what do you think of this article on solving overpopulation

here check it out at: http://petcaretips.net/pet-over-population.htmlI bumed into it by accident today looking for some info on how they keep the pet population low (at least it is here in Munich) I have never seen any animals alone here I always see dogs with owners and cats with collars and tags, but maybe I am blind. Oh one thing I found out at the vet is that by July all pets who leave Germany are required to be micro-chipped.
here is another: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1395/aro000813.html

 

I really like that second article. I remember Dukesdad talked about how in France animals could go into stores and restaurants with their owners - that would be great!!

And I also hate when they put quotations marks around an animal's name. What the heck is up with that?!


Jamiya

 

The only part I do not agree with is the microchipping. Don't get me wrong I think Microchipping all dogs would be great! But I do not think It will help with pet overpopulation. Regardless if a dog is microchipped or what have you there will always be irresponsible pet owners.

 

I really liked the articles, especially the second one.

Mind if I crosspost to a different group?

 

Yeah, I'm not really sure if microchipping would help or not. But we DO need more low cost (or even NO cost) spay/neuter programs, on a sliding scale based on income. And if they got rid of the licensing fee, then low income people wouldn't be afraid to use them. It's an idea.


Jamiya

 

interesting articles. I have read in that most european countries have very few homelss animals, they see it much diffferent than we do. We have become a throw away society and its not just the poor.

As for the poor, there need to be programs set in place for low cost or no cost spay /neuter available. It would be nice if license fees went to things like that, maybe in another lifetime.


I think the key point is education that animals need love and care too. no matter what kind of situation you live in. I am doing okay money wise but have had neighbors who I know are okay too where they let their dogs live on 6 foot ropes all of their lives, others kennneld most of thir lives, one feeding a feral cat, me telling her to trap, get it fixed, next thing you know it has kittens.

here is a good article and if we could do more programs like this.
http://www.bestfriends.org/features/min ... t-res1.htm


I dont know wha the solution is, maybe it comes from the classroom teaching compassion

honeybear

 

yea I felt the first was a bit harsh on the poor and it always rfered to them as poor, I guess I need to have things sugar coated, but I don'T think that only the poor people are the problem. I'll read your post website and add on more later

 

Oh, definitely low income people are only part of the problem. But if there are people who WANT to spay/neuter their pets and cannot afford to, then that is a situation that needs to be addressed.

I think the idea of animals being disposable is the real problem. I can't imagine "getting rid of" a dog and then getting a new one later and shrugging like it's all the same thing. It's not the same!! I know people who have moved and rather than going through a little bit of extra trouble to transport their pet, they give it up and get a new one when they get there. What's up with that?!

Then again, my boss just moved from Kansas to Alaska and they drove so they could take their 10-year-old dog with them (who gets carsick, by the way). They spent the last months before moving driving her around town to get her more used to it. There was no question of leaving her behind.

My animals are part of my family and I don't care that most of the people I know think I am bonkers. I think they are.


Jamiya

 

I found the articles interesting. The first one may be be harsh, but the harsh approach is what this country needs to take to combat pet over population. Maybe not so much as forcing people to spay and neuter, but to educate the public in its moral obligation to do so.

I don't know what other States charge for pet licenses, but here in AZ it's $10 for altered and $25 for unaltered. In my opinion, if a person can't afford this, how can they afford to feed and give the necessary health care?

We now have programs that offer free spay/neuter clinics to low income along with low cost vaccinations, but the pet over population is still a major problem. It's just not the low income but people in general that just don't care. I agree that breeders are only a small percentage of the problem but it still trickles down to the sourse of the problem of people not spaying and neutering.

Mandatory microchipping is not a feasible solution for reasons being people need to update information as they move from one place to another. Just because a pet is found and microchipped doesn't mean they, the owners, still live at the same residence at the time of the microchip placement which will result in the pet ending up in the shelter regardless.

The key is somehow finding a way to educate people the importance of spaying and neutering and making it more known of services available. If that means going door to door, maybe that is what it takes.

A lot of people feel that we are being Govern too much as it is. Maybe if States start presenting this not so much as a Government issure and more of a Humane issue, then maybe people will start rethinking their attitude towards having the procedure done.

Money that is generated through license fees is generally used for upkeep of shelters, personel, Doctors, animal care, disease control, etc. It's a huge expense.

I think cities and States need to focus more on how to educate people on pet care instead of force tactics.

 

"I think cities and States need to focus more on how to educate people on pet care instead of force tactics"

I agree, I think the start is the children, poor, middle class, rich, they all need to be taught compassion and they will grow up with these values.

I found a lot of sites like this
http://www.animal-friends.org/site/h_edu.jsp


I also think it is the responsilbity of all shelters to spay/neuter before the animals are adopted out. Many only offer coupons for low cost or free to be done after the fact, but many may still think it is one more thing to deal with and wont

honeybear

 

Perhaps we are looking at the wrong end of the problem. Everyone is focusing on how to get people who already own pets to treat their pets humanely and get them sterilized.

What about if they beef up pet acquisition laws? Like, in order to buy an animal, you need to pass a certain test or course and have them sterilized. Pet stores (which I don't think should be selling animals to begin with) have to sterilize before they leave the store, just as the shelters do. No pet store puppy should be bred anyway.

Breeders must have a license. It should be TOUGH to get a breeders' license. You should have to renew every year or two and have inspections of your facility, etc. A stiff license fee might be just the ticket, but perhaps our breeders here would have a different take on that. I'm going on the assumption that if you can afford to breed properly, you can afford a large license fee. And then breeders can only sell unaltered dogs to other licensed breeders or.....hmmmm, how about you need a license to own an unaltered dog for ANY reason - and the only reasons allowed are breeding and showing? The show people would have to be regulated somehow as well. (Or how about AKC allowed altered dogs to be shown - now there's a thought.)

Any strays or other animals that slip through the cracks and have puppies....well now that's an issue. You don't want to make it so people don't want to bring these dogs in because of the hassle. And there would definitely be a period of time after enacting such laws where there are still a lot of puppies being born from people who owned them before. So perhaps a grandfather clause of some sort.

There are definitely issues to be worked out. But I think we need to address the problem BEFORE the animals ever get into the homes.

Plus education in the schools about the proper attitudes toward animals - but this only goes so far because kids usually learn a lot more from their parents' attitudes than what the schools tell them to do.


Jamiya

 

"Plus education in the schools about the proper attitudes toward animals - but this only goes so far because kids usually learn a lot more from their parents' attitudes than what the schools tell them to do."

Jimiya, it htink it is a start that hopefully, for an example a parent gets a cat, ignorant that it needs to be fixed, and maybe the child well say we need to get this animal fixed. (Iam dreaming) and what would help is to have childre tour teh shelters to see what happens with unwanted animals.

My brother just got a 2 goldens and the breder said if he was planning breeding, stud, etc, he would have to pay a lot more the the dogs and their were other fees involved so if he was plannign on breeding it would have cost about $300 more per dog. And he has something that says this so if he would try to breed wiht another reputable breeder, they would know he hadnt paid, I think the main problem lies in BYB and dont know how to stop that, but then maybe its education that hopfully kids grow up not wanting to be BYB, abusive etc, but again I amdreaming

honeybear

 

That's my point - if there is no way for a BYB to obtain an unaltered dog, then there's no problem. It's how to do that which gets sticky.


Jamiya

 

okay, how about this, since rabies is the law and licensing is suppose to be and rabies is taken more seriously. A fee to go along with the rabies. So when you get rabies shot you also pay a big fee if your dog/cat is not altered, but then the vets would have administer the program

honeybear

 

Except for all the people who are no longer vaccinating. Although, most of those people are not the problem people anyway.


Jamiya

 

If cities are at a loss to know where to begin to tackle pet overpopulation, I suggest they start with the HUNDREDS of breeders that advertise in local newspapers. Call them up, go to their homes and see what kind of conditions these animals are living in. Inform them it's the law to have their dogs licensed and rabies vaccinated but if they're not, special concessions will be made if they spay and neuter the animals they have at little or no cost, and if they are caught selling puppies or kittens from their house all animals will be removed and fines imposed.

If you are a licensed breeder, cities should have periodic inspections to make sure they are following all guidelines of being a breeder. I also feel that breeders should have a contract that all pups and kittens they sell will be spayed and neutered. If new owners don't follow through with the contract, the breeder would regain the rights to the pup or kitten again without having to refund any money that was paid for it.

There is no sure fire way to control pet overpopulation. But I feel it's time to get it off the back burner and confront it head on. and come up with some kind of solution.

 

I have been thinking for a while on how to solve(well at least make it smaller problem) the pet overpopulation problem, and here is what I have come up with. A police officer (or someone calling about a neighbor) everytime a dog is seen (with its master or unattended) will ask for the papers (not like AKC) but a document from the vet stating neutered or not, this dog is healthy and UTD on shots and for those that don'T do shots then a paper from the vet saying this dog is ok. And if you don'T have it on you, you have 1 week to bring it to the police dept. If you don'T bring it in, whether you have it really or not, you have to spend a weekend in jail, and during that weekend your dog is at the vet getting desexed and shots. To pay for this, you can either pay with cash or you have the option of working it off, by doing landscaping or something for the town, but you will work alongside people in jail, it isn'T like you come and go as you please, you will be in jail for the weekend or whatever and it will be ok with your job (like when guys go to reserve training). And if this happens more than once or you decide you won'T follow through with these orders, then your dog will be taken away. And if you try to get another dog and they catch you, longer "jail time" (as stated before) And for breeders, they have to pay to have a vet come and inspect their home, every six months. And you must be able to show papers on why it is ok for your dog not to be desexed (like "breeder papers" or something) and all of this would be very expensive to deter people from wanting to be breeders, Breeders would be the only people allowed to to have non neutered (dogs of breeding capability). With these things in place, it would be expensive to be a breeder (so no one would want to be a breeder) (and these would be the only animals capable of breeding) And otherwise the punishment is work camp, not money, everyone can work (they can find work for handicap people also) so if they can'T afford to get their animals desexed, they can fill out forms like FAFSA (college student aid money) and the proper authorities(your vet, and he gets tax breaks for these "charity pets") say yes or no to this, but if you want this then it has to be filled out before you get an aniimal.