Pet Overpopulation Epidemic

Persuasive Speech Topic: Pet Overpopulation Epidemic General Purpose: To persuade. Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that the public is to blame for the pet overpopulation epidemic. Central Idea: In order to control the overwhelming population of homeless pets, we need to stop throwing our “family friends” away. There are 1. 5 dogs and cats put to sleep every second & 4-6 million dogs and cats are euthanized every year, states the Humane Society. The pet overpopulation epidemic has become more than overwhelming. But who is at fault for the ever increasing number of homeless and euthanized pets each year?
The public, government and breeders all have their hand in this catastrophic epidemic. So who is to blame for this epidemic? Since government intervention has caused more harm than foul, what will need to change in order for anything to improve? The pet overpopulation epidemic is not a myth, not something to be swept under the rug or shamelessly forgotten. This epidemic is our making and therefore our responsibility. So where does the problem really lie? One would think its 100% the fault of breeders and those multitudes of litters. But no, that is not the route of the problem, not by a long shot.
Breeders are the effect of the problem, and the massive pet overpopulation is the aftermath. Yes, breeders, as a whole, are breeding more litters than there are homes for, yet, they are selling them. So why is that, why are breeders selling their litters when there’s a worldwide pet overpopulation problem? Because people do not look at the purchase of a puppy or kitten as a lifelong commitment. Puppies and kittens are so cute, most are purchased on impulse. Who could, after all, resist that cute little face? Yes, the problem lies with the general public who, do not research, and buy these pets without thoroughly thinking it through.

Without doing their homework on the type of pet they should get, and without taking the time to learn what a dog really needs in order to be that perfect dog. They later “Get Rid” of their pet, passing them onto rescues or pounds. Later, most will end up “Testing Out” a different type of pet. The vast majority of people, who adopt a puppy or kitten, do not keep the animal for life. If this were to turn around and most people were to actually keep their pets through the good times and the bad, as they do their own children, the demand for these animals would go down.
With less of a demand, breeders would not breed as many litters. Breeders are only breeding as many litters as they do, because people are buying them. The demand for a cute little puppy or kitten is great, because people do not keep the animal for life. Animals are recycled. If a breeder had a litter and could not sell the puppies, they would not keep having litter after litter. People are buying them, so breeders are breeding them. In a perfect world, breeders would breed less and force people to adopt from an animal rescue, but this is not a perfect world.
The solution lies with the general public educating themselves, supply and demand, that’s the solution. Lessen the demand and the supply will, on its own, lessen. The power lies within each and every one of us. Scripted by Kim Sturla (of the San Mateo ordinance fame) and her continual cross-country junketing preaching her message: “The problem is simple: we have too many dogs and cats. Too many for too few homes. ” Another contributing factor to this huge problem is government intervention. The state run dog pounds make it way took easy to unload the responsibility of owning a pet onto someone else.
Most people could “Get Rid” of their dogs in one day. Almost anyone can take their pets to the pound. It is very easy to “Get Rid” of a dog or cat at a local state run kill shelter (dog & cat pound), but it’s not so easy to adopt a dog from one. Some years back my cousin went to a state run dog pound near his work and tried to adopt a dog. He was told it was the dogs last day, yes it was going to be killed the next day. My husband told the shelter he wanted to adopt the dog. Upon doing his paperwork he was told he could not adopt the dog because he didn’t live in that county.
He explained he worked down the street, didn’t live in the county but worked there. No, that was not acceptable; he was not allowed to adopt the dog. The pound was going to kill the dog, but would not adopt it out to a man who lived in the next county over. These state run pounds have all kinds of rules and restrictions in place for adopting a pet, but not for dumping one. Yes, they will take your pet, and they will also kill it for you. Know if you take your dog or cat to one of these pounds chances are extremely high it will be dead in a month.
The majority of cats and dogs who are taken to this state run kill shelters are not adopted out, but are killed. One might as well save the tax payers some money and kill the animals themselves. Sound harsh? Yes, it is, so don’t take your pets to the pound. You took on this responsibility, now you must deal with it without dumping your problems onto someone else. What needs to change, the attitude of the general public. When one decides to buy a cute little puppy or kitten, the decision should be looked at as a 10-15 year commitment.
If one cannot, or does not, wish to commit this amount of time to a dog or cat, do not buy a puppy or kitten, and then pass your problem off to someone else when it grows up and the situation does not work out as you envisioned it would. Just like when one decides to have a human baby, things will not be perfect. The child will not be perfect. They will be expensive and press us to the end with issues to deal with. Dogs and cats are not disposable and they are not all the same. Chances are, a type of dog that will fit into your lifestyle will not be the type of dog that will fit into your neighbor’s lifestyle.
Sometimes there is no type of dog that will fit into your lifestyle, and if you want a pet, it’s time to consider something else, something less demanding. This research should be done before you adopt a pet, it should not be a trial and error experience. With the internet so readily available, there is no excuse for not researching BEFORE adopting a pet. It should be made harder to dump unwanted animals off at these state pounds, putting more responsibility on the pet owner. Maybe than people would think twice about buying a puppy or kitten when they were not sure if they were ready for the responsibility of owning one for life.
These state run shelters are hurting the pet overpopulation problem more than they are helping. The world would be a better place if there were not an easy place to dump your pets after you got tired of them. Let private no kill rescues work with people who think they want to dump their dog. It needs to be harder for someone to dump an unwanted pet and never look back. If you would like to try owning a dog or cat, but are not sure if you are a dog / cat person, start with a full grown homeless dog or cat rather than adopting a puppy or kitten.
Grown cats and dogs are easier to care for than kittens and puppies and you will not be contributing to the overpopulation problem should you decide it was not something you should have taken on. There are millions of wonderful dogs and cats that need homes. People who adopt a cute little puppy or kitten without researching, how a dog thinks, the type of pet they are getting, the care, time and responsibility it will need, and end up “Getting Rid” of your pet after it has outgrown that cute puppy or kitten stage, using one of the many common excuses for not keeping a pet, it is you who are the problem for the worlds pet overpopulation.
Bibliography American Humane Association. Adoption & Pet Care: Issues and information. 2009. 5 11 2010 . Avery, Gladys. “Overpopulation – The Importance of Spaying and Neutering. ” 22 July 2007. I Heart Paws. 5 November 2010 . Humane Society. Pet Over Population. 2010. 18 11 2010 . Mansuso, Judie. “One of the most frequent questions asked about SB 250 is. ” n. d. SB:250. 5 November 2010 . Pennington, Ian. “Facts on Pet Overpopulation. ” n. d. Eziine @rticles. 10 11 2010 . Sadler, Anna. “Pet Overpopulation — A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy? ” September 1994. The Cat Fanciers Association, Inc. 10 11 2010 .