The Myths and Facts About Pet Over-Population in Clark County

What needs to be done

Myth #1: "I'm moving and can't take my pet with me so I'll just take him to the pound. He's really cute - he'll get a home."
Facts: In the last four years more than 85,000 animals were put to death at the four municipal shelters in Clark County. - 23,497 of those in 2001 and 21,887 in 2000. Between 43% and 45% of all animals entering shelters here are euthanized. More animals in the shelters are euthanized than are adopted or returned to their owner.

Myth #2: "My cat needs to have a litter of kittens before we get her spayed. She is so pretty; my friends will want her kittens."
Facts: Actually sterilized pets tend to live longer and have fewer behavioral problems than unaltered pets. Spayed females are less likely to suffer from uterine or ovarian cancers. Neutered males are less likely to run away or fight. Every litter of puppies and kittens adds to the problem; even if they are lucky to get homes; many many more are not so lucky.

Myth #3: "We need bigger and better (no-kill) shelters."
Facts: This attitude ignores one of the real problems of pet overpopulation. Most "No-Kill" shelters become animal warehouses which are always too full to take in every animal that comes to the door. Animals refused at these "No Kill" shelters too often end up in the street or at a "kill" shelter.

Myth #4: "We need to adopt more animals."
Facts: It is simply not possible to adopt our way out of the pet overpopulation problem. The average impound rate of animals nationally is about 25 per 1,000 people. (The impound rate in Clark County is 35 per 1,000 residents.) The average adoption rate is 6 animals per 1,000 people. With great effort and expense a rate of 10 -11 can be achieved but cannot be maintained over time mostly because pets live from 10 to 20 years. This results in about 15 of the 25 animals impounded per 1,000 people will have to be killed.

What needs to be done?
Fact #1: Spaying and neutering is the answer. Spaying and neutering is becoming more common place. American household animals sterilized has climbed from 1 in 10 to 6 in 10 but we still have a pet overpopulation problem. This is because low income households who cannot afford to spay and neuter their animals allow many of them to continue to breed. Studies show that $1 spent for spaying or neutering now will save $3 in impound costs in three years. Spaying and neutering programs need to target low income animal owners instead of paying for spays and neuters which could be afforded and would be done anyway.

Fact #2: Feral cats who several generations ago were someone's pet will add to the killing rate unless there is an effective spay and neuter program for them. Cats breed exponentially. The home owner who starts feeding a few cats in the neighborhood will find the numbers exploding in a few years. (Feeding without sterilization actually adds to the problem because the cats will have larger litters and survive longer.) Feral cats can be and should be trapped in a humane trap, sterilized, vaccinated, released to the same area if at all possible and monitored by a caretaker.