Lindsey Marshall ENC 3331 Analysis of Why There is Overpopulation in Animal Shelters

Overpopulation in animal shelters has become a real problem in our area. According to a statistic on ASPCA.org, Approximately 5 million to 7 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year, and approximately 3 million to 4 million are euthanized. (aspca.org) Just recently I stepped into a shelter hoping that I would get to play with a few dogs and brighten my day. Little did I know, the place was completely overpopulated and the people working there were going to have to put three dogs down that day because of new arrivals. I inquired further and found that when animals are in close quarters with other animals, they catch colds just like people do. Once they have caught these colds, they must been sent to the sick bay where they can receive treatment. Unfortunately, when the sick bay reaches capacity, every new animal that contracts a virus must take the spot of a less adoptable, sick animal. These easily cured and lovable animals are euthanized. The employees also told me that they recently have seen an increase animal drop-offs. We need to find a way to decrease the population in shelters so that fewer animals are committed to death due to the irresponsible nature of people. Right now is the time to leap up and find a remedy to this prominent problem. There are an amazing number of sources to this problem, some being smaller and more manageable to change. I am sure that the economy has hit people hard. The median family income dropped by 8.1% from 2007 to 2010. (census.gov) Most of the time when people no longer have money to feed their family, the pet is the first member to go. There are also a lot of living spaces that do not allow pets or charge a way-too-hefty amount in order to keep a dog.

Additionally, certain dog breeds are very discriminated against in the sense that they may not be allowed to live in certain apartments, houses, or even cities. Pitbulls are on those lists all over and statistics say that Pitbulls fill anywhere from 40% to 60% of the total shelter population. (pitbulladvocate101.com) How can we not expect there to be overpopulation in shelters when we have whole areas of our country that make it impossible to certain types of animals to live? Then, there are the expenses of vet bills and flee medicine. These days the cost of the maintenance on a pet is astronomical and greedy. In the first year alone, costs of owning any size dog or cat ranges from a little over $1,000 up to $1,843. (aspca.org) In a time of financial turmoil it is pivotal to lessen the financial burden that pet owners bare. Whether it is the ethics of the flea medicine company or the understanding of a Veterinarian, people in the animal industry need to adjust with the economy. Another cause is the irresponsible breeding that goes on all of the U.S. People these days dont seem to realize that taking a dog in means that you also need to have them spayed and neutered. The ASPCAs give you the new pet already neutered/spayed, but since only 20% of owners choose to adopt their pet, 80% of pet owners are obligated to spend the money and time to spay or neuter their dog. (americanhumane.org) Through theory, we would assume that most owners take on their responsibilities respectably, but the truth is that only 10% of the animals that shelters receive are spayed or neutered. (aspca.org) With that large of a fertile pet population, its amazing that we arent swimming in a sea of dogs and cats. Without pet owners stepping up and getting their pets fixed, this problem will likely continue for many years to come.

I believe that awareness is the chief source of this issue. If people knew the benefits to adopting and fostering and realized that it was just as happy and wonderful a process as going to a breeder, I think we would begin to see a shift from breeders to shelters. Right now, only 20% of pet owners got their furry friends from a shelter, the other 80% got them through pet stores, breeders, or friends. (americanhumane.org) I honestly never really thought about adopting before walking into that shelter and had never even heard of fostering an animal. Its important that people realize that they can find a best friend that wants somebody to take them home, as much as that somebody wants to bring an animal home. As a side note, fostering is when you take a dog in that was going to be put to sleep and only keep him until he is better from his cold and can go back onto the adoption floor. I am going to try to focus on the state of Florida so that I do stretch my efforts too far, but I plan to use a state-wide advertising campaign encouraging adoption and fostering. Hopefully this effort will be successful in pacifying this issue. There have been recent campaigns to increase adoption that have made a difference, but not the magnitude of difference that a problem this large calls for. After the Ad council released their shelter pet project campaign, adoption rate rose by 2%. (adcouncil.org). Unfortunately, 2.7 million healthy and treatable pets are still losing their lives in shelters each year. (adcouncil.org) With that many animals still locked up in shelters, there is a calling for a larger advertising campaign. Through this previous effort, we know that advertising has the ability to make a difference. We just have to go about the advertising in a different way. This campaign focused on humor and told a story that stuck in peoples minds. It showed that shelter animals are just like other animals, including cuteness. Maybe if they had gone a little more into the process of adopting, the ad councils campaign would have been more successful.

Another attempt at fixing the problem is the Sarah McLachlan campaign. The campaign did an incredible job at raising funds for the ASPCA and increased the number of monthly donors to an amazing new height, but adoption rates were untouched. (myprfeed.wordpress.com) The real problem with the campaign lies with the type of pathos that the commercial went for. Instead of demonstrating how pets from the shelter are as good as pets from a breeder, they showed that the animals at these shelters are damaged, broken, abused, and psychologically damaged. This really stopped the notion that adopting a pet was happy dead in its tracks. The other issue resided in the excessive pathos that they used. The campaign utilized guilt as the main attack. This excessive amount of guilt produced a lot of jokes and criticisms that undermined the purpose and legitimacy of the advertising campaign. Learning from this, an ad campaign with too much pathos and the wrong pathos can spell disaster. Through my analysis, I have learned what to do and what not to do when it comes to the advertising campaign, the numbers behind the issue, and the underlying factors contributing to the problem. I still believe that awareness is the best way to tackle the issue. Its time to make a big splash and increase adoption much more than 2%.

Works Cited
http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/income_wealth/cb12-172.html http://www.pitbulladvocate101.com/NotBreed.php http://www.aspca.org/adoption/pet-care-costs.aspx

http://www.adcouncil.org/Our-Work/Current-Work/Family-Community/Shelter-PetAdoption#Asset2092 http://myprfeed.wordpress.com/2012/06/03/the-life-cycle-of-sarah-mclachlans-aspca-ad/ http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/adoption-pet-care/issues-information/petoverpopulation.html