Man’s Best Friend

Man’s Best Friend

By Lori Geiger

In the USA, approximately four million dogs are euthanized every year; in a study, it was established that about 20% were adopted from a shelter, 18% were found as strays, and 62% purchased from a breeder, or pet store. Sadly, in a separate study it is believed that over a million dogs are abused and /or seriously neglected every year.

In a recent spay and neuter workshop in Puebla, the vets concurred that there are about 18 million dogs in Mexico; 30% have owners, the majority have part time homes or live on the streets. Less than 50% of the dogs that have owners are spayed or neutered.

With the majority of dogs being able to reproduce, the numbers could be much higher. In the municipalities that do have some sort of shelters, the majority of dogs “rounded” up are euthanized by gas or decompression; both methods are horrible ways to die. While the exact number is unknown due to lack of records, the number is much greater than four million—not to mention the number of dogs that are hit by cars, poisoned, or otherwise killed every year. The vets all agreed the numbers are staggering.

Those who adopt /sell dogs who are unspayed or unneutered are part of the problem.