I can pull up my local humane society website, and find no more than a handful of dogs for sale. The majority of these dogs are, in fact, transfers from other shelters. There are some cats, not a ton, and no small animals. I've even visited the shelter page to find no dogs listed.
But, you say, don't you live in a small community? There's probably tons more animals in larger cities, so there must be an overpopulation!!
Well, yes, there's always going to be more pets in the shelter in a large city... I mean, there's more people, so it stands to reason that there are more pets, and thus there are going to be more pets that are unwanted.
And yes, it is a good thing that the local humane society here isn't overcrowded, and it is even a good thing that they are transferring dogs from larger cities to smaller communities.
I don't think there's so much an overpopulation problem as there is a distribution problem. I think that more shelters should be working together, and cross posting dogs. I think that they should have transports or relays in place, so if Joe Blow wants a 2 year old cocker spaniel mix, and the shelter 3 towns over happens to have a 2 year old cocker spaniel mix, the shelter he visits and the shelter with the dog communicate and get that dog to Joe Blow.
That would be super awesome.
I also think that some areas with high animal populations need to instigate more subsidized spay/neuter programs for low income families. Stop attacking the responsible breeders, and start helping the people who end up with litters because they simply cannot afford $300-500 to have their animal fixed and didn't realize the cost before getting the pet. (I do advocate responsible pet purchases, and owners being aware and prepared for all costs before getting a new pet, however I cannot force everyone to realize this, and think it would be great if every community had a low cost spay/neuter program).
What I don't think should be happening, however, is importing dogs from other countries. How many dogs entered North America in 2014 from overseas? How many of those dogs were placed into homes while dogs from this country, who didn't have a fancy back story to tug at heartstrings, languished in the shelter?
How can you tell me that there is an overpopulation issue, when you're bringing animals in by the fistful, and selling them?
There are 10 times more animals than there are homes for them!!!!!! (probably not the actual "statistic", but I suspect the one quoted by the ARA's is just as made up as this one).
If there are so many more animals than homes, why are we importing more animals?
If there were an overabundance of, say, chairs in a store, they wouldn't order more chairs.
If they weren't able to sell all of a product, and ended up disposing of 1/2 of it, they wouldn't order that product again.
So why are we treating animals this way?
"Well," you say, "it's because these animals we're importing need a home!"
Why are these imported animals more deserving of a home than the ones born on this continent?
"Well," you reply, "it's because these animals were going to be put down in their own country!"
Yes, but I'm told that there are tons of animals needlessly being put down on this continent, why are these dogs being put down to save dogs from another country?
"Well," you retort, "these imports would have been cruelly slaughtered for food in their native country, we had to rescue them because they're dogs!!"
Except the only reason you feel these animals need saving from slaughter is because they are dogs. Because we, as a society, are conditioned to see dogs as cute, fluffy, playful critters that deserve everything in life. But they're still animals, and in other countries? Yeah, they're considered food. I do not find this argument to be valid.
And this is without even getting into the legalities of importing animals. Did you realize that there have been cases of imported rescue dogs bringing in rabies? Distemper? Parvo? And other canine diseases. These animals come from countries which do not vaccinate dogs, which do not spay/neuter, where people do not have access to appropriate, affordable vet care. These dogs are not being adequately quarantined, have been known to come in with falsified papers, and are often promoted over animals that came from the local area, because they're exotic, they have a great back story, and are adopted quickly as well as garnering tons of donations.
Now, also, there is a high number of "Taiwanese Mountain Dogs" being brought in, which look suspiciously like pitbulls with erect ears. And what do you think the hardest to place breed of dog is? Pitbulls! And what breed of dog is flying off the shelf as fast as the rescues can import them? Taiwanese Mountain Dogs!
Do you see the problem I have wrapping my head around this?
If there is such an overpopulation crisis, why are they bringing more dogs in, instead of focusing on homing the ones already here, educating owners, and finding low cost solutions to help more people have their animals spayed and neutered?
That's my only question. If someone has an honest, legitimate, non-heartstrings-tugging reason, I'd be happy to hear it.
Oh wait, I already answered it.
There isn't an overpopulation crisis, it's just AR claptrap being used to bring down breeders.