One of the main issues that are commonly overlooked is the problems faced by the stray animals. Let’s imagine you are alone in a street and have nowhere to go or anyone to get help from and you are so hungry that every step you take sends excruciating pain throughout your body. There are thousands of people passing by but none bother to pay attention or aid you in any way while you are lying on the cold damp pavement, unaided and completely exhausted. Now, if animals are able to think and feel emotions, which they completely do, then it’s definitely what the numerous stray dogs and cats experience every single day. Now is leaving them to their misery the right thing to do? Or is directly euthanizing them to control population even humane? I believe strongly that it is up to humans and their efforts to protect those in need. I also claim that all humans have an ethical obligation to provide help to those who are so dependent on us, to animals deprived of essential care and love.
Most people enjoy spending and taking care of animals and would even feel a sort of emotional connection with their domestic pets, treating them like rational creatures endowed with emotions. However, an animal met on the street are regarded as a beast, dull and primitive, deprived of any ability to feel. Just take few minutes to realize the dreadful conditions they are doomed to struggle in. Not realizing the fact that they too actually are able to “think” and “feel”? Just imagine what they are going through. Unlike homeless people, homeless animals have never had any choice. They are either abandoned by their rightful owners or born homeless. Animals that are kept in normal conditions usually don’t escape their homes. They cannot lose their job because of law-breaking practices or gamble their property away or even get addicted to drugs or alcohol. Can they talk, or express dissatisfaction, or ask for help? They can only watch you pass by with those sad, hungry, sometimes wild eyes. However, their inability to express emotions directly doesn’t mean they have none. They need help just as any other suffering living beings do, and their being silent is no way means they wouldn’t cry for help if they could.
Humans default to three options when coming to deal with stray animals; sheltering, euthanizing or neutering. First let’s talk about sheltering. There are millions of stray animals that are lost or in shelters. Statistics of animals being euthanized or neglected published by official organizations are dreadful. Also unfortunately the populations of strays are rapidly increasing. Currently in the United States, there are about 70 million and the total population of humans is about 323.1 million. Now if each person donates even one dollar a month it would be more than adequate to provide all the necessary items such as beds and food to animal shelters. Moreover this would facilitate animal shelters to bring in more stray dogs and care for them. Most people justify their actions with generic arguments such as “we cannot help everyone” or “the government should have a regulated system” etc. Honestly I cannot understand how these arguments convinces and retains humans from providing at least the elementary help. Without a doubt the process of aiding would be more efficient if being organised and systematized properly. However, it would be enough for one to get interested and to look around in order to notice that nowadays there are numerous non-profit organizations that could harness one’s willingness to submit a helping hand to make the whole situation better. You can make donations to official non-profit organizations, participate in adoption programs, provide assistance to shelters or even adopt a few dogs or cats.
Now the second method people tend to use to control the population would be euthanasia. Euthanasia is the act of putting an animal to death painlessly. ‘Mercy killing’ would be another term to describe it. It is the process when an animal is shot with a lethal injection This usually happens in shelters. When a dog has been in a shelter for too long they are rather heartlessly euthanized by people who seem fit to play the role of god and decide to take an animals life. I believe that today, the term ‘euthanasia’ when referred to dogs has transformed to a word used to justify the mass murder of dogs across the world. Most people will agree that the only time a dog should be put down is when it is sick or suffering from pain. I believe if a dog is euthanized for any other reason, the person in control is guilty of committing an abominable act. They do not call dogs “mans’ best friend” for nothing.
The basic idea of neutering is to catch or collect the dogs, neuter them, vaccinate them against rabies, deflea and deworm them and finally, after recovery, return them to the same location from where they were caught. This means that the dogs keep on living their lives in the same location and due to pack mentality they keep other, unneutered dogs from entering or crossing their territory. In this way the number of animals decreases slowly at the rate of natural mortality. A single unneutered female and her offspring are capable of producing up to 11,167 puppies in one year, meaning dogs are extremely reproductive. The neutering or spaying process consists of numerous steps, and a few generation of dogs need to be neutered before a noticeable change could be observed. It is also important to focus on neutering females first and foremost and to prioritize owned and domesticated dogs as well as community dogs because they are more reproductive, due to their favourable situation regarding resources, when compared to unowned dogs. Spaying and neutering can also provide the animal with protection from breast cancer, male genital problems, uterine disease, and other health risks such as mastitis and ovarian cysts. Spaying and neutering also eliminates the heat cycle, reduces crying, reduces the urge to roam, reduces mounting, and stops spraying