Animal Homelessness Problem

It is well known that dogs and cats are some of mankind’s most beloved domestic animals. However, far less well known is that a huge animal homelessness problem exists. Every year in the United States roughly 7.6 million abandoned, lost, or unwanted dogs and cats are entered into shelters (ASPCA). These animals find themselves in a state of high anxiety as they nervously wait each day hoping to find homes. Tragically, when animals don’t get adopted, they are oftentimes euthanized. It is up to us to give them happy and healthy lives as household pets. The question remains…..are we a part of the problem or are we a part of the solution for helping animals find homes? Animal homelessness often occurs as a result of pets becoming lost

Ultimately, we are at fault for not supporting and donating to local shelters, and we should be doing everything we can to help these innocent lives. Too many animals in unfit shelters results in more lives at risk. According to animal and social justice advocate, Kristina Pepelko, “Nearly half of all animals that arrive in U.S. shelters are euthanized because there is a lack of space and adopters, amounting to roughly 2.7 million dead animals every year or five out of every ten dogs and seven out of every ten cats,” An example of this is the sad story of the 10 month old sick puppy named Zephyr, who was unfortunately not taken care of and died in 2009. Cathy Nguyen, a volunteer that worked at the shelter that let the puppy’s life go to waste, rose awareness to the tragic story and filed a lawsuit against the agency with the help of the No Kill Advocacy Center. The lawsuit was successful and the Companion Animal Protection Act, otherwise known as CAPA, was

But I doubt that people truly know just how big this problem really is. It is not that they don’t care about homeless animals. Most people probably do care. I feel that people assume that someone else is taking care of things and that the problem is under control. The sad truth is that shelters are overwhelmed, and they don’t have the resources to handle all of the many animals continually coming into the