FAQs

1. Tips for protecting your pet from overheating
2. The truth about pit bulls
3. Microchipping your pet
4. More Info on Microchips
5. The facts on national pet overpopulation
6 . Why adoption alone isn't enough
7 . Articles of interest on choosing and locating a dog trainer

Tips for protecting your pet from overheating

Cool Down with these tips

The truth about pit bulls

Specific breed prejudices are just plain wrong

Microchipping Your Pet
The microchip is a small device about the size of a grain of rice. It is inserted into the pet generally in the area of the shoulder. The microchip contains only a number. If the pet is lost a shelter can scan the pet and see the number. If the pet has been registered you will then be contacted to return your pet. However, it is essential that you keep your contact information up to date. Within the United States the Home Again chip by Destron or the Avid Micro chip can be read by most shelters and veterinarians.

More Info on Microchips

http://www.adobepet.com/library/microchip.htm

The facts on national pet overpopulation
It costs U.S. taxpayers an estimated $2 billion each year to round up, house, kill, and dispose of homeless animals. (USA Today)

Over 56% of dogs and puppies entering shelters are killed, based on reports from over 1,055 facilities across America. (National Counsel on Pet Population Study)

An estimated 5 million cats and dogs are killed in shelters each year. That's one about every six and one half seconds. (The Humane Society of the United States) Millions more are abandoned, only to suffer from illness or injury before dying. (Doris Day Animal League)

In six years one unspayed female and her offspring, can reproduce 67,000 dogs (Spay USA)
Less than 3% of dog guardians are responsible for surplus births (Save Our Strays)

The perceived high cost of altering is not the problem, but the lack of education on its benefits. On average it costs approximately $100 to capture, house, feed and eventually kill a homeless animal - a cost that ultimately comes out of our pocket. Low cost spay/neuter services are far below that amount. (Doris Day Animal League)

The cost of having a pregnant female can be much higher than the cost of spaying

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 (The Humane Society of the United States)

Each day 10,000 humans are born in the U.S. and each day 70,000 puppies and kittens are born. As long as these birth rates exist, there will never be enough homes for all the animals (Spay USA)

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 (The Humane Society of the United States)

Only 30% of dog guardians are aware of the pet-overpopulation problem (Massachusetts SPCA survey 1993)

In a study of relinquishment of cats and dogs in 12 U.S. animal shelters, 30% of the surrendered dogs were purebreds. The same study indicated that 55% of the surrendered dogs and 47% of the surrendered cats were unaltered. (Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science)

The Humane Society of the United States provided these statistics:

• Number of cats and dogs entering shelters each year: 8–10 million (HSUS estimate)
• Number of cats and dogs euthanized by shelters each year: 4–5 million (HSUS estimate)
• Number of cats and dogs adopted from shelters each year: 3–5 million (HSUS estimate)
• Number of cats and dogs reclaimed by owners from shelters each year: Between 600,000 and 50,000—15–30% of dogs and 2–5% of cats entering shelters (HSUS estimate)
• Number of animal shelters in the United States: Between 4,000 and 6,000 (HSUS estimate)
• Percentage of dogs in shelters who are purebred: 25% (HSUS estimate)
• Average number of litters a fertile dog can produce in one year: 2
• Average number of puppies in a canine litter: 6–10

1. The Humane Society of the United States?Pet Overpopulation Facts (1999)
2. National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy?The Top Ten Reasons for Pet Relinquishment to Shelters in the United States
3. The State of the American Pet?A Study Among Pet Owners. Prepared by Yankelovich Partners for Ralston Purina, October 2000.
4. Alley Cat Allies.
5. Alley Cat Rescue
6. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 1998, Volume 1, Number 3, p. 213
7. USA Today, June 23, 1998, pg. 1
8. National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy?Shelter Statistics Survey (1997 data)

Why adoption alone isn’t enough

http://www.spayusa.org/main_directory/02-facts_and_education/stats_surveys/graphs.asp

Articles of interest on choosing and locating a dog trainer

http://www.dogtrainersearch.com/articles/choosingadogtrainer.htm