1/31/2018 0 Comments Homeless Animals Essay By: Madeline Townsend, Yasemin Bali Musa Jeng and Samantha Levine Homeless Animals Every minute an average of 2000-3000 household pets are born in the U.S. That means that every year more than 30 million dogs and cats are born (HSCL 18). Sadly, 8-10 million don’t get to settle into a home (Leigh and Geyer 1). Instead, they are abandoned on the streets or surrendered to an animal shelter. These dogs and cats can go off and reproduce which can crowd the streets and create danger for the community because they might have issues such as aggression or diseases. Our research group has a strong connection to this problem because we love animals and care about their quality of life. If homeless dogs or cats show aggression it's probably because they are scared and don’t know any better. This can cause them to be stereotyped by the community, but really they are (in most cases) misunderstood. Everybody in the community should care about these animals. We have all felt pain before. When animals have a poor quality of life or are given up by their family they feel pain. So we should be sympathetic and learn how to help these animals. In the U.S, there is a massive number of homeless animals. Unfortunately, of the 70 million, only about one-ninth of these animals enter the 3,500 shelters in the U.S yearly. Only a tenth of the animals surrendered to shelters have been fixed, meaning they have had their reproductive organs removed or altered so that they cannot reproduce. Because some owners don’t have their pets spayed or neutered, some unintentional litters get sent to animal shelters and when some shelters get crowded they have to put some animals down (with the exception of no-kill shelters). Most animals, household or not, are affected by humans/their owners. Only 1 out of every 10 dogs born will find a permanent home. The cause for the population boom in animal shelters is that some animals are given up by their owners to a shelter or the street. The animals on the street sometimes are found and put into the shelters which increases the numbers even more. Every year, about 2.7 million dogs and cats are killed, because shelters are too full or the animal isn’t getting adopted (DoSomething.org 2015). Everybody can help abandoned animals. Some things that people do to help neglected animals is spreading the word about pet adoption or recommend spaying/neutering pets. In Wake, County people help or volunteer to save stray animals. In one of the readings it says “ We work in partnership with fosters, volunteers, and local rescues, to treat and rehome thousands of homeless animals every year,” (Wakegov Animal Center 18). There are some no-kill shelters like SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) each year they find homes for over 3,400 animals through its innovative adoption programs. In recent news, it said that animals from Puerto Rico have been saved from the recent hurricane back in 2017 and have found refuge in North Carolina (ABC 11 Eyewitness News, October 6th, 2017). This organization in Wake County is helping those animals to find a safe home. “Rescue groups from across North Carolina partnered with the Humane Society of the United States to bring more than 100 homeless pets from Puerto Rico to North Carolina, including 40 dogs that the SPCA of Wake County will take in,” ( The News & Observer Oct 6, 2017.) What the organization is doing is awesome for our community and the dogs and cats being rescued will have a happy home for them to live in. These are examples of how people are helping banished animals find a home. There are different ways to contribute to the animal shelters. For example, you could have a fundraiser to raise money, volunteer at animal shelters, or you could inform others about all the stranded animals that need to be rescued and how to help get them in a home. Many civilians try to help out with wandering animals by adopting them. They need to think about all the other stranded and abandoned animals walking on the streets. Yes, adopting an animal definitely helps but we need to get all the other animals in homes or in no-kill animal shelters. Volunteering or donating is a fantastic way to help out. You can donate many things such as food, bedding, toys, and money. Some things the shelters may have you do when you volunteer are cleaning their cages, grooming, and walking. You do have to be a certain age to volunteer. It’s usually ages 16+. If you’re underage for certain places or jobs you are required to have a parent or guardian. Our main goal is to help uncared for animals find homes or get safe. Many animals get abandoned on the side of the road and some are living on the streets for their whole lives. If everyone could help animals find homes and/or shelters the animals will live better lives. Another one of our goals is to raise a bunch of money. Money can help the shelters so much. Then they can buy supplies to groom or bathe them. If they have a disease they can get the medicine they need. Money can do so much. Even $20 can probably save some animals. There are so many animals out there that need help. Just by doing something small like giving $5 can help so much. If you ever see an animal out in the city call someone or take it to a shelter. Something could happen to that animal like getting hit by a car or it can catch a disease. Many things happen to innocent animals and they don’t deserve it. Save a life, donate, volunteer, help. Works Cited “Humane Society of Central Illinois.” What’s the Problem? Jan.1.2018 <http://www.hscipets.org/tipgen21.htm> Leigh and Geyer, Diane and Marilee. “No Voice Unheard.” Problems and Solutions. <http://www.novoiceunheard.org/problems_solutions.html> SPCA. SPCA of Wake County. 2018 <https://spcawake.org/> News & Observer. Rescue groups partner to bring homeless pets from Puerto Rico to NC after Hurricanes. October 6. 2017. <http://www.newsobserver.com/living/pets/article177216191.html> ABC 11 News. SPCA of Wake County houses homeless pets from Puerto Rico. October 5. 2017 <http://abc11.com/pets-animals/spca-of-wake-county-houses-homeless-pets-from-pr/2493504/> “11 Facts About Animal Homelessness,” Dosomething.org. February 26, 2015. January 26, 2018 <https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-animal- homelessness> Action Plan:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M39ssgikk2oBJwXGGfbfIbR1rjhHb9h-Oe5MMz454uE/edit
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