Animal Abandonment: Its Everyone's Problem
Humans have always loved their pets. In fact, a 2012 survey found that approximately 67% of US households include at least one cat or dog. But are we really taking care of our furry companions? Animal abandonment, the problem of having too many pets for willing homes, is the most common form of animal cruelty. Animal cruelty is the human infliction of suffering or harm upon non-human animals, for purposes other than self-defense or survival (according to Wikipedia). Animal abandonment is a huge problem, leaving millions of dogs and cats left homeless in animal shelters each year. About 3 to 4 million of these animals are euthanized (killed) each year in kill shelters, shelters that put animals down if they are there too long. The main causes of animal abandonment are the breeding of puppies by breeders looking for money and the lack of people willing to make a life commitment to their pets.
Puppy mills are horrible places where dogs are inhumanly treated and forced to breed by breeders out for money. They are also a big contributor to the problem of animal abandonment. AID ANIMALS states that, “Around four million puppy mill puppies are bought each year, encouraging this cruel industry to breed more. If four million dogs had been adopted INSTEAD of bought from pet shops, the puppy mill industry would see there was no demand for them and cease to exist.” If puppy mills did not exist, two problems would be one big step closer to being solved – breeding dogs would not be inhumanly and cruelly treated and no more puppies would be bred, encouraging people to adopt. People commonly think that shelter dogs are no good, that they must be there for a reason. This is not true, as dogs were placed in this situation by some fault of a human being. Another type of irresponsible breeder is backyard breeders, people who breed dogs at their homes to sell. While these dogs are not always treated cruelly, many backyard breeders are not experienced in breeding dogs. But they still do it, adding even more puppies to the world when we already have millions without homes.
Puppy mills are horrible places where dogs are inhumanly treated and forced to breed by breeders out for money. They are also a big contributor to the problem of animal abandonment. AID ANIMALS states that, “Around four million puppy mill puppies are bought each year, encouraging this cruel industry to breed more. If four million dogs had been adopted INSTEAD of bought from pet shops, the puppy mill industry would see there was no demand for them and cease to exist.” If puppy mills did not exist, two problems would be one big step closer to being solved – breeding dogs would not be inhumanly and cruelly treated and no more puppies would be bred, encouraging people to adopt. People commonly think that shelter dogs are no good, that they must be there for a reason. This is not true, as dogs were placed in this situation by some fault of a human being. Another type of irresponsible breeder is backyard breeders, people who breed dogs at their homes to sell. While these dogs are not always treated cruelly, many backyard breeders are not experienced in breeding dogs. But they still do it, adding even more puppies to the world when we already have millions without homes.
Puppy mills are horrible places where dogs are inhumanly treated and forced to breed by breeders out for money. They are also a big contributor to the problem of animal abandonment. AID ANIMALS states that, “Around four million puppy mill puppies are bought each year, encouraging this cruel industry to breed more. If four million dogs had been adopted INSTEAD of bought from pet shops, the puppy mill industry would see there was no demand for them and cease to exist.” If puppy mills did not exist, two problems would be one big step closer to being solved – breeding dogs would not be inhumanly and cruelly treated and no more puppies would be bred, encouraging people to adopt. People commonly think that shelter dogs are no good, that they must be there for a reason. This is not true, as dogs were placed in this situation by some fault of a human being. Another type of irresponsible breeder is backyard breeders, people who breed dogs at their homes to sell. While these dogs are not always treated cruelly, many backyard breeders are not experienced in breeding dogs. But they still do it, adding even more puppies to the world when we already have millions without homes.
Animals are living, breathing things. While this seems evident, many people overlook that fact, giving up an animal like a pair of shoes that doesn’t fit right. Sadly enough, 7 to 20% of new pets will be again homeless in just six months. While there can be reasonable reasons for this, the least someone who is forced to give up their pet could do is find them a home instead of abandoning them in a shelter where they will likely be euthanized within a few months or even weeks. Don’t irresponsibly or randomly buy a pet without thinking it through and making a commitment to care for that animal for its entire life.
Animal abandonment is a huge problem in the world today because of the breeders looking for extra cash and the people giving up the pets they already promised to care for. It is everyone’s problem.