Pet Underpopulation
February 8th, 2008
Last month, I had the opportunity to be a guest on a talk radio program discussing recent pet legislation efforts in Wisconsin spearheaded by a small group of animal rights extremists. Some callers to the program realized the threat to pet owners and breeders such legislation poses and expressed concern. Many callers, however, were frantic about the "pet overpopulation" problem and thought laws were needed to stop breeders.
Listen up! The notion that there is a "pet overpopulation" problem is nothing more than a figment of the imagination of the anti-pet, anti-pet owner, anti-pet breeder animal rights fanatics.
Yes, you read that correctly. There is definitely NOT an overpopulation of dogs or cats, at least not in the United States. There may have been a problem 25-30 years ago, but due to heavy promotion of spay and neuter, it is estimated that over 75% of dogs and more than 87% of cats have been surgically sterilized (1). The pendulum has swung so far in the opposite direction that now, we are actually facing a shortage of pets... a pet underpopulation.
read more here:
http://www.spanieljournal.com/33lbaughan.html
Comments
I'm not sure what planet you
I'm not sure what planet you are talking about but here on earth there are thousands of dogs and cats euthanized every month and shelters have to turn down animals because they are too full. If you are referring to "designer dogs" and luxury breeds than yes maybe there are not as many of those but I see a dog as a dog and do not limit my perspective by pedigree. I would encourage you to visit a puppy mill website and any of the local shelters such as Homeward Bound......the stories will break your heart as you hear about dogs that CANNOT find a home. Thank God the spay/neuter programs are working so well otherwise thousands of more dogs each month would be killed. I can't help but wonder if you are an unethical breeder yourself or someone involved in the puppy mill business. You clearly have some shady agenda here or you simply cannot do math regarding the number of animals killed each month.
Pet Underpopulation, I don't
Pet Underpopulation,
I don't understand your point.
Is your point that there is a general underpopulation of pets ... OR is it that purebreds are suffering due to a low gene pool?
And if the gene pool is suffering among the purebreds, could that fall back on the fault of breeders who engage in heavy line-breeding in order to accentuate certain charateristics they desire at the detriment of others - in essence choosing form over function?
It seems to me that these are two separate issues?
I don't know what talk radio
I don't know what talk radio show you were on, but I hope to never to listen to such garbage. Go in to a large shelter and look at the number of adult cats there. There is most definitely an overpopulation problem of cats. Two unfixed cats can generate hundreds of thousands of cats in a number of years, and shelters get new batches of kittens all year round - not just in the spring and summer. Get your head out of wherever it is and start paying attention.
Hoo-boy that's a good one.
Hoo-boy that's a good one. You almost had me going for awhile that you were serious but now I see that you're just one of those people that has all the time in the world to make up crazy comments like this, post them on the internet and try to get people riled up. Take some of that free time down to any animal shelter or rescue group (there are hundreds in MN alone). Working with the 'underpopulation' of animals at those organizations ought to keep you quite busy.
I think the article misses
I think the article misses its point by not addressing puppy mills that churn out "pedigree" dogs, which are often unhealthy and unsocialized. Unfortunately, the AKC continues to recognize dogs from responsible breeders and puppy mills. This is the real problem. The AKC must do more to stop puppy mills.
Stating there is no overpopulation of dogs and that breeders do not breed dogs excessively, fails to address the fact that puppy mills exist and do produce too many dogs that often end up in shelters due to non-socialization as puppies or health issues.
Breeder: Denial and $$
Breeder: Denial and $$ signs!
I am going to leave the statistics to the experts out there...in other words, the people who work for the animal shelters, animal rescue groups and veterinarians at large...BUT the proof of pet overpopulation is evident in just by the mere fact that healthy animals are being euthanized daily due to the lack of a available homes! Two things concern me very much about what this woman wrote, and the posting of this article:
1)That she and some of her fellow breeders (read: SOME, not ALL) in the industry have become so fearful of losing their *cash cow* (read: making $$ from selling animals) that they would go to extremes such as making claims of pet UNDERpopulation. Such statements are not only ridiculous...they are harmful, as some people might mistake these statements for truth.
2) That by posting this opinion on the home page of the Pet Central web site...without equal representation on the homepage of an opposing viewpoint/statistics (that pet OVERpopulation is indeed real, and the results--euthanasia of healthy animals--is evident every day across our country)...
that some people, again, might mistake this ridiculously, non-factual, opinion for truth.
I believe in the freedom of speech and believe varying viewpoints should be given representation and freely expressed, so in that light I suggest that Pet Central post a blurb and link to an article that expresses the opposing viewpoint...that Pet Overpopulation is very real and has very sad consequences. Let's make sure Truth has a voice here...
Thank you.
Don't worry all, these
Don't worry all, these places like this person probably owns will be shut down but the law eventually. The Humane Society is pushing for laws to shut them down. Puppy mills have to go and will go with people like us that will support organizations like the Humane Society and ASPCA to do so. Take your propaganda elsewhere. No one buys it here.