In this composition, I will address the problem of animal homelessness in the United States from the community level to the national level. I will incorporate statistics and figures freely available online from sources like the ASPCA. I will also offer ideas for improvement.
To begin, about two billion dollars of our tax money in the U.S. is spent on rounding up, sheltering, and too often, the euthanizing of stray and companion animals. These funds could go far in the direction of practical solutions. While most of us would agree that a pet is a pleasurable being to have as a companion, we fall short of supporting and protecting them as a distinct group.
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Perhaps the little kitten grows to be a cat that scratches the furniture or misses the litter box. He stands every chance of being surrendered to the animal shelter because he is a problem, a burden. Maybe a couple has a new baby and fear the consequences of mixing pet and infant. Or a person is not allowed to bring his pet into a rental apartment. Jane picks up a cuddly kitten at college, and leaves town at the end of the semester, shutting the cat out into the streets. These are abandoned pets in clear examples. Some would say, “But what could I do?”
We can do a great deal. Here are some of my thoughts: The first step is acknowledging the problem. As sympathetic as we profess to be, it takes some purposeful education to enlighten and
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create a resolve within first the individual, then the community. The community then presses policymakers to make real changes through ordinances and laws.
It might take boycotts of pet stores that sell “cute” little kittens and puppies, and shutting down puppy mills. Flyers or getting the attention of the local news station, or social media are effective as educational opportunities. Fundraisers to help provide low-cost or free neutering are supportive activities, and if a portion of public monies is dedicated to this humane effort, so much the better. A cat and her offspring can produce hundreds of thousands of kittens in just a few years. This could be changed.
We could try to change the culture from being a nation of what is called “planned obsolescence,” or the constant upgrading and replacing in society, to a caring and ethical, compassionate people who take care and provide for those we love instead of losing interest and tossing them aside. An old pet, for instance, is a pet with character and years of adoring the pet owner. We are all the cat or dog knows, and it is right and fair that we reward that love.
The Cat House on the Kings in California provides shelter for thousands and thousands of cats who are assured loving and no-kill lives. Ideally, all shelters would be no-kill, and all pets would find their forever homes. We don’t need designer mixes or AKC full breeds as status symbols. It is a much bigger measure of our ability to give fully if we share ourselves with a devoted companion.
In summary, we have in our power as the higher species to make changes in our behaviors, our lifestyles, and our laws to lessen the problem of abandoned animals. Education inspires action.
