Euthanasia is by far the leading cause of death of dogs and cats in this country. The sad fact is that the majority of these euthanized animals are perfectly healthy. Their death is a byproduct of our selfishness. Even as we attempt to control the overpopulation of these pets through euthanasia, we don’t get at the heart of the problem. The most effective method of addressing overpopulation is to implement spay/neuter programs (Frank 115). In a region with dynamics similar to New York State Capital Region (which euthanized 31,701 animals in 2003 alone) a reduction of 46.8% in the percentage of dog owners who do not spay/neuter their animals could bring the number of dogs euthanized down to zero. In other words, if just half of dog owners could be convinced to spay/neuter their dog, the region could become a “no-kill” zone for the dog population because there would be a decrease in the number of dogs coming into the shelters each year. …show more content…
Over a lifetime, a single female animal that is not fixed can have over one hundred babies and a single male animal can father thousands. In fact, according to the Oxford-Lafayette Humane Society, one female cat and her offspring can theoretically produce 420,000 cats in 7 years, and one female dog and her offspring can theoretically produce 67,000 dogs in 6 years. Due to these alarming numbers, it is not surprising that so many animals, sadly including a vast number of puppies and kittens, have to be euthanized each year. So what is worse, spaying/neutering your pet, or killing its offspring? In fact approximately 55% of dogs and puppies and 71% of cats and kittens entering shelters are killed based on reports from 1,308 facilities across America (National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy- Shelter Statistics