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    Brits Love Their Pets - Or Not
    By News Staff | April 14th 2012 04:30 AM | 3 comments | Print | E-mail | Track Comments
    A new study estimates that more than 260,000 dogs and cats were sent to UK rescue shelters in 2009, the first full year of the worldwide recession.

    Dogs and cats are popular pets in the UK and two of the authors of the new estimate study, Dr. Jane Murray and Professor Tim Gruffydd-Jones, having previously estimated the owned cat and dog populations at approximately 10.3 and 10.5 million respectively. 

    Over 1,550 welfare organizations were contacted by post, email or telephone between November 2010 and June 2011. They were asked to provide details including the number of cats and dogs currently being cared for, whether they were operating at full capacity and for how much of the year they were full and how many cats and dogs entered their care during a full year (2009).

    One of the questions asked on the survey was why people relinquished their pets but those answers were not always recorded by the organizations receiving pets, under a 'no questions asked' policy, and there was some suggestion that responses given by relinquishing owners may not always be accurate. Although from the responses received it became apparent that changes in household circumstances and behavior problems were particular concerns.

    From the responses received it was estimated that 131,070 cats and 129,743 dogs entered the care of UK welfare organizations during 2009. In addition, 66 per cent of responding organizations that cared for cats and 47 per cent of those caring for dogs were full to capacity for 12 months of the year. Obviously they could do what PETA does and just kill 85 percent of the pets they 'rescue' but they don't.

    Maybe Brits really do love their pets more - or at least British animal advocacy groups do. 

    The survey highlights the considerable size of the rescue cat and dog populations and the need for improving neutering rates, decreasing behavioral problems and better education of potential pet owners about responsible ownership and the long-term commitment that is needed.

    Citation: Number of cats and dogs in UK Welfare organisations, C C Clark, T Gruffydd-Jones, J K Murray, Veterinary Record, published online first: 28 March 2012.

    Comments

    Gerhard Adam
    Obviously they could do what PETA does and just kill 85 percent of the pets they 'rescue' but they don't.
    Sorry, but they can't possibly "save" or place all animals [except by dumb luck].  I'm certainly no advocate for PETA, but what clearly isn't being mentioned here is that animals that are not adopted are often sent to other shelters or other locations, where they well may be euthanized. 

    To suggest that old, sick, or dangerous animals are not euthanized is disingenuous.  Many animals cannot be properly socialized and will not be adopted.  In many cases, animals aren't even taken to a shelter, they are simply taken to a veterinarian to be euthanized and there is no mechanism for adoption beyond what people at such a practice may do.

    Anyone that advocates a 0% kill rate, simply doesn't know what they are talking about.  The biggest problem is still the failure of pet owners to act responsibly and get their pets spayed or neutered. 

    This is also worth a read.
    http://www.messybeast.com/ukferal.htm

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4216070.stm

    Let's also remember that only 66% of the organizations responded to the survey.  People can't imagine how hard euthanasia is on the veterinarians and veterinary staff that have to do it.

    The results showed that behavioural problems are an important factor in the success of adoption such that if dogs had shown aggression towards people and the owners had not sought advice, they had 11.1 times the odds (95% CI: 6.6, 18.8) of being returned compared to those dogs without behavioural problems.
    http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167587707002516

    http://petpopulation.org/behavioralreasons.pdf

    http://www.dpca.org/Legisltv/documents/understandinganimal.pdf
    Gerhard Adam | 04/14/12 | 12:04 PM
    UvaE
    To place the PETA numbers in perspective:

    According to the American Human Association, 56 percent of dogs and 71 percent of cats that enter animal shelters are euthanized. "More cats are euthanized than dogs because they are more likely to enter a shelter without any owner identification."

     
    Enrico Uva | 04/14/12 | 13:27 PM
    Bonny Bonobo alias Brat
    From the responses received it was estimated that 131,070 cats and 129,743 dogs entered the care of UK welfare organizations during 2009. In addition, 66 per cent of responding organizations that cared for cats and 47 per cent of those caring for dogs were full to capacity for 12 months of the year.
    This article has really cherry picked the data, giving rather a warped perspective on what is really happening in Britain and as to whether the Brits still love their pets. The British are often accused of caring as much or more about their pets than they do for people in general and if anything this data might actually support that viewpoint.

    The BBC article that Gerhard linked to above gives the figures in a more realistic perspective. Many stray dogs and cats are being picked up but most of them are being returned to their owners or found new homes. Hundreds of thousands of homeless people on the other hand, are often only being found temporary accommodation or are still sleeping on the streets.
     The number of stray dogs found on London's streets has risen to nearly 7,000 this year, a survey by animal welfare charity, the Dogs Trust, shows.The figure is up 600 on last year while the number of strays put to sleep in the capital has also risen by 17 per cent over the last year to 168.
    At the same time and place in London Crisis has estimated there to be 400,000 homeless people being placed in temporary accomodation, and there are many more thousands sleeping on the streets in the bitter cold. Maybe many of these stray dogs and cats simply belonged to these thousands of people who are now homeless?
    In the UK, more than 105,000 stray dogs were collected by local authorities in the past year, slightly down on the previous year. Ms Baldwin said: "We're deeply disturbed that despite increasing awareness of how to prevent it, so many dogs are still allowed to stray."
    Also in America also, Wikipedia  claims that :-
    According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, there were 643,067 sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons nationwide as of January 2009. Additionally, about 1.56 million people used an emergency shelter or a transitional housing program during the 12-month period between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009. This number suggests that roughly 1 in every 200 persons in the US used the shelter system at some point in that period
    Its not surprising to me that there has been a big increase in stray dogs and cats when so many more people have been made homeless in recent years, what's amazing to me is how few cats and dogs are actually being euthanased in such dire economic circumstances in Great Britain.
    —
    Make love not war
    Helen Barratt | 04/14/12 | 16:13 PM