First Friend

Stop the Strays The amount of strays in America is unbelievable. In my own community, Hood County, the numbers are through the roof. According to the Stray Pet Advocacy 45% of the stray animals in Hood county are dogs, and the other 55% are cats. The first step to a better, less stray-infested, future is to get the shelters going harder at their jobs. More animal control vehicles should be patrolling through the town during the day. More funds are needed to give the animal control vans the equipment they need to properly contain stray animals and ensure the safety of the officer on duty when the equipment is being used. Second, overpopulation is one of the biggest issues in our community, and not to mention the state. Overpopulation can be stopped in many ways. One way is to adopt a puppy or kitten from your local animal shelter instead of going to a pet store and buying one. The animal shelters in my community are having to hold up to 50% more animals than they are equipped for and it is terrible conditions for the animals, as well as the employees. statistics show that that 4 million cats and dogs are put down in the U.S. each year due to overpopulation. A great way to greatly decrease the number of strays is to have your dog or cat spayed or neutered. According to the Stray Animal Association of America, 45% of litters of cats or dogs are from unintentional breeding. Getting your animal spayed or neutered will decrease the number of euthanizations also. The process of sheltering a stray animal and then disposing of it if it is not adopted is very costly. many people think that dumping an unwanted animal out in the middle of the country or in the next town over will solve all of their problems. what most American citizens are not aware of is that once animal control is called and takes the animal back to the shelter, the cost of gas and services to obtain animal isn't taken out of the shelter's funds since it is most likely all volunteer. the money comes