There are many homeless pets worldwide as well as in South Africa. According to the National Sterilization Project (NSP), about ten thousand homeless pets are put to sleep in South Africa on a weekly basis, due to the sheer volume of abused and abandoned animals.
It is not only in other countries that animal abuse happens, it happens right on our doorsteps. It is irresponsible to breed your pets, simply because you want to make a few hundred Rands. There are so many pets that desperately need homes. By contributing to the over-population of cats and dogs, pet sellers are contributing to the problem. I’m not saying there should be absolutely no breeding at all, we don’t want any breeds to die out, but we should definitely breed less, far less and only in a controlled and responsible manner.
Surprisingly in China many pet owners won’t sterilize their dogs. I asked a Chinese friend why and she said: “It’s cruel to sterilize the dog, it’s not the dog’s choice to be sterilize and you’re taking away its natural right to have babies.” Okay fine, but what happens to all the puppies that don’t find homes or the puppies that get discarded once they grow up? I think the fact that the humans are restricted in the number of offspring they may produce that they probably compensate by letting their pets breed at will.
The NSP strives to encourage mass animal sterilization and subsides sterilization for pet owners who can’t afford to pay for it. The NSP is a Non Profit Organization (NPO) that rely on public donations for funding. Please visit the National Sterilization Programme’s website for more information or to find out how you can help.
Please spay and neuter your animals. It is the compassionate thing to do. Let’s focus increasing the quality of pets’ lives and not on increasing the quantity of pet lives. Let’s sterilize before we euthanize.
If you want to get a cat or a dog, please consider adopting a pet before you think of buying one.
Please see also in the Animal Welfare category of this site: My posts on Dog Adoption and International Homeless Animals Day.
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