Animal shelters overflow as Americans dump 'pandemic puppies' in droves. They're too broke to keep their dogs

https://lemmy.nz/post/4706946

Animal shelters overflow as Americans dump 'pandemic puppies' in droves. They're too broke to keep their dogs - Lemmy NZ

They’re not dumping ‘pandemic puppies’, they’re dumping the pitbulls that nobody wants. Breeders for dog fighting are pumping out dogs nobody wants because they’re reactive, dangerous, and have the ability to kill a human being, then maul them.

Shelters are full of them. So desperate to get rid of them, shelters underplay their aggressiveness and danger. This puts the general population at risk. The UK just passed a new set of laws against more breeds of pitbulls, and rightfully so. You can see all the evidence they used to make their decision. It’s gory and sad. So many people’s lives, and smaller dogs, gone forever.

You’re generally right but pretty misinformed all the same.

One thing I can say is that if shelters are playing down aggressiveness etc, it’s because of stupid ‘no kill’ laws that forces them to keep the majority of these shit dogs and not be about to euthanize them. Thank all the animal lovers on Facebook who have no comprehension of the situation, have no interest in helping the dog themselves but they’ll sure as fuck tell anyone what they think if they don’t take care of the dog.

It’s a perpetual cycle, lifestyles of the poor and dumb.

Correct me if there is data suggesting otherwise, but I dusagree that the “not kill” laws are stupid - I think the problem is that shelters don’t have enough funding to care for all dogs. A law which protects animals from getting killed cannot, in my opinion, be a bad law - because every life, even that of a dog, is worth fighting for.

I think the problem is that shelters don’t have enough funding to care for all dogs.

Well sure. Who’s gonna cover that funding gap? Not me.

So, what, let the excess or aggressive dogs starve but treat them nicely until they do? Let them run feral?

Or humanely put them down?

Since the 70s massive strides have been made mostly by promoting fixing your dog in a timely fashion including low cost spay and neuter or “last litter” programs where they help you adopt out the puppies and fix the mom so they don’t have another.

Both kills and intake are a small fraction of what they were in the 70s down as much as 80% despite a concurrent increase in population in that time.

Yep, spaying and neutering is the true path forward. End animal homelessness at the source.
Well, I will be honest with you - I’d gladly pay my part so that an animal doesn’t get killed. Of course no one be able to fix the issue alone (except Elob Musk and Bezos, probably), but I think that we as a society can do better than kill animals because we don’t have enough money to keep them alive in a humane manner.