Overcrowding in animal shelters is a serious problem for pets and humans alike.
There are many dogs and cats that have either lost their home or have never had one at all. These animals are usually boarded at one of the many animal shelters across America. These shelters do the best job that they can to care for the animals placed in their care, but this is becoming more and more difficult as they run out of room to put these errant pets.
Introduction
There are estimated to be 3,500 shelters in the United States, but the exact number is not known. In 1997, 1,000 shelters responded to a survey and reported that they had handled a collective 4.7 million animals. There is no way to get a precise and current number, but with much more than 1,000 shelters in America and the ever growing population of pets that don't have a home due to human-based causes, a dire portrait is painted of the situation facing our animal shelters.
Causes
Economic factors contribute heavily to the overcrowding in animal shelters. For example, a family who can no longer afford their home might have to move into a rented apartment. Many apartments don't allow pets or charge high deposits for the privilege of pet ownership. In this and many similar situations, any pets the family owns will be turned over to a shelter or let loose on the street, likely to end up in a shelter anyway. Some families are forced to make other financial cutbacks and pet ownership stops being a priority. Another contributing factor is irresponsible breeding. A breeder whose animals give birth to several dogs or cats may find that they are ill-equipped to handle the burden. These animals may then be seized by the authorities and turned over to any number of local shelters, thus swelling the numbers even more.
Euthanasia
When an animal shelter reaches its maximum capacity, there is typically only one way left for the shelter operators to handle the surplus pets: euthanasia. These pets are routinely put to death simply because the shelter doesn't have the room to keep them anymore. In 2008, it was estimated that the amount of animals put to sleep was approximately 3.7 million. The euthanasia process is done as humanely as possible, but it is still a jarring example of the more negative effects that overcrowding has had on our animal shelters.
Help
The simplest way to help combat the rampant overcrowding in animal shelters is to adopt a pet. By having loving families, couples or individuals adopt an animal and give it a good home, a fair amount of breathing room is created at the shelters for other animals to be given temporary sanctuary and avoid abuse or starvation on the streets. If you don't want to adopt a pet, volunteering your time or donating money to a local shelter can also ease the burden at shelters. The money can be used to buy more supplies for the many pets that reside in the shelters, while your time can be used to perform the various duties at the shelter and ease the burden carried by the shelter's permanent staff. Lastly, if you already have pets of your own, make sure to have them spayed and neutered. This will prevent the unnecessary breeding of more animals that could potentially fill the animal shelters in your area.
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