Encouraging Responsible Ownership

A public education campaign is one approach outlined in Joshua Frank’s article. By focusing on reducing abandonment the campaign would educate people on the serious decision of taking care of a pet, make more known the suffering and death caused by abandonment, and encourage people, “not to take on dog ownership unless they understand the costs, responsibilities, and time involved”(120). This is all in the hopes of improvement in the quality of life for dogs.

Part of being a responsible owner can be helping this issue of overpopulation by ending the cycle and sterilizing or neutering your animal. Studies show that an, “important component in the reduction of shelter deaths has been an increase in the number of people who sterilize their dogs and cats”. Sterilization can also reduce behavioral problems which are a major cause of pet abandonment(Frank,108).

Behavioral problems may arise in the shelter due to stress from their environment and the way they were treated. Abuse isn’t their fault and the behavior might change when you save them from the shelter. So instead of going for another contender, sit down with the dog and get a feel for how they interact. Studies show that after twenty minutes of human interaction- primarily slow, firm stroking of the dog- the dog’s stress levels were lower(Tuber et al. 380).

Not only are you helping the dog but your stress levels will thank you for your furry friend too. A study conducted with shelter dogs proves that the, “simple presence of a companion animal, as well as petting the animal, can reduce stress by lowering blood pressure and heart rate, and also increase physical activity”(Ellsworth et al. 248). Positive relationships with your dog can improve your view on self image, social interactions, life satisfaction, and decrease depression(Ellsworth et al. 249). Dogs serve as sources for comfort and support and as a shelter dog, they desire human social contact the most. For example, it has been shown that shelter dogs tend to be highly responsive to humans and ready to interact(Ellsworth et al. 249). It was also observed that, “shelter dogs could form an attachment-type relationship after just three brief encounters with the same person”(Ellsworth et al. 259). This makes them the most lovable pet ready and waiting to be adopted.