Sat February 23, 2013 Early in life we learn to count and to do
simple arithmetic, but there's nothing simple about counting the
animals - dogs, cats, and even rabbits - who are victims of the
pet overpopulation problem. If I were to ask you how much is one
plus one, you would probably answer “two”. But in the pet world,
sometimes one plus one can equal pretty large number if you’re
talking about animals that are allowed to breed unchecked.
Experts say that the average female cat could have three litters
in one year, each with up to six kittens in a litter. The
average female dog could have about two litters per year, but
one litter could have 8 puppies. That means that one female pet
that continues to breed and her offspring that also continue to
breed could result in tens of thousands of cats or dogs in just
a few years. It’s no wonder that around six million animals are
surrendered to animal shelters in this country every year, and
that almost half – or about three million companion animals –
must be eutha