Essay on Animal Overpopulation

Animal Cruelty is a subject that spreads far across the United States and into most civilized cultures. Animal cruelty can either be in the form of intentional abuse, simple neglect, or abandonment of animals.  Whatever forms the abuse takes, however, the animal that is the victim of the abuse is often helpless and may experience extreme suffering. Animal right activist feel if you don’t know how to take care or treat an animal it can be as deadly as physical abuse to care for one.

An animal can be the best thing to happen to a person. As the old saying goes: a dog is a man's’ best friend. People share their homes with their furry friends and gain relationships that are remembered until, perhaps, the rest of their days- just like an old friend. In Bilger’s article, he mentions the relationship between Lady, the sick cat, and her owners, Karen and Shawn Levering, and why the couple was so willing to give up so much for her. “If they were willing to go this far for a cat, it was partly out of a sense of misfortune. But mostly it was a matter of love” (Bilger, part 1, paragraph

This has led to the belief that dogs can provide company, affection and support to people who are going through a difficult time or who feel lonely. Dogs have aided humans in tasks such as hunting, livestock herding, and guarding. However, as society moved from small rural communities to increasingly large metropolitan areas, the dog’s role changed. Throughout the years a more specific type of

Pet owners have a wide variety of views about their responsibilities. Some feel that just providing food and water is enough and therefore do not provide a secure environment which is essential for all pets. Without this secure environment, a female in heat is a target for every male around. The males will go to great lengths to get to a female in heat. Her scent is a driving force. Some owners will allow their females to continue to come into heat over and over again, making her a target for every un-neutered male around, without trying to solve the problem. The males' owners will allow their animals to continue to roam freely because they feel they are not the responsible party to the unwanted pregnancies. Homes may be found for some of the offspring, some may die, and some may just wander off. Of those to survive, the breeding cycle can start all over again. Also, many owners do not realize that having a pet is a commitment for the life of the pet. When some owners get tired of their current pet, want a new pet, or get irritated because the pet does not meet their expectations, they will dump the pet thinking it will fend for itself or find a new home. Of the animals taken into shelters, 47% of the cats and 55% of the dogs are not spayed or neutered (Patelis).

Animal Cruelty is a problem that many ignore. People are oblivious to these animals and the negligence their owners show. Animal cruelty is an underlying problem in today’s society, and the only way to counteract these problems, is for this generation to do something about it.

In the United States, about 7.6 million companion animals enter animal shelters every year. The overpopulation of these animals and the fact that they have no homes leads to about 40% of them being euthanized (ASPCA). This is a global issue, but the root of it can be found within the local community at The Humane Society of the Ohio Valley.

Central Idea: In order to control the overwhelming population of homeless pets, we need to stop throwing our “family friends” away.

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

Did you know about 25 million puppies and kittens are born into the United States each year? That’s more than 50,000 born each day in this country alone. Twenty five million pets produce yearly greatly exceeds the amount of willing families to take care of these animals that are born into the world. Even though, these massive amount of litters may in fact be completely healthy there is just not a sufficient enough of homes for this animals to be place in. statically reported by the humane society of the united states in October 2011 6 to 8 million animals who have no place to call their home are put into animal shelters. Unfortunately, due to the excessive surplus of these animals about half which is 3 to 4 million only make it out alive. The other half left to be euthanize by the shelter to make room for the new incoming animals. This turns out to be one animal euthanize every 8 sec. Pet overpopulation has been a serious problem throughout the nation for many years. The on ongoing cycle of bring unwanted litters of pets into the world makes it extremely difficult to reduce the amount of animals being euthanize across the nation each and every day. It’s important for people to understand the need to spay and neuter their family’s pets and all pets in general, all though people don’t understand that need its extremely important to take into account that these thousands of wanted any unneeded animals being born into the world each day will statically end up homeless, place in

Pets. Loving, furry, fun. A furry companion in about 37- 47% of all households have dogs and 30- 37% households hold felines in the United States alone. But at what costs comes with owning one of these adorable animals as pets and is it worth the trouble? “In The Last Meow”, Bilgers shares his opinion about whether or not we’re spending too much money and effort owning a pet. The answer to the question is, “yes” Americans spend an abundance of hard earned income a year even if the pets can still die within a year. I own two pets, so I can see where and why people would try to save their pets and prolong how much they live. On the other hand, why try to extend their life when our beloved furry family member is in agonizing pain and suffering more than half of the time?

Over the centuries, animals have suffered from cruelty from humans. In the United States, animals are beaten, neglected, or forced to struggle for survival. Animals have been inflicted with pain from humans for reasons other than self-defense. They have been slaughtered for their food and fur for personal gain in profit. In a majority of cases they have even been abused for someone’s own personal amusement or out of rage filled impulses. In some cases animals are found and rescued. They are given the second chance in life to experience what life should be like compared to what they once had.

Countless lives locked away in cages and forgotten about have overwhelmed our society, it has left blood stains on our history as a species and if history has taught us anything, it’s that we have a choice to change our ways of adjusting to situations. A war which was fought in pursuit of ending such criminal means, yet we as human beings do little to nothing to end the horrific crimes of animal deaths in shelters. It is no secret that this world has become infused with problems that have extended from one side of the globe to the other. Amongst these problems lies a terrible truth: nearly every year, sums of almost eight million cats and dogs have been placed in shelters around the world. Out of these vast numbers, half will be

Animals are a big part of many people’s lives. They provide companionship; they provide daily assistance to those that have deficits and are having difficulty functioning in their daily life; they provide security and help keep a watchful eye on things, plus so much more. And yet, with all that animals do for us, there are those that are treated with such little regard, care, and cruelty. They are unable to speak for themselves and therefore, they need a voice to speak for them.

Animal rights are an important topic to discuss and review. The trouble is the vast diversity of how people see humans and animals and how they are different and yet the same. Animals are in every aspect of our lives in how they are utilized to make our lives easier, to sustain us, or as a pet. Unfortunately, the line of animals and humans blurs as the widely known belief that we are a derivation of an animal and we should treat them as we would ourselves. This viewpoint, however, can be taken to an extreme as we see pets that can be pampered quite a bit. Relating back to the four authors in our text, there is considerable controversy on how animals should be treated. While some interesting positions arise with the various authors, to

Pets can fill a void in an owner’s life, by allowing them to nurture something and receive a sense of satisfaction. Socially pets have become so much a part of our daily lives that they are often treated as if they were children, some lucky pets even attend daily play sessions, and are treated to extreme indulgence; all to make their owner feel as if they were an infant or a child. Blind owners rely on their seeing eye dogs to guide them around wherever they go; they are trained to guide them past and around obstacles. The National Institute of Health states, “More than half of all U.S. households have a companion animal. Pets are more common in households with children, yet there are more pets than children in American households. There are more than 51 million dogs, 56 million cats, 45 million birds, 75 million small mammals and reptiles, and uncounted millions of aquarium fish” (np). Many movie stars and rich and famous people have begun using pets as a status symbol. Millions of dollars are spent finding the perfect and most valuable pet even to the extent that the original breed of animal has become unrecognizable or even extinct. This need for high status and perfection has resulted in safety risks to both pets and the people they live with. Inbreeding and tampering with cross genes in animals often result in an animal of inferior security and emotional stability, thus resulting in an aggressive and violent temperament. In an attempt to