Over the past twenty-five years, companion animals of all shapes and sizes, have been acknowledged to having played major roles, in people's lives.
Their popularity has excelled, inspired and also been exploited.
Over the past twenty-five years, human population has grown tremendously.
In 1975, there was an estimated 4 billion people on the planet.
In 2009, there was an estimated 6.5 Billion people on the planet.
(source: http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/worldpopulation.htm )
North America alone covers a vast percentage of this population, with a potential growth rate that will exceed older, established continents that are now more limited to space/land/property.
With human population growth, came an expansion of companion animal populations. Several bred for pleasure or finance, several who were purchasing/adopting for the experience of having a pet.
Twenty five years ago, Spays and Neuters were the furthest thing in mind - "awareness" was not an issue nor was there consideration that numbers could exceed humanity.
By doing research on the topic, you'll be amazed at the statistics....
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=pet+population+by+country&aq=8&aqi=g10&aql&oq=pet+population&gs_rfai
Statistics for Global Dog/Cat/other Population:
http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/animals.html
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Get out a piece of paper and please calculate the 2 categories (dogs/cats) below
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stats for Dogs:
http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/countries-with-most-pet-dog-population.html
Stats for Cats:
http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/countries-with-most-pet-cat-population.html
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Have you totaled the calculations on both categories??? (are you still sitting in your chairs?)
NOW, please Note that North American Stats are NOT included in these totals...
SOO, let's do the math.
How many people are there on the planet?
How many companion animals (dogs/cats, excluding birds and other) are there in other areas of the world, not including North America??
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Realizing that these stats may not be totally accurate, I almost feel safe to say, that there is more than estimated. Especially since North America is not included in these statistics.
There are so many who obtain a high number of animals in their care. (breeders, puppy and cat mills, hoarders, dog fighters and the general public that have bred animals purposely or by mistake)
Alas, along with all the good that animals benefit people with..... comes the bad.
Because of the growing pet trend over the years, many obtained a pet, thinking it was the thing to do.
Sounded great, until responsibilities, lack of time or changes in lifestyle, no longer permitted a "place" for a pet to live out it's days.
Henceforth "something" had to be done with the pet(s) that could no longer remain a part of their life or lifestyle.
Due to growing human population and the demand for pets, pets became a huge market - HUGE!
Profit was the foundation of a potential disaster.
Ordinary people began breeding their pets for an extra buck.
Pet Stores had high demands for a huge variety of breeds - "product choices" for the excelled and high in demand market.
By the late 80's, there was a growing awareness to the potential of pet over population. Several Universities and Animal Foundations began publishing statistics and media videos to draw attention to the growing concern, as being an inhumane manner of producing animals for people's "desires" and un-necessary. (visit this Spay Neuter Blog to sort through the videos dating back to the late 80's, early 90's at: http://spayneuter.blog.com *start with a video dated in 1994 - Killing Our Best Friends
Since 1994, human population growth has jumped another 1.2 Billion, with how many of those 1.2 Billion people, acquired a new pet or animals for breeding > how many have been bred since that time?
The numbers are painfully saddening because so many were born to die.
With new awareness, attention is being drawn to the No Kill factor because killing the innocent, is not what humanity is all about.
We fancy ourselves to be intelligent, educated in a modern day society, so how do we make the killing stop!!??
How do we bring down the numbers of animals born, bring awareness to animals that need homes and continue to nurture the human spirit in a positive manner that makes people and companion animals live in harmony and respect?
Education and Awareness are the first steps required so that solutions are mandatory and exercised to bring about a companion animal No Kill status.
Euthanasia, as a means of controlling animal population, is an expensive burden on tax payers, especially when those funds are needed by the very people who pay into the tax system.
Now that we can better understand companion animal population verses human population - we can progress to understanding the history of rescues/shelters and pounds, their roles in society towards animals and people and the general mentality that projected poorly due to the discarding mentality of the world we live in.
Their popularity has excelled, inspired and also been exploited.
Over the past twenty-five years, human population has grown tremendously.
In 1975, there was an estimated 4 billion people on the planet.
In 2009, there was an estimated 6.5 Billion people on the planet.
(source: http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/worldpopulation.htm )
North America alone covers a vast percentage of this population, with a potential growth rate that will exceed older, established continents that are now more limited to space/land/property.
With human population growth, came an expansion of companion animal populations. Several bred for pleasure or finance, several who were purchasing/adopting for the experience of having a pet.
Twenty five years ago, Spays and Neuters were the furthest thing in mind - "awareness" was not an issue nor was there consideration that numbers could exceed humanity.
By doing research on the topic, you'll be amazed at the statistics....
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=pet+population+by+country&aq=8&aqi=g10&aql&oq=pet+population&gs_rfai
Statistics for Global Dog/Cat/other Population:
http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/animals.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Get out a piece of paper and please calculate the 2 categories (dogs/cats) below
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stats for Dogs:
http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/countries-with-most-pet-dog-population.html
Stats for Cats:
http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/countries-with-most-pet-cat-population.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you totaled the calculations on both categories??? (are you still sitting in your chairs?)
NOW, please Note that North American Stats are NOT included in these totals...
SOO, let's do the math.
How many people are there on the planet?
How many companion animals (dogs/cats, excluding birds and other) are there in other areas of the world, not including North America??
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Realizing that these stats may not be totally accurate, I almost feel safe to say, that there is more than estimated. Especially since North America is not included in these statistics.
There are so many who obtain a high number of animals in their care. (breeders, puppy and cat mills, hoarders, dog fighters and the general public that have bred animals purposely or by mistake)
Alas, along with all the good that animals benefit people with..... comes the bad.
Because of the growing pet trend over the years, many obtained a pet, thinking it was the thing to do.
Sounded great, until responsibilities, lack of time or changes in lifestyle, no longer permitted a "place" for a pet to live out it's days.
Henceforth "something" had to be done with the pet(s) that could no longer remain a part of their life or lifestyle.
Due to growing human population and the demand for pets, pets became a huge market - HUGE!
Profit was the foundation of a potential disaster.
Ordinary people began breeding their pets for an extra buck.
Pet Stores had high demands for a huge variety of breeds - "product choices" for the excelled and high in demand market.
By the late 80's, there was a growing awareness to the potential of pet over population. Several Universities and Animal Foundations began publishing statistics and media videos to draw attention to the growing concern, as being an inhumane manner of producing animals for people's "desires" and un-necessary. (visit this Spay Neuter Blog to sort through the videos dating back to the late 80's, early 90's at: http://spayneuter.blog.com *start with a video dated in 1994 - Killing Our Best Friends
Since 1994, human population growth has jumped another 1.2 Billion, with how many of those 1.2 Billion people, acquired a new pet or animals for breeding > how many have been bred since that time?
The numbers are painfully saddening because so many were born to die.
With new awareness, attention is being drawn to the No Kill factor because killing the innocent, is not what humanity is all about.
We fancy ourselves to be intelligent, educated in a modern day society, so how do we make the killing stop!!??
How do we bring down the numbers of animals born, bring awareness to animals that need homes and continue to nurture the human spirit in a positive manner that makes people and companion animals live in harmony and respect?
Education and Awareness are the first steps required so that solutions are mandatory and exercised to bring about a companion animal No Kill status.
Euthanasia, as a means of controlling animal population, is an expensive burden on tax payers, especially when those funds are needed by the very people who pay into the tax system.
Now that we can better understand companion animal population verses human population - we can progress to understanding the history of rescues/shelters and pounds, their roles in society towards animals and people and the general mentality that projected poorly due to the discarding mentality of the world we live in.