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Animal Homelessness In America

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Say “animal” to any American, and there is a decent chance that the first image brought to mind will be a cat or a dog. Domesticated animals such as these permeate American culture, from the Puppy Bowl to the ongoing dog vs cat debate on Facebook posts and Internet forums. But although pets seem to be everywhere, millions of them every year slip through the cracks, winding up on the streets or vying for limited space in an animal shelter. This overpopulation makes animal homelessness in America a problem that needs to be addressed.
At the current moment, American shelters play host to far more animals then they can ever hope to place in a forever home. According to the ASPCA, noted animal rights group, every year, about 6.5 million dogs and …show more content…

As domesticated animals, cats and dogs have been bred over centuries to have high reproductive rates, much higher than that of their human counterparts. Animals can also reproduce at a younger age; for example, a cat can theoretically have kittens starting at about 5 months of age. Add in the facts that cats can have two litters a year, with an average of six kittens per litter, and one finds that the number of unwanted pets can very quickly skyrocket. Thus spaying (removing the sexual organs of female animals) and neutering (removing a male animal’s testes) procedures become incredibly important to maintaining a manageable level of homeless pets in America (“Pet Overpopulation”). Unfortunately, while many owners do “fix” their pets, a significant percentage do not, for a variety of reasons. Some believe that they cannot manage the financial cost of a spay/neuter operation, and yet others think that their pet’s personality will be negatively warped by losing their reproductive capacity Less common justifications include confusion over either what age to spay/neuter an animal or the health consequences of not having at least one litter, and a desire to have children experience “the miracle of birth” (“Reasons People Don’t Spay or Neuter Their Pets” ). These erroneous beliefs lead to the drastic increase of homeless animals nationwide when non-fixed …show more content…

As stated previously, homeless animals in America do not have enough loving homes to go around. While not all these alternative sources of pets are necessarily bad, they remain a factor keeping so many of the 6.5 million dogs and cats entering shelters out of homes by taking spots away (‘Companion Animal Overpopulation”). Furthermore, despite the existence of reputable breeders and pet stores, numerous places like these actually locate their animals from puppy mills. Puppy mills churn out dogs quickly by keeping their animals in inhumane conditions, and when dogs are deemed no longer profitable, they can be abandoned or killed, helping to contribute to the surplus of unwanted animals (“Top Reasons to Adopt a

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