Companion animals, often regarded as “pets”, usually refer to dogs and cats because of the social relationships that they have the ability to establish and maintain with human beings. The human-dog and human-cat relationship serves a variety of functions depending upon what the human’s main interests include (CSS 6). Companion animals are popular because of their size, ability to control or train, and the power of non-verbal communication such as postures, gestures, facial signals and sounds that are interpreted as affection and attachment (CSS 6). People across the world have kept companion animals for centuries. With the positive effects that pets have brought upon the world, there have also been some negative effects. These negative effects are the result of not only the pets themselves but also the irresponsible ownership and neglect from human beings. Animal shelters were established within the United States as a control measure when thousands of animals, even millions, were abandoned or found as strays on the streets. As pet overpopulation and cruelty towards them (such as brutal killings, abuse, beastiality, and improper care or neglect) increased with time, the shelters found it apparent to make room and humanely euthanize animals to decrease the amount of abandoned animals roaming the streets of every city and town across the country. The shelter owners and staff came up with a number of ideas to control the overpopulation, such as increased numbers of de-sexing, educating the public, and establishing programs such as the LES (legislation, education, sterilization) program created by the Humane Society of the United States (Harbolt 38). The focus of this paper is on the causes, effects, and prevention of the overpopulation of pets (mainly canines and felines) in the United States. Along the same lines will ensue a discussion on the establishment of the Humane Society as well as other shelters throughout the 50 states – not always addressing them by name but implicating that they all are a part of the solution to keep animals from continually populating in areas where there have been previously, or still are, large numbers of feral animals. Another issue that will be tackled will be how effective the programs established have done in decreasing the numbers of animals without homes. The explanation of how the population got this way will wrap up a seemingly exuberant amount of information and try to catalogue it in such a way that any person can easily be a part of the solution to this problem.
As early as the late 19th century, pet overpopulation was becoming an increasing problem in the United States. Canine control officers mainly removed dogs from the streets in an effort to reduce the number of attacks on humans and rabies outbreaks (Stafford 181). These dogs were often clubbed to death or drowned, unless a gas chamber was available (Stafford 181). In 1907, more than 108,000 animals were killed in gas chambers (Harbolt 35). The goal of the humane societies at that time was to provide quick and painless death for the large number of surplus animals that were in the cities (Harbolt 35). Due to the fact that anesthesia was not invented until the late 19th century, spays and neuters were uncommon as they were viewed more inhumane than killing the animal, even though this practice had been in effect since the beginning of canine and feline domestication as a tool to control breeding populations (Harbolt 35).
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) was founded in 1824 in England, followed by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in 1866 which was founded by Henry Bergh (Gilfoyle 639). Henry Bergh was seen as a hero in the animal world, viewed as a moral leader as he fought against animal cruelty placed upon the pets by humans (Buel 872). Both the SPCA and ASPCA were initially concerned with horse welfare, but soon turned their attention to dog welfare as well (Stafford 181). They protected lost and homeless animals from suffering especially after learning about the cruel killings of dogs by clubbing or drowning (Stevens 27). The ASPCA and SPCA took over dog control in cities like New York (Stafford 182). They established shelters that took in unwanted dogs, either those surrendered by owners or found as strays, as well as taking in injured dogs, unwanted puppies, or dogs seen as a risk to the public (Stafford 182). This is where adoption of dogs first started. With the ASPCA’s care and attention, dogs were attempted to be re-homed and if they were unwanted or unsuited for another home, they were humanely euthanasized (Stafford 182).
The majority of shelters in the United States will hold dogs for a certain length of time while they attempt to re-home or find their original home (Stafford 179). If the dogs is unsuitable for re-homing, no owner claims him or her, or the time period is up, the dog will be killed humanely (Stafford 179). Some shelters are no-kill shelters, and will hold the animal until it finds a home or dies by itself (Stafford 179). There has been a movement in support for no-kill shelters since the 1980s, where an animal is not euthanized unless it is deathly sick, disabled or unsuitable for adoption (Rochlitz 77). This growing support hopes to couple no-kill shelters with better observation, evaluation and modification of shelter animal behavior in an attempt to make them more adoptable to the right people (Rochlitz 77). Over the last 100 years, shelters have attempted to educate the public about the benefits of having their pets spayed or neutered as the main form of preventing more puppies or kittens being born (Stafford 180). Pet overpopulation has been blamed on a number of groups, including (but not limited to) irresponsible owners who will not de-sex their animals, ignorant owners who believe that the female should have at least one litter, breeders, veterinarians who charge too much for de-sexing, the pet food industry, pounds and shelters (Stafford 181). But unfortunately, the problem is mostly due to owners breeding females and bringing unwanted puppies into this world, due to ignorance, laziness or poverty (Stafford 181).
Dogs enter shelters for a number of reasons, which include being surrendered by their owner, caught as a stray, found injured in public, or seized as part of an animal welfare organization (Stafford 185). The reasons dogs are surrendered to a shelter include human housing issues, behavior issues, human lifestyle problems, requests for euthanasia, human expectations and preparations, animal population, animal health, animal characteristics, not having enough time for the pet, allergies, a pet-child conflict or a new baby, being an unwanted gift, or divorce, death, traveling, or moving (Stafford 186). Behavioral problems is one of the highest reasons pets are surrendered to shelters, and these problems can be biting, aggression towards people, escaping from the house or yard, destructive behavior, disobedience, problems with other pets, aggression towards animals, urinating or defecating in the house, or being too vocal (Stafford 187). Cats enter shelters due to inappropriate elimination, aggression and destruction (Rochlitz 76). Most of the time the human-cat relationship breaks down, due to cats being a more independent pet than dogs (Rochlitz 125). This breakdown can be caused by moving, illness or allergies, behavior (fear, destruction), inappropriate elimination, not wanting to be handled or petted, or being part of an unwanted litter (Rochlitz 125). Risk factors of dogs being surrendered include being sexually intact, being a gift or obtained at no cost, being too old or too young, the dog is harder work than previously thought, vet care is not feasible, no training or inappropriate elimination (Stafford 187). Risk factors for cats being surrendered include being sexually intact, being allowed outdoors, mixed breed, the owner is not educated about cats or their behavior, or the owner having specific expectations (Rochlitz 76).
The overpopulation of pets targets and blames mostly irresponsible ownership. This includes casual breeding, abuse, neglect, abandonment and giving pets as gifts to children (CSS 40). In Alaska, there is a mandatory tattooing for animals so that if a pet is abandoned, the owner is prosecuted (Anchel 48). Attitudes and values within communities must be changed, starting with school age children, in order to cut down on the number of pets abandoned or neglected (Anchel 43, 49). The backyard breeding, or casual breeding, has made a significant negative impact on the pet overpopulation in this country. Casual breeding produces 70,000 puppies and kittens every day, with only 20% of them receiving homes (Anchel 44). The rest are euthanized, killed in traffic accidents, or die through disease or abuse (Anchel 44). Responsible breeding is done rarely and only to enhance breed traits (Anchel 44). Even then, purebred dogs also end up in shelters (Anchel 45).
In 1954 the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) was founded as a request of the American Humane Association (Harbolt 37). Under the supervision of Phyllis Wright, the HSUS started a program to confront pet overpopulation called the “LES” (legislation, education and sterilization) program (Harbolt 38). This established low-cost veterinarian clinics, the start of early-age spay or neuter, and required that every adopted animal must be sterilized (Harbolt 38).
Legislation was the first part of this ongoing program. In the late 1980s, San Mateo County in California passed a legislation that banned dog breeding in that country for six months to observe their effect on animal overpopulation (Harbolt 37). During this time, euthanasia was also taped in an attempt to dramatize the killings that were happening in the community (Harbolt 37). The legislation goal was to lower the rate of euthanasia, but the end result established a required breeding license (Harbolt 37). In California and New Jersey, there is established spay and neuter public assistance programs (Anchel 43). In Florida, Illinois and Oklahoma there is mandatory spays and neuters when an animal is adopted from a shelter, and low cost veterinarian clinics have been founded (Anchel 43).
Education, the second part of the LES program, starts with stressing the importance of sterilization to the public. It is important to shine light on the positive effects of desexing animals (CSS 43, 48). After spaying females, there is less incidence of mammary or ovarian cancer, a longer lifespan, and elimination of pseudopregnancy or pyometra (pus-filled uterus) (Tartaglia 160). Castrating males prevents benign enlargement of the prostate gland, cancer or tumors of the prostrate gland, anal adenomas, perineal hernias, and decreases undesirable male sexual behaviors such as scent marking, roaming, and aggression (Tartaglia 160). Other things to educate the public on include proper pet care and training, realistic expectations (especially with cats) about pet behavior, what exactly is involved in pet ownership, and the level of commitment needed to have a pet (Rochlitz 137, 138). The HSUS and ASPCA are important role models that serve as educators to the public about proper animal care and animal welfare (Rochlitz 77).
The third, and last, part of the LES program is sterilization. Spaying and neutering is one of the most effective ways to control overpopulation because it takes away free breeding from the animals (Stafford 49). Many argue against this practice but it has been proven to steadily help decline the number of unwanted pets in recent years. The American Humane Society reported a decline by 40% in the number of animals sheltered from 1985 to 1990 (Stafford 180). In 1987, over 13 million animals were received at shelters and 7.5 million of them were euthanized (Anchel 42). This dropped over the years, because in 1994, only 5 million animals were euthanized in shelters (Stafford 183). In 1993, the American Veterinary Medical Association approved early-age spaying and neutering to in an effort to battle the overpopulation problem of pets (Stafford 195). This practice involves desexing the animal as early as 8 weeks old (normal spaying or neutering is done around six months of age) which insured that each animal leaving the shelter was desexed (Stafford 195).
Humans have a responsibility as a society to control animal populations humanely (CSS 67). This is done both for the well being of society and the welfare of the animals. Without control, there would be suffering for both animals and humans (Anderson 74). Veterinarians have a role to control the size of animal populations by encouraging owners to have their pets spayed and neutered (Podberscek 299). In 1996, the population of dogs alone in the United States topped the scales at 44 to 55 million (Stafford 183). With this large number of animals, the need for spaying and neutering is essential. One single dog can produce over one million puppies in their lifetime with their offspring also reproducing. The majority of surplus animals are produced by uncontrolled breeding, either by the animal roaming free or backyard breeding (Stafford 188).
Although overpopulation is still a problem in the United States, shelters and organizations such as the HSUS or the ASPCA have tried their best to delve into the problem and come up with some solutions. Mass sterilization has been the best solution, especially when coupled with education of the public in an attempt to change age-old values and beliefs towards pets (Rochlitz 124). As a result, today over 80% of pet cats have been sterilized (Rochlitz 124). The percentage of dogs is unknown, but is more than likely less than cats due to some beliefs of casual breeding. There is still a large number of dogs and cats without homes, but with more work on spreading the word on the benefits of spaying and neutering, as well as educating the public even more, the numbers will decline over the next 100 years. Overpopulation will more than likely always be around, but it’s important to do our best in helping those without homes find them, and reduce the number of pets in shelters.
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