What is Animal Overpopulation?

There are too many dogs and cats at the shelter and puppy mills that have to be euthanized because there are not enough homes to take them in. 

Puppy Mills are just one example of how our society becomes overpopulated with dogs and cats.  Pet owners who refuse to spay/neuter their pets are also responsible for the pet overpopulation in society today.  They all have their own reasons, but in the end, these animals end up in our Animal Shelters, unwanted and sick.  To prevent the spread of disease, the vets at the shelter have no choice but to euthanize the sick animal.  It's not a choice they make lightly, nor is it something they particularly enjoy doing. Every vet would rather spay or neuter an animal to prevent overpopulation than to have to euthanize an animal because it was not longer or not ever wanted.

I think our society pays little attention to the overpopulation of animals.  I personally am surprised by each person who congratulates me for rescuing my greyhound.  I didn't even think twice about the positive effects of rescuing verses the negative effects of going to a breeder.  There were plenty of animals that need homes.  If I didn't go to a "rescue,"  I would have gone to the Animal Shelter or ASPCA.  I considered going to a breeder for a different breed, but in the end, I felt like that gives breeders reason to continue overbreeding. 

Yes, there are respectable breeders out there.  They make sure every puppy they send out will have a responsible pet owner.  But not all breeders are like that.  The ones that are not are the ones you want to stay away from.  Many puppy mills are wholesalers, providing puppies for pet stores, but not all.  I was taught at a very young age that you don't ever get a pet from a pet store.  I remember being at the mall with my sister and looking at the puppies in the pet store.  That's when I learned that the puppies for sale at the pet stores are from puppy mills, or breeders who breed for mass sales, and that I shouldn't ever go to a pet store to get any pet.

Something I found in common with Wake County Animal Shelter and the rescue group I got Phoenix from was that you are not allowed to take your pet home until they have been spayed or neutered.  I found this to be such a positive move on their part in helping to reduce pet overpopulation.  I wish more breeders would make this move.  An average person looking to bring a pet into their home has no intent or need to breed their pet.  By having this operation completed before sending the pet home, we prevent accidental litters from happening.  It is very hard for an average person to find good homes for every animal born in a litter.  And we all know, animals get out and roam.  It's a fact of life.  They come back, but we have no idea where they go or what they do while there out roaming.  Spaying/Neutering is the only way to prevent unwanted litters.