What percentage of shelters in America don't have enough room for more animals?

Answer 1

It varies, often on a day-to-day basis. Many shelters with limited room have a strict limit on how long the animal can stay before it is euthanized, usually ranging from 3 days to 10 days. No-kill shelters allow animals to stay until they are adopted - often for years. (A "no-kill" shelter defines itself - some only accept or adopt out healthy, well socialized, or young animals and euthanize others that do not meet that criteria.)

There are about 3,500 shelters in the U.S. (This does not include the many nonprofit pet rescue groups that foster, provide medical care for, train, and rehome thousands of cat and dogs. You can find many of them at www.Petfinder.com) On average, it costs approximately $100 to capture, house, feed, and eventually kill a homeless animal, according to the Doris Day Animal League www.ddal.org. Obviously, it is very, very hard to find enough money to keep all the animals in shelters alive, so they are, sadly, killed on a regular basis to provide others a chance at a home.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, four million cats and dogs---about one every eight seconds--- are put down in US shelters each year. (Source www.humanesociety.org) This number is only as estimate, as some areas do not have real animal shelters - sometimes the local police or sheriff will keep a stray for a few days to see if it is claimed before destroying it. Only about 30% of dogs, and 2-5% of cats entering shelters are ever claimed by owners.

There are two main reasons there are too many dogs and cats born for the number of homes available. One is the number of pet owners who do not spay/neuter their pets,. Pet owners may mistakenly think that spaying or neutering their pet will "change its behaviour" . Ask a vet, or check http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1570for information. It can - dogs and cats become less aggressive, easier to potty train, healthier, and easier to train overall. Some think a female "needs to have at least one litter". Dogs and cats don't become attached to their offspring like humans do - they aren't looking forward to sending them to college and having weddings! Having a litter is just unnecessary pain, and possibly even exposure to life threatening health risks, for a female dog/cat. Another mistaken belief is that your dog/cat will produce another "just like itself." Genetically speaking, it is many times more likely that the pet's litter mate will be like it than that its offspring will.

The second reason there are too many pets are irresponsible commercial breeders and puppy mills. These are people and businesses that breed animals to make money. Often, the parent animals are kept in horrendous conditions and inhumanely killed when they can no longer produce. More information is on line in the No Puppy Mills link at Hearts United for Animals www.hua.org.

Here is why so many shelters are full. Seven dogs & cats are born every day for each person born in the USA. Of those, only 1 in 5 puppies and kittens stay in their original home for their natural lifetime. The remaining 4 are abandoned to the streets or end up at a shelter, according to the Humane Society of the United States. Put another way, each day 10,000 humans are born in the USA, and each day 70,000 puppies and kittens are born. As long as these birth rates exist, there will never be enough homes for all the animals according to Spay USA.

It is extremely important to spay/neuter pets to prevent the ongoing overpopulation. For example a fertile cat can produce 3 litters of kittens in one year, with an average of 4-6 kittens in each litter. If they all lived, and were not spayed/neutered, in 7 years, one female cat and her offspring can theoretically produce 420,000 cats! That means that every family in most major cities would have to adopt at least 1-2 cats - each year!

Similarly an average female dog can produce 2 litters of 6-10 puppies in one year. In 6 years, one female dog and her offspring can theoretically produce 67,000 dogs. How many people do you know who want to adopt a puppy???

It doesn't matter what breed of dog or cat you have - an estimated 25% or more of dogs in shelters are purebred.

If you want to save lives, educate your friends about these numbers. Encourage them to adopt from shelters and rescue groups. Put a little love in your life - and save the live of the little one you love.

More shelter and pet population statistics are at :

http://www.caninetalk.com/community/MaureenSchooley/blogs/Pet-Overpopulation-Statistics-2008

General information about shelters,pet care, and pet overpopulation is at:

Humane Society of the United Stateswww.humanesociety.org

Doris Day Animal League www.ddal.org

Information about commercial pet breeders (how to find a good one, why some are bad) is at:

Hearts United for Animals www.hua.org

For information about low-cost spay/neuter, contactSpay-Usa at www.spayusa.org

If you love animals and already have a houseful (as so many of us do!), please consider volunteering your skills at your local shelter, donating money to support an animal until it can be adopted, or getting your friends together to hold a fundraiser for a shelter or animal rescue group.