Written by Team Anonymous
On a global scale, there are around 700 million domesticated dogs. However, 75% of them are actually categorised as ‘strays.’ Animal shelters and adoption centres are often unable to meet the required standard of care for these animals, with the number of surrendered and abandoned stray dogs surpassing the number of adoptions. To make matters worse, people tend to contact animal shelters to demand that ‘difficult’ animals such as stray dogs, should be taken in without realising the shelters’ inability to do so, due to a lack of resources. Such instances often result in euthanasia, where stray dogs are put to sleep, as stated by Antonio Ortega-Pacheco and Matilde Jimenez-Coello in ‘Euthanasia.’[1]
One of the most effective ways of managing the stray population is through adoption. This entails that individuals should be responsible for a particular animal for the rest of its life. According to Josie F. Turner[2] in the article ‘10 Reasons to Adopt a Stray Dog,’ due to overcrowding, millions of dogs are killed in shelters, while those that stay on the streets face fear, starvation, accidents, and physical abuse. Adopting them will help to reduce the number of stray dogs on the streets, as well as giving them a second opportunity at finding a home and living a dignified and healthy life.
Alternatively, sterilising stray dogs and returning them to their territory can result in a natural drop in their population over time, while leaving the best socialised canines on the streets, as stated in the article, ‘Why Spay/Neuter is Important’ by the Humane Society International.[3] When it comes to the costs of sterilisation, it is a one-time operation that will last your pet’s whole life. The expense of sterilisation is negligible when compared to the cost of rearing a litter of your pet’s progeny.
Sterilisation lowers the frequency of prostate illness and the danger of testicular cancer developing in male pets. Society should promote the donation of stray dogs to neuter and spay programs, so that service providers may continue to offer lower cost operations, according to Zoe in ‘How We Can Reduce the Number of Strays Together.’[4] Given that sterilised animals are less likely to get certain diseases, sterilisation can therefore be seen as an investment for their health.
Sources:
[1] Ortega-Pacheco, Antonio, and Jiménez-Coello Matilde. “Debate for and against Euthanasia in the Control of Dog Populations.” IntechOpen, IntechOpen, 15 Sept. 2011, https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/19620.
[2] Turner, Josie F. “10 Reasons to Adopt a Stray Dog.” Animalwised.com, Animalwised.com, 19 Sept. 2019, https://www.animalwised.com/10-reasons-to-adopt-a-stray-dog-2121.html.
[3] “Why Spay/Neuter Is Important.” Humane Society International, Humane Society International, 1 May 2019, https://www.hsi.org/news-media/why_spayneuter_important/.
[4] Zoe. “How We Can Reduce the Number of Strays Together?” RSS, 29 Sept. 2020, https://www.petotum.com/blog/how-to-reduce-the-number-of-strays.
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