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The scale of the problem
Police, dog wardens and dog organisations accept that from year 2000 to the time of writing (year 2004) the number of dogs picked up annually by local authorities has been somewhere in the region of 111,000–140,000. Similar figures have been quoted over the past thirty years.
Origins of the problem
As we have said before, at least half of the ‘strays’ picked up result not from accident or carelessness, but from deliberate acts of dumping on the part of dog owners. Over decades, the dog industry has persisted in asserting that the number of stray dogs can be reduced by ‘education’. In practice this means promoting dog ownership. Unsurprisingly, it has so far not solved the problem.
Publicity material from dog organisations promotes a perception of a stray dog as an animal that has been conditionally rescued. Individuals are invited to make the rescue absolute by taking on ownership. Usually, that ends the matter. Sometimes a dog subsequently proves unmanageable and has to be returned or disposed of in some other way. Dog rescue organisations set their own criteria as to how a dog coming into their hands is disposed of, but local authorities have an obligation to clear the streets and dispose of dogs in various ways according to rules laid down for them.
Why have not the variety of dog interests acknowledged the connection between dumped dogs and dog promotion?
Some possible answers: it is self-evident that a temporarily owned dog will eat as much as any other; which accounts for the food manufacturer interest. The media, having adopted the dog culture myth do in effect promote ownership. The actions of the dog charities are less easy to explain. At one level, they seem driven by emotionally charged ideas, but at another, they seem dedicated to perpetuating their own existence. We have yet to hear of a charity determined to put itself out of business.
Rescue organisations proclaiming they will re-home a dog more considerately than the prospective dumper, have created a climate where consciences are salved by the belief that an abandoned dog will be picked up by ‘someone’ and cared for. That ’someone’ will also undertake the unpleasant task of destroying the dog, if need be. Either way, it is a cheap solution for dog owners, an expensive one for the community and a cruel one for the dog. It is not simply a question of costs; local authority and police resources are only finite.
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