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Pets

2001-07-01 09:02:00

I'll find a home for them

: What's wrong with allowing my cat/dog to breed since I always find homes for the kittens/puppies?

Jennifer Campbell Question: What's wrong with allowing my cat/dog to breed since I always find homes for the kittens/puppies?Answer: You may find homes for all of your pet's litter but, every year, thousands of companion animals of all ages and breeds through out the United States are euthanized because there are simply not enough good homes for them. Only so many responsible, caring homes exist. Finding a home for one of your pet's offspring means you've only eliminated potential homes for needy shelter dogs and cats.Let's imagine there are 15 puppies at the Kansas Humane Society who need homes (not an unusual occurrence). Ten families in the Wichita area are willing to provide a good home for the puppies. If each family takes a puppy, there are still 5 "leftover" puppies at the shelter who have no where to go. Then imagine you let your dog have a litter of 5 puppies. There are now 20 puppies that need adoptive families. Even if you manage to find homes for all of your 5 puppies, there are still 10 homeless puppies left where, before your animal bred, there were only 5. In addition, in less than one year's time, each of your pet's puppies may have his or her own litter, adding even more animals to the population. The staff at the Kansas Humane Society cares very deeply about the thousands of healthy, beautiful, affectionate cats, dogs, kittens and puppies we receive every year and we want to find homes for every single one. However, the fact is that the volume of pets entering our shelter greatly outnumbers the numbers of families looking to adopt. Limiting the number of animals being born until they equal the number of people who want and can care for them by spaying and neutering (simple surgical procedures that remove reproductive organs) is the best way to prevent this overpopulation problem. The removal of ovaries and uterus from a female pet is called an ovariohysterectomy or, as is more commonly known, spaying. Spaying removes or lowers the physical dangers of uterine infection, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer and, if spayed before reaching puberty, mammary cancer. Spayed females also tend to be more content and less apt to roam. Orchiectomy or neutering is the removal of testes from a male animal. This removal eliminates the possibility of testicular cancer and greatly reduces the risk of prostatic disease. After the procedure, males are less aggressive, have a reduced compulsion to wander and incidents of territorial marking decrease. A common misconception is that altering a pet will make it gain weight and body size. Altered animals simply require fewer calories per day to maintain their ideal weight. Less scoops of food means less cost to the owner. Studies also show that animals altered between 2 - 5 months of age grow taller and have a larger body size. By altering your animal, you end up with a stronger, healthier pet. Every year, over 11,000 animals are brought to the Kansas Humane Society needing shelter, medical care and a new home. We do our part at the Society by spaying or neutering all our adoptable animals but, until breeding is limited to the point where there are more than enough good homes available for all the puppies and kittens being born, you can't find a good home for every one. The problems of pet overpopulation are created and perpetuated one litter at a time. As a pet owner, it is your choice to add to the pet overpopulation problem or help end it.