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The Fix Is In: Substantial Progress Made on Slowing Pace of Dog and Cat Euthanasia

 
Submitted on Sep 19, 2011 (Original item from 2011) | | | | | |
by E-Environmental Magazine
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Short Description:
This article highlights that while there has been an increase in the number of companion animals in U.S. households, increasing from 67 million in 1970 to 135 million today, the number of cats and dogs killed in shelters has dramatically decreased, from 20 million in 1970 to 3-4 million today. This article discusses this trend, as well as factors leading to the current problem of companion animal overpopulation.

Abstract:
The shift in euthanasia rates can be stated another way. In 1970 25% of all cats and dogs were euthanized in shelters while today 3% are. Relying on expertise from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) a number of reasons are identified as major influences on euthanasia rates. These include Owner relinquishment, lack of spay and neuter, and people choosing to buy or breed rather than adopt from shelters.
35% of people with companion animals do not spay/ neuter, only 20% of people getting new companions each year adopt from a shelter, and 6-8 million companion animals are placed in shelters by their human companions each year.
This article also highlights the difficultly with tracking shelter data, due to a lack of centralized data collection.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=pet-overpop...

Spot Check Number: 1816
Sponsor: E-Environmental Magazine
Researcher/Author: Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss
Animal Type: Dogs, Cats, Companion Animals
Record Type: Data and Statistics, News Article
Geographic Region: United States National
Population Descriptors: United States, animal shelters
Year Conducted: 2011
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"The Fix is In"

Submitted by Clark lee on Thu, 2011-09-22 06:56.
As wonderful as this article sounds it lacks credibility. It not only flies in the face of the pet population collaboration of the mid 90's but draws a conclusion from limited if not selective data. I question the merit of this kind of disinformation in regard to the real problem of throwaway animals. One might conclude that the billions of dollars in contributions to the national animal welfare organizations has actually produced concrete results. This would be deceptive, at best. The big three humane organizations have certainly made contributions over the years, This just isn't one of them.
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