So many dogs in the shelters

[eman91000]

They are literally bursting at the seams and begging for fosters. If we didn’t have a reactive dog, we could help out a lot more. Do y’all ever grieve that or feel some typa way even towards the dog? I don’t punish him in any way of course, it’s just puppy season in the south and I’m in my feelings.

 

[orthodoxservant10]

@eman91000 I feel like shelter dogs are a problem with a solution. We have to stop irresponsible breeding and only allow breeding from ethical breeders. Dogs ending up in shelters should not be a thing.

People fostering and adopting shelter dogs is just a bandaid solution. So many dogs spend years at shelters or end up euth'd. Piles and piles of euth'd dogs and cats every year. This is awful and we shouldn't be allowing it to continue.

 

[alex001]

@orthodoxservant10 Agree. I don’t know that there is a solution that would work in the US but getting to the source of these unwanted dogs seems a better solution than trying to find homes for all of them. Irresponsible people create the problem that responsible people try to solve, but it’s never ending. The cat situation seems particularly intractable due to the number of feral cats involved.

 

[mango]

@alex001 Strict laws and federal licensing to be allowed to breed animals with strict penalties for being caught doing it that are enforced

If the data on dog health weren't pointing to altering damaging the health of adult dogs if they aren't allowed to get the hormones (especially large breeds) I'd say mandatory altering too. Requiring a spay/neuter in order to have county registration and requiring registration to own.

It would cut down a lot of "I want my kids to experience the miracle of life" litters and weed out backyard breeders one at a time

 

[whipsaw]

@mango I agree. I so wish this was the case. I mean, we still have a ton of people refraining from spaying and neutering not even because of worries about plate growth, etc. but because of basic male fragility and a fear of their dogs losing their balls. It's so frustrating.

 

[tecumsehmaverick]

@whipsaw if registration was enforced with age records, the county could then require records of sterilization upon reaching age before the renewal of the registration.

The big issue would be early reproduction from before the age of sterilization then.

 

[lgreene615]

@whipsaw Or maybe it is the cost?

 

[sandlapper3]

@lgreene615 Both can be true, not just one reason

 

[grantners]

@mango I think a lot of it is the cost in my area. Minimum $300 that a lot of people don't have to spend. Seems it would be cheaper to subsidize neuter/spaying than future puppies/kittens.

 

[alex001]

@mango Sounds great and I’d support it! I can’t imagine most people in my southern state would support any part of this though, especially anything from the federal level.

 

[katharina800]

@mango Yeah, I’m typically very pro neuter but was advised by my dog’s veterinary behaviourist and the vets at his clinic this could make his fear-based reactivity worse and aggressive. So they won’t recommend neutering unless he has other issues develop. I asked about vasectomy and they said they could try but I guess infections are more likely to occur, result being castration anyway.

This hasn’t been a huge deal for us because I’m responsible, he’s an indoor dog, we keep him away from females in heat, etc. but it obviously doesn’t account for people keeping their dogs in gardens or letting them approach other dogs off-lead. I’m all for fining the heck out of people for unlicensed breeding, though.

 

[paverabek]

@orthodoxservant10 breeds that are more likely to be reactive/dog-aggressive and high maintenance are being disproportionately bred and placed into shelters (huskies, bully breeds, and GSDs). Bully breeds in particular are 3x less likely to be sterilized than other breeds. It's a huge problem.

 

[grantners]

@paverabek I think a lot of this is family income. Bully breeds are often really cheap or free - most people I know with these breeds just wanted a dog and couldn't afford/couldn't wait for other breeds. Families can't afford to get the animal spayed or neutered then the cycle just continues.

 

[mrshallam]

@grantners This is why we need something like pet tax here. It will likely prevent financially unstable people from impulse buying a dog or any other animals. If you can't afford to take proper care of the dog, you should not get a dog PERIOD.