Pet (dog and cat) overpopulation in the United States.

Over half of all United States (US) households own a dog or cat. The veterinary profession can now provide health care for dogs and cats of affluent or devoted owners that rivals the health care offered many human patients. Unfortunately, as many pets receive medical and surgical care that becomes increasingly sophisticated, other pets in the US receive no veterinary care at all. Additionally, millions of pets are humanely killed in US animal shelters because owners are not committed to the continual responsibilities of pet care. Although the total dog and cat population is unknown in the US, as is the total number of pets killed, estimates suggest that between one-tenth and one-quarter of the entire US pet population is destroyed annually because of a surplus dog and cat problem. Pet overpopulation is attributable to relinquishment and abandonment, as well as to birth rates; thus, veterinarians must strive to reduce pet overpopulation by not only curbing reproduction, but also by decreasing the major cause of pet death in the US (i.e. humane killing). Thus, the veterinary profession must take a prominent role in the campaign to prevent the deaths of healthy animals for whom homes cannot be found, just as it has done to prevent the deaths of sick animals that do have homes.