Whether having real owners or not, these roaming animals who are also not spayed or neutered (capable of breeding) will very quickly (within 3-6 months) replace the animals that were put down. Then we are back to square one, and having to continue killing dogs and cats to only temporarily reduce their numbers, without any long term reduction in animal over-population.
Saga's statistics for 2012 are as follows -
these show that the animals allowed to breed freely in private homes are a significant part of the problem of animal over population. People are letting their animals have puppies and kittens. When they cannot or do not want to care for them, they surrender them to Saga HS or let them out into the street.
Dogs Rounded Up : 180
Dogs Returned to Owner: 33 (after payment of a fine)
Surrender (owner left at Saga): 359 Dogs and Cats
Euthanized: 346 Dogs and Cats, 99 were dogs from rounds ups
Adopted Out into New Homes: 168 Dogs and Cats
Spayed/Neutered: 451 Dogs and Cats
Vaccinated: 159 Dogs and Cats
Treated Free of Charge: 134 Dogs and Cats
Human attitudes and behavior must change. Where people and authorities permit uncovered or uncollected garbage bins or dumping of garbage in the streets, animals will settle down, dogs, cats, rats, raccoon's and others.
Where there are dogs and cats in the streets, there will be animal lovers who feel sorry for them and feed them. This results in a vicious circle. The solution, as a community, is to focus our efforts on reducing the number of unwanted dogs and cats being born in San Pedro. The only effective way to reduce these numbers is to stop animals from freely breeding, by having your animals spay/neutered (sterilized) and reduce access to food resources (garbage).
Working together, we can create a situation where NO animals were strays or wandering to breed freely, and NO animals were being born that would not have homes.
All around the world, experience has shown that certain methods over time produce BIG reductions in stray and roaming animal populations. These methods include spaying and neutering; registration and identification; education and informing the public. The only possible way to permanently reduce the total population of stray animals is the use of a comprehensive dog population management program.
This is why a dog elimination plan such as the Roundups do not work: if is not possible to catch ALL the stray breeding animals in a territory within the breeding time of only 2 months, the total population will quickly rise again to the "carrying capacity".
Saga HS has reviewed animal population control data from Humane Society International, WSPCA, WHO, Best Friends and World Vets to come up with a sustainable plan to reduce the number of unwanted animals. These studies and data will be posted on the Saga Website
www.sagahumanesociety.org. These organizations recommend a goal of 75% sterilization in 3-5 years, which would stabilize the current pet population. To achieve this ambitious goal, the community and Saga HS will have to sterilize 25 dogs a week, 30 cats a week for the next 5 years.
Saga would like to request that the Community does its part by doing the following:
-Secure your household garbage in a container that has a locking lid or is otherwise animal-proof, and do not dump trash in empty lots or the bush (this is also important to keep the raccoon and rat population under control);
-Report illegal dumping of trash by others to SPTC;
-Report sale of puppies on the beach/public places to SPTC and Saga HS;
-(Nicely) ask neighbors to address nuisance issues with their dogs - if that fails, report nuisance problems to the police (constant barking, roaming, aggressive behavior to other animals or people, female in heat, getting into yard/garbage)
-Volunteer or donate to Saga HS. We are seeking volunteers to help us achieve our goals.
Help us solve the problems of animal over population.
Coleen Creeden
Saga Humane Society