What to do with Homeless Cats and Dogs?

It has been estimated that at least 80 % of the cats and dogs in the world do not have homes. In this article I present the alternatives for reducing the numbers of the homeless animals that live on the streets or in the shelters.

Some homeless animals are lucky enough to find a foster home. Foster homes are usually able to give the animals a good life.

Fostered animals are one step closer to their forever homes. They are usually safe options for adopters, because their health has been closely monitored, and their behaviour is well known.

An adoption of a homeless animal is a recommendable alternative for anyone who wants a pet. Adopted cats and dogs usually make wonderful pets, at least when they get used to their new home and family.

Unfortunately, in most countries, the adoption rates are too low to keep the shelters empty. In fact, beautiful, well-behaving animals have to be put down on a regular basis due to a chronic lack of space in the shelters.

International adoptions are sometimes resorted to, when national adoptions are not popular enough. For example, Spanish greyhounds (galgos) are often adopted abroad. Galgos, mainly used for hunting but commonly neglected outside the hunting season, are not popular pets in their home country but appreciated in others.

Adoptions give new opportunities for individual cats or dogs and they should be promoted in every way. Adoptions are, however, not enough to solve the ongoing problem.

Stray animals that are strong and smart enough to live on the streets may be caught, neutered and vaccinated and then returned back to their former habitat. In many countries, this method is mainly applied to cats (because feral cats don't do well kept in cages), but dogs may be good candidates for Trap-Neuter-Release, as well.

In Romania, for instance, there are millions of homeless dogs, and many of them were actually born on the streets. The number of stray dogs is so high that each dog can never be rehomed.

TNR humanely stops the population growth, and in the long run, the population size should decrease. However, if people keep abandoning their pets, all the new-comers have to be neutered, too.

TNR may be strongly criticized, if the released cats and dogs kill local wild animals, especially the endangered ones. Strays should never be released to a sensitive environment.

Neutered stray animals should be taken care to some extent. They are more likely to survive and keep their place in the population occupied, if they are offered food and shelter. Too much of those may, however, attract new animals to the area.

Public authorities are often eager to get rid of the stray animal problem immediately. They do not want to wait ten years to see the results. This is why we seldom see success stories with TNR.

In some countries, stray animals are routinely poisoned, or killed in another inhumane way. This is not a permanent solution, as new animals replace those that were destroyed, and the endless killing definitely does not promote humane animal treatment within the society.

However, when the number of animals kept in the shelters is bigger than the number of potential homes, some animals have to be euthanized. This is the reality. Besides, long-term caging of animals that used to live on the streets is just cruel.

In my opinion, a shelter should always be considered a temporary solution. A vast majority of shelters cannot offer the animals good lives.

There are good no-kill shelters, and then there are bad ones. And any of the latter is worse than death for any animal. In the better ones, animals can probably lead a decent life, but their quality of life should be seriously examined.

Read this excellent Hub: Are no-kill shelters more humane?

All the resolutions above are meaningless, if people keep abandoning their furry friends. It is the source of the problem. If we can get rid of that, everything else will be covered.

Where did you buy your pet? I hope you did not support puppy mills or other irresponsible breeders. A pet shop is not a good place to buy a cat or a dog, or any other animal for that matter.

Did you give your pet a forever home no matter happens? People don't tend to give their children away in cases of unemployment, sickness, divorce, moving houses, birth of another baby etc. For some reason, some of us feel that these are justified reasons for giving up their cat or dog. Some people abandon their pets when they get sick or just old. In my opinion, these people are not suitable pet owners: they should not have bought a pet in a first place.

Do you control your pet's reprodution? It is no rocket science, have them neutered. Or at least, don't let them run around following their instincts. Puppies and kittens are cute and each responsible pet owner has an equal right to enjoy raising a litter once in a lifetime. But you don't have to do it every year. Or twice a year.

Raising kittens and puppies is expensive and if you are not breeding high quality pedigreed animals, you hardly get your expenses covered (if you do it right). So please do not try to earn extra money by producing more pets. We have enough already.

All you need to know about spaying and neutering?

Is Pet Overpopulation Really Killing Our Cats and Dogs? Part II