Do you believe this article about pet underpopulation is true?

I'm not sure. It wouldn't surprise me to be perfectly honest, many animal charities are not as shiny as they look. I have only visited two shelters, and both weren't full, one was half empty.

One thing that is true is the damage to our breeds due to the gene pools being narrowed. So many people are pressured not to breed that the few that continue only have a select few animals to breed from. The narrow gene pools create innumerable health problems. That's why so many breeds have common illness that need testing for these days.

A very interesting read, and something worth doing more research on I think.

The record of stats is 18 years old. Not very scientific anymore. It shows 5 million euthanizations. Not exactly an underpopulation, is it?

So if all of these organizations are still euthanizing, the pets were born, correct. How then can there be an underpopulation?

Go into a rural county somewhere with no animal control, and look at the scores of pets running wild.

In the counties in northern Florida without a tax base to support a shelter, you literally have to stop driving on the rural roads because the packs of dogs sleep there.

Look at the ads posted in any newspaper, or any bulletin board in a grocery store, or talk to anyone trying to find homes for a litter of mixed puppies.

The writer needs to get out of the bubble in that brick cubicle and into the real world.

I think it is a GREAT thing that there are less people breeding puppies in the world. I absolutly love animals, and volunteer at our local animal shelter. The article makes it seem like the fact that less animals are being euthinized is a BAD thing! Like since less dogs have to be euthanized, we need to make more puppies, because that is a sign that the pet population is going down. Isn't it a good thing that there are less new puppies needing homes, giving the older dogs a better chance at life??

Personally, I think it is a good thing the pet population might be going down. Those shelter dogs need a new lease on life, and they can't get it if everyone is buying young, super-cute puppies.

The problem is that not quite enough people choose adoption and in some areas the majority of dogs available have special needs that make them unsuitable for the majority of people looking for a dog.

We bring all the dogs at out local shelter in from other shelters in Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Georgia.. We get a couple at most from our local area. BUT, there are shelters in Virginia and West Virginia that still kill most of their dogs..

I'm not the save em all type. I can recognize that there are some dogs that will need such a specialized home that it is unlikely to find one. Not only that, but adopting them out can give a very unfavorable presentation of what's available at animal shelters.

I adopted a collie/samoyed mix who's a great dog and a Dachshund/Corgi mix that's as friendly as can be. One of them came from Kentucky, the other from Ohio. Both were perfectly healthy well-adjusted dogs slated for euthanasia.

In many areas though, there aren't very many well-adjusted dogs available.

I think everyone should at least check their local shelter and local rescue groups before buying a dog.

The busiest shelter I ever volunteered at took in about 30,000 animals a year. The population of the county it serviced was about 600,000. That's still a pretty high amount of available animals in terms of population. Most of those were cats thanks to people not altering and letting them roam..

I would say that right now, most animal deaths in shelters result from not enough publicity locally for the shelter and not enough effort to transport animals to other areas and encourage altering especially of less desirable animals.

I would say that there are actually plenty of homes for the animals that are really adoptable. A statistic drop to 5 million from the 15 million it was a few years before that is pretty darn good.. Not to mention, that's the HSUS statistic which is bound to be a bit higher then it actually is.

There is a PUPPY underpopulation, just as there is a NEWBORN underpopulation in the United States foster care system.

That doesn't mean that there aren't millions of adult dogs killed every year, just like it doesn't mean that there aren't millions of young children and adolescents in foster homes throughout the United States.

Just because they're no longer "baby cute" doesn't mean they're any less deserving of a home.

The link you cite says that 5 million animals were euthanized in 1990. To me, that's 5 million too many, and it's because there aren't enough homes for them all. That's overpopulation.

Personally, I will rejoice if there is ever a day that every shelter and rescue group is put out of business, and every foster care agency has to shut its doors due to lack of need.

Until that day - don't breed or buy while shelter dogs die, and consider adopting a child in need.

Wow. I can see how one could say there are simply more people waiting for, say, a Chihuahua, than there are Chihuahua's in the local shelter. But I know that if I drive the 4.2 miles to MY local shelter, I will guarantee that there will be at least one dog there looking for a home.

What was that saying about "Lies, damned lies and statistics"? You can make numbers say whatever you want them to say! The reality is that there are lots of dogs here in San Diego needing homes!

P.s. What part of the country are you in? This is really fascinating!

no, i think there are many pets, thats basically why people have to give dogs a shot to stop them from breeding more. Since there are a lot, there are many dogs that go to the shelter