Dogs. Since they were domesticated around 14,000 years ago they have loyally stood by our side. Nearly half of American homeowners own a dog but there are many more who live without a home. How many of these dogs are homeless? What causes this? For more, let's take a closer look at: canine homelessness.
According to the ASPCA, 3.9 million dogs enter a shelter every year. Of those 3.9 million, 1.2 million are euthanized. The most common reason that dogs are put into shelters is that their place of residence has a ban on them. Breed specific legislation, or BSL, is a legislation that allows certain dogs to be tagged as "dangerous" purely based off of their breed and not based off of the specific animal's behavior. Because of this, many are forced to give their dogs to shelters or have them put down. It can also be difficult to correctly identify dogs by their breed. For example, there is no exact breed of "pit bull." Instead there are types of terrier or bull dog that are given the now stigmatized name. In part due to BSL, "pit bulls" are banned from many in many communities throughout the country even though there is no true breed of the "pit bull."
On average, a fertile dog will give birth do one litter of four to six puppies each year and only 10% of dogs that are in shelters have been neutered. This overpopulation leads to many puppies being born without having a home. To put this in reference, the number of homeless people in the United States, another major problem, was 564,708 in 2015 and the estimated number of homeless dogs was 2,823,540.
A popular deterrent of canine homelessness, shelters, are often not associated with the ASPCA even though they may say "humane society" or "SPCA". Because of this, they are not necessarily monitored. The ASPCA also reported that many dogs are not adopted from shelters and instead are gotten through family or friends. Very few dogs that are strays will end up being returned to their homeowners and only one in ten will have a lifelong home. Dogs often go stray because they are not properly identified, because they were not kept properly indoors, or because of the previously mentioned BSL. The ASPCA showed that each year: 35% of shelter dogs are adopted, 26% of the dogs who came in as a stray will be returned to their owner, and a horrific 31% of the dogs are euthanized.
This can be changed. BSL is has not proven to decrease dog bites or make communities safer. It has been proven, however, that an easier way to prevent canine homelessness is by lowering the cost of neutering, having dangerous dog laws that are not dog specific and instead individual, holding the owner responsible for carelessness/ actions causing harm, and other options.
