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Only two years ago we saw news stories of animal shelters emptying out because people were home and lonely and why not have a dog or a cat for a companion. The world was in lockdown, and this was seen as a positive thing.
I watched those stories and wondered aloud what was going to happen to all these animals when the world went back to work. What would happen when people realized that they really didn’t have the time or the resources to continue caring for the animal that was so necessary to them when they were alone and lonely.
Photo by: Irina Novikova
Well, two years later there is an explosion of animals being rehomed or in overcrowded shelters and rescues, and foster homes. There are the kittens from the cats that got thrown out when they started to act out because they were no longer getting the attention they had been accustomed to and no one else to play with. There are the dogs whose owners just can’t be bothered to look for them since they jumped the fence when someone walked by and gave them a minute of attention.
Photo By: Sergio Souza
Do you see a pattern? When the world was shut down it was also much harder to get an animal fixed. Appointments for low-cost spay and neuter services were booked a month or two out. Vet offices were cutting back on services because COVID was eating up time in their day. All this led to more animals not getting fixed and more animals having unwanted litters. That’s on top of the segment of the population that doesn’t believe in getting their animal fixed.
It's heartbreaking to see perfectly healthy animals being put to sleep just for the sheer fact that they were born unwanted, and there just aren’t enough people left who can, or even want to take them.
You only have to spend ten minutes online in a pet group to see how big this problem is. Letting a five-month-old kitten get pregnant is not natural it is criminal. Their hormones may be raging but their bodies are really not ready. There are sooooooo many puppies and dogs, kittens, and cats trying to find homes; there is no excuse not to get yours fixed.