Baker1

Haley Baker

Mr. Sipes

English 1201

10 March 2019

Why Do Most Pets End Up in Shelters

For centuries animals have warmed their ways into millions of hearts. They give people a

sense of ease and a companionship. Animals are the face of many emotional appeals throughout

the internet and this is why. Imagine: animals are a part of your ultimate passion and you’ll do

anything for any animal in need. You decide to give your local shelter a helping hand and you

realize how many animals are actually in shelters. You don’t let the number effect your decision

just yet. The first couple of days you help out with the cats and with the cleaning of their cages.

You slowly move your way to the back of the shelter, finally you get to work with the dogs. You

see their lone faces but instantly perk up, when they see someone coming. One day, you hear a

loud commotion coming from the shop. You rush to see what’s going on and you come upon a

heartbreaking conversation. A tall man, was there surrendering his dog to the shelter. You watch

him leave without saying goodbye and without thinking twice about it. You could see the

sadness in the dog’s eyes, knowing that his owner, the man who raised him isn’t coming back.

Thousands of question run through your mind, how could someone leave their pets’ like they are

nothing? Do holidays play a role in this?

In the last decade the number of animals being left behind has taken its highest peak. The

need for shelters have risen drastically. Many people have the wrong idea about shelters, because

many only know what they hear. A shelter is a nonprofit organization, whose goal is to protect
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and care for homeless pets. In many cases, they help return lost pets to their homes. Being a

nonprofit organization all shelters depend on donations and adoptions to keep their doors open

and to care for the animals. When hearing about shelters the first thing you hear is euthanasia,

which is a humane way of putting an animal to sleep. When many people hear about this, they

turn to be fully against the shelter. Euthanasia is the last resort. Shelters also don’t work alone,

they team up with the American society for the prevention of animal cruelty (ASPCA) created in

1995. The ASPCA is a “national shelter outreach department, called ASPCApro, to provide

training and assistance for animal shelters around the country” (Ramos and Howard). There are

more than 5000 shelters worldwide.

In the United States approximately 78 million dogs and 85.8 million cats are owned.

Roughly 45 percent of pet owners learned about their pets through different people, which

exceeds limitations of people whom actually knows how to care for the pet of their choice. In

2011, nearly 6.5 million animals entered a local shelter and 3.2 million were adopted

(Bershadker). Nearly, 700 thousand are readopted by their owners.

When working and dealing with animal shelters, there are approximately 4 terms you

need to know: Neutering, overpopulation, strays, and cruelty. Neutering is the act of removing an

animals reproductive organs, this helps control overpopulation. Overpopulation is the dramatic

increase in animal breeds, meaning that the number of animals produced are in large amounts.

Overpopulation was never an issue until the twentieth century. Strays are animals that are found

on the streets and are brought into shelters by random people. Strays are the main reason for

overpopulation, especially in cats. In some areas strays are so overpopulated, vet clinics hold free

clinic to neuter these animals. Animal cruelty is the intentional infliction to harm an animal.
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“These animals often suffer from trauma and require extra care and rehabilitation” (Shelter

Intake). Knowing these definitions can potentially help an animal in need.

A shelter survey was designed by the NCPPSP, to duck down into the true meaning of

why animals are left. With this survey, the NCPPSP is also able to determine if the shelters have

all their resources to care for the animals. After years of conducting the survey, they were able to

find certain data to help determine core characteristics on who these people are. These owners

represented a broad consistent range of age, education, and income levels (Larson). Though these

characteristics’ seem legit, do you think these are the main reason?

Everyone has their own reasons for doing the things that they do, but are they right for

doing it? How could you just leave your pet behind? The list of reasons goes on for miles. It

seems as if everyone has their own excuses on why they drop their animals off.

 Behavioral problems’

 Lack of training

 Laziness

 Holidays

Though this list may seem reasonable, is it really? When owning an animal, they are like your

child. They cannot defend for themselves, they rely on you. When owning an animal it’s a life

time commitment, you can’t just leave them when time gets rough. These animals had a home

and lost it.

Initially, behavioral problems is the leading reason on why dogs are given up and the

second leading reasons for cats. Behavioral problems can be very serious, such as biting.

However, many people list behavior problems such as barking, meowing, and jumping. These
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may be a problem but can easily be fixed by training. People have such high expectations and the

reasons for leaving the animals are very inappropriate. “Dog needs too much attention,” or “Cat

scratches on the couch.” Nearly all behavioral problems can be solved, but owners lack the

knowledge and motivation to do so. “People surrendering an animal with behavior issues don’t

want to hurt their animal’s chances of adoption from the shelter, so they may mislead shelter

staff and explain the surrender as due to allergies or a move” (Towell). Along with behavior

many animals are taken to the shelter because the animals scare the children. Over 65 percent of

children have been scared by their pets’ behavior. Nearly 5000 people have known someone who

has been attacked. This action makes decisions even harder when it comes to adopting. In many

cases of this happening the animal is returned back to the shelter. Is this due to lack of training?

When it comes to lack of training, owners are at fault. This problem is more elaborate in

dogs than cats. The puppies are usually kept by the breeder for 8 to 9 weeks, where they stay in

the crate with their moms until weaned. The breeder never trains the dogs, which most people

believe that they do. The breeder initially just takes care of the dogs’ health until purchased, all

they do is deworming and their first set of shots. When purchasing from a breeder, people expect

more. They want the dog to come trained. They have no idea how much work is actually

involved. The first months of owning a puppy is the most critical of the stages, especially when

potty training. In the training process, many people don’t know that they can take their yearlings

to a training class that you participate in. These classes range for puppies 8 to 16 weeks of age

and are offered for 6 classes, this class is to help your pup get used to their feet being touched,

vet checkups, and other people (This class is a group class). The next level is adolescences, this

means that your dog is getting close to its full size. This class is a one-on-one and is more in

depth. This class is where your dog will become one with you, you will teach them how to walk
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on a leash, sit, and lay. However, you can continue on the training process. The next step of

training can vary from agility courses to Seeing Eye dogs. The problem with people is they don’t

want to pay for the class or attend. Nearly, 6% of dogs are left in the shelter due to training.

People want these animals but don’t want to do the necessary work. Why are people so lazy?

Laziness is one of the leading factors that leave animals homeless. They want the animals

but not the chores. Many animals that are surrendered and even rescued come in looking

emaciated, they are overly skinny and starving. The owners are so lazy, they don’t even care to

feed their animals. How do you take care of yourself knowing that your animal is starving? This

is why so many animals end up as strays and end up in shelters. In the last decade, nearly 6.5

million animals enter the shelter annually. According to the ASPCA survey and compatibility

tests, laziness is one of the leading factors. Animals need care and attention. Many situations of

lazy owners result in the animals behavioral issues. They want attention and when they don’t

receive it, they will find a way. Health problems are also a leading factor under the category of

laziness. Many people beat around the bush and say that their pet doesn’t need a veterinarian,

little do they know all animals need a yearly checkup. It is understandable that people may have

trouble paying for vet bills, but that doesn’t mean the animals health should be ignored. Many

clinics and vet offices allow payment plans or sometimes will even help with the payments. They

are there to help your animals and will do whatever it takes (Bershadker). If you don’t have what

it takes to care for an animal, don’t buy one.

Have you ever received an animal for a gift during the holidays? Holidays are the number

one leading factor in all animals. During the holidays is the worst time to ever purchase an

animal. All the commotion can frighten the animal and cause a serve amount of stress. Also
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many things can and will harm the animal, they will want to explore everything. These items

include:

 Ribbons

 Cords

 Ornaments

 Sweets

 Pine needles

 Lights

On top of those things, you won’t be have the time to give the attention they deserve. During the

holidays, many shelters hold sales, they encourage people to adopt. Most of whom have never

adopted from a shelter before or they will inforce the idea of buying one for a gift. More than

half of the animals adopted during holidays are returned to the shelters or, worse, they are lead to

a life on a chain or dumped on the side of the road (Kretzer). Almost 400 calls come into shelters

around the holidays, stating that they received an animal as a gift and can’t take care of it. Many

shelters around the United States have banned adoptions in December to help reduce the amount

of homelessness. Do you know what’s worse than receiving an animal as a gift? Getting rid of

the animal that you’ve owned for a while just to get a new one.

Have you ever given up a pet for a new one? Have you ever given up a pet after the

holidays? For shelters, the holidays usually result in surrendering pets. In North Dakota, more

than 700 pets are turned into shelters after the holidays. In Oklahoma at the Midwest Animal

Shelter, nearly 20 dogs were surrendered in one week due to the holidays. Every time around the

holidays people tend to travel. In one situation, they had a couple drop three dogs off around
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Thanksgiving. They explained to the shelter if the dogs were still there, they would come back

for them. No animal stays at the shelter that long. Many people don’t understand when shelters

become so crowded, sad measures have to be taken. Each animal is evaluated and the most

adoptable ones are safe. If the animals can’t find a home, they are euthanized (Mills). Sometimes

rescues will help shelters out with the overcrowding, but they can’t help them all. In the last

decade shelters have pleaded to get help to save these animals, they do all they can to save them.

Sadly not enough people want to adopt or have the experience to care for a shelter animal.

Approximately, 1.5 million shelter animals are euthanized each year. No one will ever realize

how many animals are euthanized due to the large amounts. Is getting a new dog worth your old

dog’s death? How can people be so cruel? Is getting a new pet for the holidays more important

than the pet you already have?

In addition to reasons and statistics, a study collected data and information on

surrendered pets. These numbers ranged from different groups: veterinary care, age, years of

being owned, and receiving a pet from a close friend. 47% of cats and 33% of dogs have never

seen a vet. 51% of cats and 43% of dogs were not neutered. Nearly, 48% of dogs and 40% of

cats were 5 months to a year of age, when they were surrendered. 37% of dogs and 30% of cats

were only owned for about a year before being surrendered (Larson). Not only do the age of the

animals have statistics, the breeds do too. In an interview with Anne Hogan, she expressed “You

can find purebreds in rescue!! There are breed-specific rescues for just about every dog out there,

and you can find purebreds at general rescue groups and shelters as well. If you've always had

German Shepherds, or can't live without a Poodle, you can still find a rescue dog. If you want a

puppy, you can find puppies. Old dogs? Yup. Big, small, calm, excited, kid-friendly, whatever

kind of dog you need” (Kellogg). The top three breeds are: The American Pit Bull, Chihuahuas,
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and the Labrador Retriever. In shelters the number for these breeds are very large. There are

nearly 5435 Pit Bulls, 3725 Chihuahuas, and 3587 Labradors in shelters worldwide

(Fantegrossi). What makes these breeds so distinct? Is it discrimination? Living behind bars their

entire lives effects their mental state, especially when it comes to adopting.

When animals have been in cages for so long and experience minimal human contact it

can sometimes raise flags. Many people don’t realize that animals can get depression.

Depression can be diagnosed in humans just by certain symptoms and characteristics. The

common characteristics are feeling guilty, thoughts of sadness, and loss of pleasure. Though

animals can’t communicate, measures can be taken to find these results. The symptoms of

depression in animals is very similar to humans, they will display laziness and loss of interest.

The interests can run between food, their desire to play, and even their sleep patterns. Now a

days, veterinarians frequently give animals antidepressants to help treat with behavioral

disorders. Animal depression can even have signs of them scratching or biting themselves bad

enough to cause an injury, however so far human medications seem to help this problem

(Ingber). In New Zealand, a study was conducted that showed depression and postpartum in

sheltered animals after being adopted. This study conducted many statistics showing that animals

can be depressed. These tests revolved around 61 adopters, 77% of the adopters agreed that their

dogs adjusted very well, 18% said their dogs was slowly adjusted, and 3% said their dogs

weren’t adjusting at all. In one circumstance, the owner had to give the dog back because it

wasn’t adjusting and was aggressive to other animals. The animal had accepted its life in the

kennel alone. 54% said their dogs would approach other people, 25% was terrified of people, and

10% showed aggression toward strangers. Though some of the animals seemed to adjust very

well, they still came with some problems which the study brought forward. This test involved 57
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of the adopted dogs, these statics revolved around behavioral problems. 46% had reported at

least one behavioral problem, this involved jumping, barking, or pulling. 30% would destroy the

house, 28% were very hyper, and 2% would appear aggressive when food and toys were messed

with (Gates). Potentially, these problems can increase into rough situations for the animals.

When you think of shelter animals whom have been adopted, you expect and think they

will live a long and happy life. Sadly, that’s not always the truth. Sometimes, they end up in very

bad situations. One story stands out, in 2018 a Pitbull was tossed from a car window, where she

was found motionless. She had so many injury’s that caused her death minutes later. The vet

found a microchip, which confirmed her name as Valerie. She had been adopted two weeks ago

during a cut price also known as clear the shelter. Valerie’s story hit media all over the world and

highlighted a major problem with pet adoption and helped reach the goal for “no kill”. The no

kill policy ensures the animal to life its full life. Thousands of rescues have stepped up to take

custody of shelter animals so this wouldn’t happen again. After Valerie’s death reached

Facebook, a bright cheerful picture of her was posted. Everyone was on the hunt for this

individual (Mithers). In order to keep this from happening again, shelters need to look into the

adopter’s life. A background check needs to be done as well as a home visit. These animals had a

rough life, they need to be know what it feels like to be loved. How can people be so cruel?

However, some are adopted and live the best life.

A shelter animal, knows compassion, freedom, and sacrifice. Once you adopt them they

are yours, they will put their life on the line for you! Many people don’t understand what an

animal can do for you. In an interview with Anne Hogan, she expressed the true love of a shelter

dog. Anne had adopted her dog from a shelter and named him Teddy. Anne was diagnosed with

breast cancer and she had no idea what to do. When she hit her worst, he never left her side. He
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was there to lick her hand and watch out for her (Kellogg). Teddy never stopped, his love was all

hers. Another story of a shelter animal showing true love is a personal story. My Aunt was

diagnosed with stage 4 lymph node cancer, her treatments were intensive and long. On top of the

cancer, she has been deaf almost her entire life. She has always wanted a puppy and her cancer

wouldn’t allow that. She finally hit remission and our family chipped in, we made her dream

come true. We purchased her a small black and white puppy, she named him Milo. From being

depressed for years, he brought her out of it. She is cancer free and happy. She has had Milo for

5 months now and they are the best of buds. They are currently working on teaching him sign

language to obey. Animals are truly a gift.

Animals are here for companionship, they will love you at your worst. No matter what,

they will give you their unconditional love. Like children they can’t defend for themselves, they

can’t stop the abuse and neglect, but we can. Everyone, would love to have an animal but not

everyone is responsible. How would you make sure, they end up in the right home? Before you

adopt consider these steps. Make sure everyone in the house hold want an animal, having an

animal will affect family life. This ranges from who will take it out or who will feed it. Do your

research, make sure the pet you want will fit your lifestyle. Check the requirements, make sure

you are capable to care for that animal. Animal proof your home, you want to make sure the

animal can’t do any harm to itself. They are just like children. Lastly, if you have another pet

introduce them before bringing them home (Coffey). Taking these measures will insure you and

your new pet a happy life. Don’t adopted a shelter animal just to send them back or sell them.

They’ve had a rough life, they deserve love and affection. If these measures don’t suit you, do

not adopt. Let someone adopt them that truly wants them. Let’s take a stand and lower the

amount of animals surrendered to shelters.

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Works Cited

Bershadker, Matthew. “Pet Statistics.” ASPCA, 31 Dec. 2017, www.aspca.org/animal-

homelessness/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics.

Coffey, Lauren. “Pet Adoption 101: Expert Tips on Animal Adoptions.” Clear the Shelters, Clear the

Shelters, 25 July 2018, www.cleartheshelters.com/Steps-to-Take-Before-During-and-After-

Adoption-Save-the-Shelter-pets-311281511.html.

Fantegrossi, Dina. “Study: These Are The 10 Most Common Dog Breeds Found In Shelters.” BarkPost, 1

Aug. 2018, barkpost.com/good/most-common-breeds-in-shelters-2015/.

Gates, Carolyn M, et al. “Post-Adoption Problem Behaviors in Adolescent and Adult Dogs Rehomed

through a New Zealand Animal Shelter.” Sinclair College Off-Campus Authentication Form,

MDPI, 1 June 2018, eds-a-ebscohost-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=10&sid=ffa3b42f-1480-4652-af6f-

a27cc92c0406%40pdc-v-sessmgr05.

Ingber, Sasha. “Do Animals Get Depressed?” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 6 Oct.

2012, news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/10/121004-animals-depression-health-science/.

Kellogg, Cecily. “Interview with Anne Hogan, Humane Society of the US.” FIGO, Humane Society, 26

July 2017, figopetinsurance.com/blog/interview-anne-hogan-humane-society-us. Accessed 19

Feb. 2019.

Kretzer, Michelle. “Shelters Full of 'Present' Animals After the Holidays.” PETA, 20 Dec. 2018,

www.peta.org/blog/shelters-full-unwanted-present-animals-after-holidays/.

Larson, Darlene. “Why Are Dogs Given Up?” Petfinder, NCPPSP, www.petfinder.com/pet-adoption/dog-

adoption/pets-relinquished-shelters/.

Mills, Chellie. “Dozens of Dogs Abandoned for the Holidays.” KFOR.com, 23 Dec. 2015,

kfor.com/2015/12/22/dozens-of-dogs-abandoned-for-the-holidays/.

Mithers, Carol. “Are We Loving Shelter Dogs to Death?” The New York Times,

www.nytimes.com/2018/08/18/opinion/shelter-dogs-no-kill-policies.html.
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Ramos, Miriam, and Cassandra Howard. “Animal Shelters.” Carnegie, Andrew | Learning to Give,

www.learningtogive.org/resources/animal-shelters.

“Shelter Intake and Surrender.” ASPCA, www.aspca.org/animal-homelessness/shelter-intake-and-

surrender.

Towell, Lisa. “Why People Abandon Animals.” PETA Prime, 20 Sept. 2018,

prime.peta.org/2018/09/why-people-abandon-animals.