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Ryan Gonzales
Professor Lynda Haas
Writing 39C
6 June 2015

Animal Shelters: The Problems within them << title change to fit coherence
A Hidden Issue
I remember when I adopted my first dog. I recall walking into the Carson City Animal
Shelter and seeing all the animals behind cages. In order to select the right pet, my father had a
process where we would approach a cage and see how the dog reacted to our presence. What
surprised me is that a majority of the dogs reacted in two ways. The dogs either sat in fear at the
end of the cage or barked aggressively at us. One dog simply approached us, sniffed our hands,
and sat there wagging its tail. This one dog that reacted this way was the dog we decided to
adopt.
When we had to come back to pick up the dog a day later, there was something different
about the shelter. Numerous dogs we had seen the day prior were no where to be found. Their
tags attached to their cages showing their information was taken down. During this time, I didnt
think much of what I saw. We simply picked up our newly adopted dog and left the shelter.
Again, we left to loud barking and dogs fleeing. Though I thought that everything I saw were
typical events within the shelter, I would later learn something that is much more terrifying.
There is an ongoing, hidden issue that explains everything I witnessed in the shelter. It is
something that is well hidden and not very public.

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A Look at Human Relationships with Dogs and Pets

Before I get into this hidden issue, it is important to look into humankinds relationship
with dogs and pets. My family adopted a pet because we heard of the positive effects that it could
have on the family. To give an example, I will be focusing on a historical conversation research
project that I did with human-dog relationships and how pet dogs positively affect their owners.
Though this research is primarily related to dogs, it greatly expands, though with unique
properties, to other common companion animal pets such as cats.
Dogs have been given the nickname Mans best friend due to their great
companionship with humankind. Leslie Irvine, sociologist and professor at the University of
Colorado Boulder, suggest that "several biological and behavioral factors predisposed dogs to fit
easily within human groups" in her book, If You Tame Me: Understanding Our Connection with
Animals (15). Due to this great connection, dogs are the third most popular household pet in
America (Figure 1).Scientific research from scholars such as Leslie Irvine, James Serpell,
Vanessa May, Randall Lockwood, Frank R. Ascione, Lynette A. Hart, Gail Clark, and William
Boyer, shows that dogs have primarily affected their owners in three positive ways:
companionship, health, and responsibility.

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Figure 1. Dog as a family member. www.pinterest.com << Added Infographic

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The health and companionship side of these effects is one that needs to be further looked
into. Figure one shows how dogs affect family members and some general statistics. The most
interesting part of this infographic are the facts at the bottom of the image. Dogs can lower their
owners blood pressure, lower healthcare costs, prevent heart disease, reduce stress, prevent
allergies, and fight depression. The human-dog companionship effects can be best explained by
Dr. James Serpell. <<Added to help augment the point
Dr. Serpell, professor and researcher of Animal Ethics and Welfare at the University of
Pennsylvania, augments Irvine's examination of human-dog relationships in his book, The
Domestic Dog: Its Evolution, Behavior, and Interactions with People, by presenting the results of
a scientific study that tested to see who represented the participant's most significant relationship
through a technique called the "Family Life Space Diagram". The experiment's outcome came to
many of the surveyed individuals putting their dogs closer to them than any of their family
members (163). Serpell also states, "A further important asset of dogs, although it is one they
share in common with other pets, is that they lack the power of speech and are therefore unable
to offer advice, judgment or criticism. Nevertheless, they are affectionate and empathic so their
friendship tends to be seen as sincere, reliable, and trustworthy, while at the same time lacking
many of the threats associated with human friendships (Serpell, 1986a)" (Serpell 164). Animal
ethics researcher and sociologist Randall Lockwood, and professor at the University of Denver
and animal abuse researcher, Frank Ascione, conduct a study that correlates to Seprells
observations in their book, Cruelty to Animals and Interpersonal Violence: Readings in Research
and Application. The researchers found that many asylum inhabitants and prisoners owned pets
when they were younger. The reason for this is because the prisoners felt that their pets were the
only ones that would truly be there for them and not betray them. Their pets offered an

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unconditional companionship that the prisoners could not find anywhere else (Lockwood and
Ascione 117).
However, why dogs naturally give their owners positive effects is something that is
explained quite well by Leslie Irvine. She states,
In any case, the domestic dogs who share our homes today exist because of human
intervention, which incorporated both cultural and biological processes (see CluttonBrock 1994, 1995). Biologically, domestication resembles natural evolution. Through
selective breeding, humans canand did introduce changes in behavior, size, color, ear
and tail position, and other features within just a few generations. Culturally,
domestication means that a species is enfolded into the social structure of the human
community (Clutton-Brock 1995, 15). The wolf became a dog, for instance, not just
because its physical and behavioral characteristics changed, but also because these
changes adapted wolves to material, aesthetic, and ritual purposes in human communities.
(13)
In this passage, Irvine explains how dogs have evolved and been domesticated because of human
intervention. As a result, they have changed biologically which has affected their appearance and
traits. It is said that dogs have evolved from wolves who greatly differ. Dogs are made to be
mans best friend and to positively affect their owners.
Through these scientific studies, one can see that dogs, much like humans, can truly build
relationships and friendships with their owners. Through these relationships, dogs can positively
affect their owners lives. Other companion animals have been found to give similar positive
effects that dogs give to their owners. However, it should also be noted that some companion
animals, such as cats, have also had their evolution interfered by humans. Nevertheless, it is

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important to see that, through research and observations, companion animals are a great asset to
humankind.
The Problem
When one thinks of animal shelters, the words salvation, sanctuary, and care may come to
mind, and this is understandable, because shelters do practice these important activities.
However, these places are not shelters for all animals. According to the American Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), 7.6 million companion animals enter United
States shelters every year.
Approximately 3.9 million dogs and 3.4 million are cats--and from these, about 2.7
million are euthanized, approximately 1.2 million dogs and 1.4 million cats. For example, one
local Southern California shelter, the Long Beach Animal Care Services Shelter (ACS) alone
euthanized more than 5,100 cats, kittens, dogs, and puppies last year, and between 2006 and
2012, ACS put nearly 41,000 animals to death (stayinalivelongbeach.org). Throughout the
United States, there are even more kill-shelters with kill rates higher than ACS such as the South
LA Animal Shelter. Kill shelters have been an ongoing problem in the United States. With large
amounts of animals being killed, it is a large-scale problem that should be further looked into.
The facts of how many animals are killed each year are not easy to find--this is data that is kept
as secret as possible, although it is supposed to be public knowledge
The leading cause of euthanization of animals in shelters can be put in one word:
Overpopulation. According to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA),
Approximately 6 to 8 million are handled by animal shelters in the United States each year.
Even though some are reclaimed or adopted, nearly 4 million unwanted dogs and cats are left
nowhere to go . Shelters cannot humanely house and support all these animals until natural

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deaths-they would be forced to live in cramped cages or kennels for years, lonely and stressed,
and other animals would have to be turned away because there would not be room for them(1).

Figure 2. The Pet Overpopulation Challenge. www.catchannel.com <<Changed to figure

2
The idea of this overpopulation needs to be further looked into. Figure two is an infographic,
made in 2012, that observes the overpopulation of pets. Though this infographic has a larger
focus on cats, all of the information on it should be greatly noted and be considered for other
companion animals. The infographic focuses on the euthanasia occurring in the Los Angeles
shelters. As one can see from this graph, overpopulation is a real, ongoing event. Although many
animals within shelters are rescued stray animals, other animals come from another source:

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people. Despite the fact that many would blame kill shelters for this issue, a large amount of the
cause can be directed to previous pet owners. Because of the high number of unwanted
companion animals and the lack of good homes, sometimes the most humane thing that a shelter
worker can do is give an animal a peaceful release from a world in which dogs and cats are often
considered surplus and unwanted states PETA.
According to the article, Behavioural Testing of Dogs in Animal Shelters to Predict
Problem Behaviour, written by researchers W.j Netto, J.a.m Van Der Borg, and D.j.u Planta,
within the journal, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, edited by Sylvie Cloutier and Per Jensen,
some reasons why owners return their pets to shelters is the animals aggression and the fear
from it, the animals lack of obedience, or the separation anxiety the animal experiences. Figure
three shows various other reasons.

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Figure 3. Euthanasia Breakdown from a survey. biologycornor.com

Ethics and Philosophy within the Problem
From the statistics and research, it is obvious that pet euthanasia does occur every year
and kills numerous non-human animals quite frequently. Though the numbers and statistics are
dramatically high, why exactly should one care about this issue? The answer to this is a matter of
ethics and philosophy. One needs to consider that animals are living creatures. They are alive.
They are our companions and we have bred them to be dependent upon us. For many companion
animals within the shelter, it is already evident that they can feel and react in ways that humans
do. Companion animals are already showing very similar traits to humans. This is evident in the
previously stated scientific research. These animals can build relationships and feel much like a

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human can. For example, if you step on a cats tail, the cat will scream in pain and run. If one
were to hurt a dog, the dog would whimper in pain. Also, many know of the stories of
companion animals whimpering at the grave of their recently deceased owner. If companion
animals can feel and react much like humans do, wouldnt euthanizing an animal be no different
than euthanizing a human? Well-known philosophers Peter Singer and Richard Dawkins also
touch on the subject explaining that if animals have the ability to suffer and react like humans,
then it should not be right to hurt these animals. To put it in a logical question, If it is wrong to
forcibly take away the life of a human-being, how is it any more humane to take away the life of
a living animal that can feel and react like a human? (Dawkins and Singer, youtube.com).
To add a perspective in human psychology, Frank Ascione and Randall Lockwood state a
story in their research,
...Aubrey got angry with the family dog for staying outside their yard. He loaded one of
his nine guns, then shot and killed it. The kids began to sob, devastated. He grabbed (one
childs) hair slapped another of the kids, then began crying himself. Joyce tried to
comfort them all. But her feelings of anger were mixed with genuine terror: in a moment
of rage, she knew, Aubrey could kill any one of them and cry about it afterward. (Walker,
1989, pp. 20-21). (291).
This story relates to how animal abuse tends to be linked to other domestic issues such as family
abuse. Many of us would read this story and see Aubrey as a criminal or mentally unstable for
unhesitantly killing the dog. With the shelter employees who euthanize companion animals
without thought, how is it any different? How is it that a person who murdered their dog in their
household a mentally unstable criminal but an animal euthanizer is not?

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Relating everything back to research and science, humans have bred companion animals
to satisfy humans. Due to this controlled breeding, companion animals have been scientifically
proven to give positive effects to their owners. From this, we can conclude that humans have a
moral responsibility for these companion animals. Humans have interfered with their evolution
to fill their own needs and desires. Much like how children are our moral responsibility since we
raise them and shape them to what we desire; if humans are using companion animals to
augment their lives and shape them to their desires, morally, humans need to at very least take
care of animals for they are our responsibility.
The Solution
The main issue still primarily comes from the overpopulation of companion animals in
the shelters. A common micro solution would be to get people to adopt animals from the shelters.
Lots of these solutions are already being pushed by animal activist groups such as the ASPCA
and the Humane Society of the United States. Adopting animals from shelters lowers the
population within the shelters which prevents another euthanization. Though this is the ideal way
to help solve the micro problem, it takes a lot of time and resources to take care of the pet.
Instead, they can foster an animal.
Animal fostering is another micro solution that has volunteers temporarily take care of
companion animals. Foster parents can either independently take stray animals off the street and
care for them until they find a willing adopter or run out of resources. Or, volunteers can go to an
animal shelter that has an animal fostering program. In fact, many shelters have programs that
support animal foster parents. PAWS, another animal activist groups, shelter animals and provide
resources to any willing foster parent. Animal fostering is a great alternative to adoption.

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If one does not have the time or resources to bring a pet home at all, they can instead
volunteer at a shelter. Volunteering may not directly save the animals life, but it can actually
prevent mistreatment of animals that may lead to an early death. Volunteers can assure good care
to the animals and give them a better experience in the shelter.
Though micro solutions take small steps forward to preventing euthanasia, how can we
take a big step forward to ending euthanasia? It may seem a bit of a stretch to ending such a large
issue, but there is a macro solution that may just do so. This solution is preventing animal
overpopulation.
As stated before, animal overpopulation is the main cause of animal euthanasia.
Preventing overpopulation is practically stopping the problem from growing any further. PETA is
one of the leading advocates in pushing for this solution. They state,
Profiteers that breed and trade animals for a buck are succeeding because the powerful
voice of the animal rights movement is being diluted and because good activists are being
misled into attacking one another rather than those who are making money off the backs
of animals: pet shops, breeders, and phony rescues. We can wipe out animal
homelessness by working together to strike at the root cause, including by lobbying for
laws that have been proved effective in reducing unplanned births and shelter intakes in
communities that enforce them and by developing low-cost or free sterilization programs
for dogs and cats in every community. In other words, by stopping animal homelessness
before it starts.
The best aspect of PETAs solution is their desire of having government involvement. They want
to lobby for laws and make it pragmatically illegal to have an overpopulation of animals. For
example, having a law that controls animal spaying and neutering can greatly reduce

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overpopulation. Of course, this solution once again takes the voice of the people. If enough
people are aware and concerned of animal euthanasia, the government will put focus on the
issue. Figure four shows how effective spaying can be in preventing animal overpopulation.

Figure 4. Preventing Animal Overpopulation. www.peta2.com

Conclusion
Euthanizing an animal is not in anyway justifiable. Scientific research has shown that
animals have traits very similar to humans. These traits include building relationships and being
able to feel pain. Moreover, humans have crafted companion animals to satisfy human desires.
Dogs and cats have been selectively bred, changing their evolutionary path. From this, we can
conclude that 1) if animals have traits like humans, euthanizing an animal is as morally unjust as
killing a human, and 2) we have a moral responsibility to animals if we are to change their traits.
From a micro or macro level, it is possible to help stop euthanasia. Whether its adoption,

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fostering, volunteering, or lobbying for new laws, every step forward counts. It takes the efforts
of as many people as possible to end this large epidemic.

All green added in the final draft

Works Cited

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. https://www.aspca.org/aboutus/faq/pet-statistics. Web. 19 May 2015

Dawkins, Richard and Singer, Peter. Singer on Animal Rights and Vegetarianism.
Online video clip. youtube.com. n.p, 22 Nov. 2011. Web. 19 May 2015

Frank R. Ascione and Lockwood, Randall. Cruelty to Animals and Interpersonal

Violence: Readings in Research and Application.

Irvine, Leslie. If You Tame Me: Understanding Our Connection with Animals.
Philadelphia: Temple UP,2004. 12-32.

Netto, W.j., J.a.m. Van Der Borg, and D.j.u. Planta. "Behavioural Testing of Dogs
in Animal Shelters to Predict Problem Behaviour." Applied Animal Behaviour
Science 35.3 (1993): 292-93. Web. 18 May 2015

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. http://www.peta.org/issues/companionanimal-issues/companion-animals-factsheets/euthanasia-compassionate-option/ Web. 19

May 2015

Serpell, James. The Domestic Dog: Its Evolution, Behavior, and Interactions with People.
Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995. Print.

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Stayin Alive Long Beach.

http://www.stayinalivelongbeach.org/uploads/1/2/1/3/12139294/stayinalivelongbeach
report_2013.pdf. Web. 19 May 2015.