Currently, there are 4-6 million homeless pets in the U.S. in need of a good home.1
Pet overpopulation is a big problem all over the country. The simple truth is there are too many homeless dogs and not enough good homes. Having our pets neutured or spayed is an effective defense against overpopulation in that it places fewer and fewer offspring in kill-shelters.
In 1992, the International Society for Animal Rights kicked-off International Homeless Animal Day to raise awareness about the pet overpopulation epidemic in the U.S., with a focus on spay/neuter programs to reduce the number of unwanted animals. Below are a few of the statistics compiled by national publications and animal rights organizations.
- In six years one unspayed female and her offspring, can reproduce 67,000 dogs2
- Approximately 63% of U.S. households — nearly 70 million homes — have at least one companion animal. The American Pet Products Manufacturers Association estimates that there are 43 million dogs, 37 million cats, 6 million birds, and 29 million other animals living in homes across the country.3
- Seven dogs & cats are born every day for each person born in the U.S. Of those, only 1 in 5 puppies and kittens say in their original home for their natural lifetime. The remaining 4 are abandoned to the streets or end up at a shelter.4
- The public acquires only 14% of its pets from shelters; 48% get their pets as strays, from friends, from animal rescuers, 38% get their pets from breeders or pet stores.5
- According to the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy (NCPPSP), less than 2 percent of cats and only 15 to 20 percent of dogs who were lost are returned to their owners. Most of these were identified with tags, tattoos or microchips. 6
- More than 20 percent of people who leave dogs in shelters adopted them from a shelter.7
- Approximately 5 million to 7 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year, and approximately 3 million to 4 million are euthanized (60 percent of dogs and 70 percent of cats). Shelter intakes are about evenly divided between those animals relinquished by owners and those picked up by animal control. These are national estimates; the percentage of euthanasia may vary from state to state.8
- Five out of ten dogs in shelters and seven out of ten cats in shelters are destroyed simply because there is no one to adopt them.9
- Only 30% of dog guardians are aware of the pet-overpopulation problem.10
Three Dog Bakery believes that all pets deserve to be loved including those who haven’t found their forever home yet. The Three Dog Foundation was created out of a devoted love for ALL dogs. Our foundation serves as a means to raise awareness and support of dogs in need with a focus on helping to fund spay and neuter programs. Making a donation will make a huge difference in a dog’s life today.
If we are aware of the problem, perhaps we can be part of the solution.
2. Spay USA
4 & 5. The Humane Society of the United States
6, 8, & 9. ASPCA
10. Massachusetts SPCA survey 1993