How serious is overpopulation of dogs?

Answer 1

Very serious. Not only are there TONS of mutts out there that are not being taken care of, are in the shelters and are put to sleep each day... now people have taken it upon themselves to breed 2 different breeds in order to make up their own silly breeds... They don't have homes lined up, and often the dogs end up in shelters and /or put down.
People don't research before they buy a dog, and when they find that they bought the wrong breed, haven't the time or the intelligence to care for dogs, they dump them.
It's a very serious problem.. That's why unless someone is a breeder and has betterment of the breed in mind, rather than just witnessing the miracle of birth or producing another litter of unwanted dogs, they should have their dogs spayed and neutered.

Answer 2

The Humane Society of the United States estimates that 6-8 million cats and dogs enter shelters each year. About half of them are adopted; the rest are euthanized.

And those are just estimates of the animals in shelters. The number of animals living on the street is unknown.

So to answer your question, the problem is very serious. Millions of animals are euthanized every year because there are too many of them.

Answer 3

There are millions, MILLIONS of healthy dogs euthanized each year, each one with the potential to be someone’s best friend or a child’s playmate. If that’s not a serious overpopulation problem, then I don’t know what is. It's not just a problem, it's a crisis.

Answer 4

Really serious! If every dog alive today in the United States had a home, every person in the United States would have to own 7 dogs. (21 cats). There are something like 9.6 million dogs euthanized every year.

Answer 5

Every hour in the United States, more than 2,000 dogs and 3,500 cats are born, compared to 415 humans. The yearly statistics include more than 17 million dogs and 30 million cats. Add these animals to an existing pet population of 54 million dogs and 56 million cats and the total exceeds one billion!!!!

Answer 6

http://www.americanhumane.org/site/PageServer?pagename=nr_fact_sheets_animal_euthanasia

A survey was done of 1,000 shelters by the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy:

* Of the 1,000 shelters that replied to the National Council's survey, 4.3 million animals were handled.

* In 1997 roughly 64% of the total number of animals that entered shelters were euthanized -- approximately 2.7 million animals in just these 1,000 shelters.These animals may have been put down due to overcrowding, but may have been sick, aggressive, injured, or suffered something else.

* 56% of dogs and 71% of cats that enter animal shelters are euthanized. More cats are euthanized than dogs because they are more likely to enter a shelter without any owner identification.

* Only 15% of dogs and 2% of cats that enter animal shelters are reunited with their owners.

* 25% of dogs and 24% of cats that enter animal shelters are adopted.

It is from these numbers that we estimated what is occurring nationwide. It is widely accepted that 9.6 million animals are euthanized annually in the United States.

------------------------------

9.6 million animals are euthanized every year.
That's 184,615 animals every week.
That's 26,373 animals every day.
That's 1,098 animals every hour, around the clock.

That means there are 18 animals euthanized every single minute in the United States.

How many have died while you read this message?

Does that qualify as "serious"?
.

Answer 7

overpopulation not the problem, people are. the 6 billion + people on this planet behave like people, hence the problem. until it is made mandatory to get a license (that is regulated) to breed dogs, this sad problem will continue. how serious? volunteer at your local animal shelter, say goodbye when they get the dogs out of their cage and take them to the back.

Answer 8

Very serious although I doubt it is a true 'over population' I think part of the problem is the throw away society we live in, easy come, easy go. Once the cute little pup grows up without any proper training and becomes a nuisance out it goes and then they go get another cute little pup and so the cycle goes on. People not taking adequate care of their bitches when they come into season and yet another litter and of course all those commercial breeders to.

Answer 9

It is serious enough that the Humane Society tells everyone to have their pets neutered or spayed.Millions of animals are put to sleep because they can't find a home.The shelters are overloaded and sometimes have to ignore a bad situation with dogs.

Answer 10

In the USA there are approximately 10 million unwanted dogs euthanized each year.

Any questions?