Animal Overpopulation is when there is an influx of animals in shelters and communities. This can be caused by not having pets spayed and neutered, bad breeding practices or too many animals being brought to shelters.
In the Granville county shelter reports one of the biggest similarities is the dogs and cats have the highest rates of being brought into shelters and being euthanized. There is also a similarity in that cats have the highest euthanization rates even though the number of dogs and cats being brought into the shelter is very close. The biggest difference is the number of different types of animals being brought in. In 2014 only 5 different types of animals were brought into the shelter, whereas in 2019 there were 19 different types of animals being brought into the shelter. Another difference is that there were fewer euthanizations in 2019 than there were in 2014.
I attribute these things to the idea more people in the south have dogs than cats, and that because more cats are getting being brought that is why more cats are being euthanized. I also know from personal experience that there are stray and feral cats everywhere in Granville county. In Dogland there is a part of the book that says "Perhaps no animal has been romanticized in Southern art and literature more than the dog." (53 Skole)
If I were to design an activist project to address animal overpopulation I would choose the topic of homeless animals that have to live on the streets in fear. I would choose this topic because a lot of animal overpopulation comes from stray and feral animals that aren't spayed or neutered. I would want to bring awareness to the horrible conditions that some stray animals have to live in and how it can also be dangerous for them to have to live on the streets, especially in high traffic, city areas.
Donna Farrato's project created quantifiable change by bringing attention to the scary lives of people that live in a domestic violence situation and shown a new light to the scary fact that there are women in prison for defending themselves.
Donna Farrato, Becca Jean Hughes, 1980-1990's, https://www.iamunbeatable.com/photo-archives 
Donna Farrato, Renz Correctional Facility, 1980-1990's, https://www.iamunbeatable.com/photo-archives 
Donna Farrato, Bengt and Elisabeth, 1980-1990's, https://www.iamunbeatable.com/photo-archives
I agree with your definition and context around animal overpopulations. It is a man-made problem caused by things like the lack of spaying and neutering that has resulted into too many unnecessary deaths as animal repopulate faster and are surrendered faster than we can properly deal with them. I also agree with your findings that cats are at the highest risk of being euthanized because dogs are preferred.
ReplyDelete- Aurora Hagen
Very interesting that in 2019 many more animal species were brought into the animal shelter. I wonder about your claim that more people in the south have pet dogs than cats. Can you explain where that idea/fact came from? If you are thinking about feral cat colonies being more prevalent in the south due to the less harsh winters, I would love for you to say that!
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