Based on data from the Best Friends animal rescue more than seven animals are euthanized per minute or 9000 per day. Since there are only an estimated 13,600 community animal shelters in the United States, euthanasia due to overcrowding is common estimates of animals euthanized in shelters annually vary widely from 4 to 17 million ( ASPCA, 2015a, 2015b Bartlett, Bartlett, Walshaw, & Halstead, 2005). As a result, estimates of animals in shelters in the United States range from three to eight million ( Best Friends, 2015 HSUS, 2017 Rogelberg et al., 2007). Indeed, owner relinquishment is a “primary” source of animals in shelters ( Stavisky, Brennan, Downes, & Dean, 2017). In addition to strays, an average of 324,500 animals are relinquished to animal shelters yearly by their guardians due to family disruption (divorce, death), foreclosure, economic problems, or minor behavioral issues. Models of the dynamics of the pet dog population, considering supply (birth, purchase, adoption, found as strays) and loss (lost dogs, euthanasia, relinquishment), have led some experts to suggest that pet overpopulation concerns may be overrated ( Patronek and Glickman, 1994 Patronek et al., 1995). Overpopulation has been included as an important aspect of social problems related to animal welfare ( Hamilton, 2010), but the lack of consistent and comparable data makes empirical assessment of the companion animal population difficult ( Clancy & Rowan, 2003) (Barriers to a national population baseline include the fact that there is no system to store and analyze data, extant panel surveys underrepresent transient owners and those at the lower end of the economic scale, varying methodologies for counting yield varying results, there are regional differences in pet population and care as well as urban/suburban differences (see Patronek, Glickman, & Moyer (1995) and Clancy and Rowan (2003) for more detail on pet population demographics). Animal shelters have been referred to as “the front-line response to the problem of pet overpopulation” ( Moulton et al., 1991, p. Given that there are an estimated 70 million stray cats and dogs in the country and that only 10% of animals received by animal shelters are spayed or neutered, the potential for animal overpopulation is extreme ( ASPCA, 2015a, 2015b). Reese, in Strategies for Successful Animal Shelters, 2019 Homeless Animals and the Role of Animal SheltersĬompanion animal over-population has been a problem in the United States the typical fertile dog produces one litter with an average of four to six puppies annually, for example.
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