I think the #1 problem with pet overpopulation right now is people not spaying and neutering their pets.
I think the #2 problem with pet overpopulation right now is that people who have no business “breeding” dogs are breeding them. The
vast majority of those dog probably should not be bred.
I follow a lot of rescues and am absolutely heartbroken that we’re euthanizing so many unwanted pets right now. It’s a national disgrace. I started a thread about this a couple of months ago, but so many people who got pets during the pandemic have now “gotten rid” of them. I am also completely appalled at anyone who would drop a senior dog off at at a shelter rather than see them through to the end, no matter how difficult it is. What an animal goes through at a shelter is absolutely devastating and terrifying to them. Think of it from the pet’s perspective.
I think rescues might be easing up a little on their requirements to adopt, and that’s probably a mixed bag, IMO. But I will say that, as an almost ideal dog owner, it took me six years, and about 70 applications, to adopt the German Shepherd I’ve had for almost two years now, and the only reason we were able to get him, I believe, is because they’d made a mistake with his age and listed him as much older than he actually is and no one really wanted an old dog, but we didn’t mind. When we got him and I saw his teeth were still white and he was still chewing shoes, I was shocked!
He went from this and this (trip in rescue van and first moments with us)
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To this and this (first weeks home)
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To now this
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I keep assuring him he’s home forever, but i can see that sometimes he still worries. Some of the differences i see between him and the puppies I raised make me a little sad, but at least he’s learning now that it’s all good. i wish that whoever raised him could’ve kept him, but apparently that wasn’t possible. i sometimes wonder if he misses his special person.
To anyone that does rescue work, i salute you. it’s got to be one of the hardest jobs out there if you’re an animal lover.