If you didn't know, today is National Endangered Animal Day! When I found out that this was a nationally recognized day, it made me really excited and I had to share. Animals are such a big part of our lives, they love us, protect us, take care of our environment, and keep away pests just to name a few of the wondrous purposes for our fur-ever friends! That's why at The Vault, we encourage all of our residents to bring their four legged friends with them when they move in!
I would like to take this day to mention the issue of endangered species in Georgia and worldwide. I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight another large issue we have in Georgia (well, nationally too) which is overpopulation. I'd like to highlight what we can do to stop our wildlife from extinction and our pets from execution (kill-shelters, abandonment).
What are Georgia's most endangered animals? They are mainly amphibious and aquatic natured creatures such as Alabama Moccasinshell, Alabama Shad, Allegheny, Alligator Snapping Turtle, Altamaha Arcmussel, Altamaha Pocketbook, Altamaha Spinymussel, Amber Darter, American Chaffseed and Anthony's Riversnail.
The main reason they are endangered is due to the contribution to pollution in our water throughout Georgia and along our coast.
So what can we do to STOP the progression of the endangerment?Donate to wildlife conservation, state parks, local parks.
Check out The Georgia Wild Life Plan to see the plan that they have pit in place "to conserve populations of native wildlife species and the natural habitats they need before these animals, plants and places become rarer and more costly to conserve or restore": https://georgiawildlife.com/WildlifeActionPlan
Controlling your contribution to Invasive Species to see what species our not native and are acting as predators to our natural wildlife: https://georgiawildlife.com/invasive-species
Okayyyy what about overpopulation??According to Georgia Pet Foundation "In the United States, six to eight million animals are brought to shelters each year, of which an estimated three to four million are subsequently euthanized, including 2.7 million considered healthy and adoptable." I don't know how that makes you feel but personally that makes me sick to my stomach.
"Dumping" and Over-Breeding are the two biggest contributors to over-population in our shelters. "Dumping" is exactly what you would think, when someone takes their beloved pet and just lets them go outside, or dumps them off on the side of the road. The more fortunate of the animals are picked up by random people or Animal Control and brought back to the shelter where they may have hopes of being adopted. Unfortunately out of the 7.6 million pets that enter shelters every year (which comes to 3.9 million dogs and 3.4 million cats on average), less than 2% of cats and only 15 to 20% of dogs are picked up or returned to their families.
The other half of the babies that are never picked up are left in the wild, often times reproducing with other strays and having multiple litters in the wild. This leads to tens on hundreds of new puppies and kittens that will grow up as strays and follow the same cycle of over-breeding in the wild. This is an issue because they often contract diseases, they can become feral and attack other animals/people, they don't have access to medical acre and often die from illnesses and injuries that can't be treated, etc. just to name a few. Not to mention the emotional torment and feelings of abandonment, loneliness and fear that these animals have to endure.
Another big contributor to over-population is un-spayed/nuetered pets. If your dog gets out and mates with the neighbors dog and you end up with a litter of puppies you can't keep then often times those babies end up in the shelter or in neglectful hands. Believe it or not, Statesboro is a huge hotspot for over-breeding and contributes to a large amount of Bulloch County's overpopulation and euthanasia.
So what can we do to STOP this issue from progressing?If you are wanting to get rid of your pet or in the position where you can no longer take care of your pet-- Contact local fostering services to see if they have availability to take them off your hands.
Get your cat and dog neutered/spayed as soon as they're old enough and it is safe to have the procedure- There are several veterinarians and other services that will spay/nueter in Statesboro: