kill animals, rather than pointing their fingers at their own failed practices and policies.
So to answer the question as to why HSUS and other shelters continue the myth of pet overpopulation, the answer is MONEY! The millions of dollars that they get from animal lovers all over that think that their $20 a month donation is going to help homeless animals but it doesn’t. The money that shelters do not spend on saving more animals with more active programs or hiring more people. It is cheaper to kill dogs and cats than it is to house and care for them until a home can be found.
Suggested by the author:
Import of strays sustains the pet over population myth
You go to your local pound, shelter, humane society , or rescue and the story is the same, please adopt there are too many unwanted pets, You walk the halls and see kennel after kennel, cage after cage, full of sad eyes, wagging tails and pleading paws. You assume the dogs andcats in front of you come from your area, but are they?
Asking the people in charge usually gets you many sob stories but no real proof. Many shelters have insufficient records to document where the dogs and cats in their shelter have come from. Many relocate pets from one shelter/rescue to another to fill empty runs. While this may be reasonable and increase adoptions, the dogs get counted more than once increasing the numbers of unwanted animals reported for that area.
In many areas today, campaigns to end “pet over-population” has been so successful that demand far outweighs supply. Larger cities are trying to fill their empty runs and cages, and keepgovernment funding by what is now calledhumane relocation. The Humane Society of Tulsa is setting milestones in humane relocation.First, they are boarding another record-setting transport on the Rescue Waggin’ vehicle this week – another 75 dogs and puppies.Second, they are reaching their 1,000th pet transferred, setting this record in just 18 months – six months before any other shelter in the program.
Humane relocation started just a few years ago as a common sense method to get dogs adopted through cooperative efforts among city shelters. As numbers of adoptable dogs and cats were reduced in one area the shelters looked farther afield to find more animals to adopt out. Dogs leaving the Humane Society of Tulsa are sent to the Humane Society of Boulder Valley in Boulder, Colo, where they are generally adopted within a week of arriving at the shelter.Great idea as long as the TRUE source of the dogs and cats was revealed to the adoptive public and not left to believe that the dogs and cats came from strays and unwanted animals in their area. Irresponsibly used, humane relocation turns a charity formed for the good of the public and animals into a commercial pet store being supported by the public’s misinformation.
Shelters /rescues participating in humane relocation acquire their “stock” at little or no cost to them, advertise their “product” using time tested methods of pet overpopulation, abuse and neglect, rotate “inventory” quickly, restock immediately and bring in staggering amounts of money that is pure profit.PetSmart Charities Rescue waggin is supported by donations from the public according to PetSmartswebsite and they have transported thousands of dogs across the country.
Some groups like Save a Sato (slang for mutt) backed by PeTA has already sent over 14,000 dogs to the U.S and participating shelters/rescues. The receiving shelters/rescues take in 100-200 dogs a month then turn around and adopt them out for $200-$250 each. That buys a lot of vet care and food! One active shelter looks to make $500,000 in 2012 on imported dogs!
What sense does it make to import more dogs when we are STILL killing about 4 million dogs and cats? Importing strays to this country takes homes from native dogs and cats already in shelters and rescues, brings unknown diseases to the US, and just increases the number of unwanted dogs and cats just waiting to be killed. More fodder for the pet overpopulation myth. Shelters and rescues that don’t have enough dogs or cats in their area should be commended then they should look to areas here in the United States that need help and step up. We need to take care of our own problems before tackling stray dog issues in other countries.
For further information please check out these links:
National Animal Interest Alliance
The earth is flat, pet overpopulation exists and other myths we’ve been told
Debunking Pet Overpopulation
If you like reading articles about animal issues from someone who supports pet ownership and animal use please subscribe to me. It is free and anonymous! New articles will be sent to your email. Thank you!
Asking the people in charge usually gets you many sob stories but no real proof. Many shelters have insufficient records to document where the dogs and cats in their shelter have come from. Many relocate pets from one shelter/rescue to another to fill empty runs. While this may be reasonable and increase adoptions, the dogs get counted more than once increasing the numbers of unwanted animals reported for that area.
In many areas today, campaigns to end “pet over-population” has been so successful that demand far outweighs supply. Larger cities are trying to fill their empty runs and cages, and keepgovernment funding by what is now calledhumane relocation. The Humane Society of Tulsa is setting milestones in humane relocation.First, they are boarding another record-setting transport on the Rescue Waggin’ vehicle this week – another 75 dogs and puppies.Second, they are reaching their 1,000th pet transferred, setting this record in just 18 months – six months before any other shelter in the program.
Humane relocation started just a few years ago as a common sense method to get dogs adopted through cooperative efforts among city shelters. As numbers of adoptable dogs and cats were reduced in one area the shelters looked farther afield to find more animals to adopt out. Dogs leaving the Humane Society of Tulsa are sent to the Humane Society of Boulder Valley in Boulder, Colo, where they are generally adopted within a week of arriving at the shelter.Great idea as long as the TRUE source of the dogs and cats was revealed to the adoptive public and not left to believe that the dogs and cats came from strays and unwanted animals in their area. Irresponsibly used, humane relocation turns a charity formed for the good of the public and animals into a commercial pet store being supported by the public’s misinformation.
Shelters /rescues participating in humane relocation acquire their “stock” at little or no cost to them, advertise their “product” using time tested methods of pet overpopulation, abuse and neglect, rotate “inventory” quickly, restock immediately and bring in staggering amounts of money that is pure profit.PetSmart Charities Rescue waggin is supported by donations from the public according to PetSmartswebsite and they have transported thousands of dogs across the country.
Some groups like Save a Sato (slang for mutt) backed by PeTA has already sent over 14,000 dogs to the U.S and participating shelters/rescues. The receiving shelters/rescues take in 100-200 dogs a month then turn around and adopt them out for $200-$250 each. That buys a lot of vet care and food! One active shelter looks to make $500,000 in 2012 on imported dogs!
What sense does it make to import more dogs when we are STILL killing about 4 million dogs and cats? Importing strays to this country takes homes from native dogs and cats already in shelters and rescues, brings unknown diseases to the US, and just increases the number of unwanted dogs and cats just waiting to be killed. More fodder for the pet overpopulation myth. Shelters and rescues that don’t have enough dogs or cats in their area should be commended then they should look to areas here in the United States that need help and step up. We need to take care of our own problems before tackling stray dog issues in other countries.
For further information please check out these links:
National Animal Interest Alliance
The earth is flat, pet overpopulation exists and other myths we’ve been told
Debunking Pet Overpopulation
If you like reading articles about animal issues from someone who supports pet ownership and animal use please subscribe to me. It is free and anonymous! New articles will be sent to your email. Thank you!
