Animal Overpopulation

Animal shelters exist in counties across the country in order to manage a problem that seems impossible to solve: overpopulation among cats and dogs. Overpopulation occurs when animals of the same species become successful reproducers. Cats are especially good reproducers. According to PETA, in just seven years, one female cat and her offspring will generate 370,000 cats. This staggering statistic exhibits the ramifications of an owner choosing not to get their cat or dog neutered or spayed. The burden of these offspring then lies on the shelter to house and take care of the animals until someone can provide a permanent home. Two types of animal shelters attempt to alleviate the problem of overpopulation but both face many challenges in doing
so. Both county shelters and "no kill" shelters are constantly faced with not having enough space to house the constant stream of animals pouring in. Unlike "no kill" shelters, however, county shelters are required to take every animal that is brought to them. If the shelter is at full capacity, it must choose to euthanize an animal in order to free up a cage for the incoming one. What seems like a simple problem of not having enough cages is, unfortunately, the main reason why animals have to be euthanized. "No kill" shelters are not required to take in an animal but they are often always at maximum capacity and they, therefore, must deny a lot of animals that then go to the shelter.
In addition to space, animal shelters face financial burdens and are forced to work with small budgets. These budgets must be stretched in order to pay the employees, maintain the building, and provide food, water, and general care for the temporary residents. The lack of public support is also a major problem animal shelters face. Animal shelters are responsible for not only keeping the animal alive and comfortable, but also for promoting the animal in order to find a forever home. They are faced with an additional obstacle when they have unpopular breeds such as pit bulls that must be adopted in order to avoid euthanasia. In addition, shelters have to try to adopt out animals that have a diseases or certain disabilities that will cost their future owner more money than a healthy animal would. Pit bulls, or any animal that has a bad reputation or requires more "work and care" than usual, have to "compete" with what the public tends to favor: cute puppies or kittens. Because these animals are not as "attractive" as a healthy puppy or kitten, they generally end up staying at the shelter longer than
most. Low adoption levels and donation rates lead to small amounts of money that must go towards caring for large amount of animals. Volunteers, low cost spay/neuter clinics, and social media have all contributed to trying to solve the problem of overpopulation and the lack of public support. If the public were more informed about the consequences of not getting your pet spayed/neutered or the huge benefits of volunteering or donating food/money, then perhaps the challenges animal shelters face on a daily basis would not be as intense.