What's Poverty got to do with it?

Welcome to the Series: The UN’s SDGs and how you and your dog can make the world a better place for others.

September marks the 5th Anniversary of the UN committing to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s for short) set to be reached for a better world by 2030. These 17 Sustainability Goals, a more progressed version of the former Millennial Goals, are ambitious topics covering all fields of our lives, which are again broken down in more precise targets. For example: SDG #14 covers “Life below water” and as sub-targets we have Target 14.1 Reduce Marine Pollution, or 14.4 Sustainable fishing etc.

The SDGs are 17 ambitious goals, set by the countries of the United Nations in hopes of reaching a better world by 2030.

While these 17 SDGs cover nearly all imaginable fields from nature, to socio-economical or gender issues, it’s easy to underestimate the impact these goals could have on each of our lives if we forget to see the big picture.

In this post I will go into detail about SDG #1 – NO POVERTY and will look at this topic from a pet owner’s perspective, right here in America.

Sustainable Development Goal #1 No Poverty

Poverty and the lack of financial resources are the #1 reason for America’s dog problem and overpopulation. That is: Many people cannot afford the proper treatment and regular medical checkups of their pets, so many dogs don’t see a vet’s office as regularly as they should. This causes two distinctive issues: Dogs remain unneutered, and untreated for general medical problems.

Regular Treatment

Due to poverty, many people cannot afford medical assistance for their dogs if they have a medical problem or can’t afford the annual check-up which could detect minor medical issues in advance and prevent treatable problems from becoming worse or develop into serious illnesses. Often, families have no other choice than to surrender their pets to shelters once treatment becomes necessary but unaffordable. This is only if the animal is lucky (compared to just being abandoned). In the shelter, they’re most likely not adopted and finally euthanized for often minor medical problems that could have been either prevented through regular vet visits or fixed with minor medical effort. This is especially the case for senior canines, dogs that are showing more age-related ailments.

Neutering:

Not neutering your pet can lead to uncontrolled breeding or “accidental pregnancies”. If left totally uncontrolled, an unneutered female will produce around 14 puppies per year, from the age of 6 months, of which half will be female and produce at the same rate, whose puppies will reproduce again and so on. Wait… What? Yes, I first doubted my math skills, but if you add up those numbers, even if taking into account that not every Puppy will make it to adulthood, one single dog can cause the reproduction of thousands in only a few years. This results in many dogs living on the streets by either being abandoned or running away etc.

How can we help?

Each Year approximately 920,000 shelter animals are euthanized in American, the majority of which are unnecessary.

The number of around 390,000 dogs and 530,000 cats was reduced from a total 1.5 million, previously noted in this post. Please visit the world animal foundation’s website for more information on the topic of pet statistics in America.

So how can we help fight poverty in the dog world?

Donate your time, donate a social media reshare, donate money!

There are wonderful people in this world that dedicate their time and lives to run fantastic organizations helping those in need. What they need is donations, donations of your time, donation of money, donation of effort to spread the word.

Here are the main focus points to prevent dogs from ever having to step a paw into a shelter and how you can help:

· Free Spaying: Many shelters and rescues offer free neutering and spaying events. Spread the word, post their announcements online, share their posts and tell your neighbors. This is a small effort to you, costs you no money, yet carries immense weight in spreading the word in the communities. Follow your local shelters and rescues or local chapters of the Humane Society etc. to repost and share their posts in your stories to raise awareness.

Spaying and Neutering are essential tools to end the cycle of stray animal overpopulation on our streets.

· Free Vet services. Most major cities are fortunate to have especially passionate veterinaries that dedicate their free time to volunteer in free pet clinics or pet vet trucks. In Houston, for example this is Laurel’s House.

Laurel’s House is a mobile veterinary clinic which is equipped to treat pets with minor and medium severe ailments, but also are prepared to perform emergency treatment like limb amputation, removal of masses, setting broken bones, etc. Run by veterinaries passionately committed to the welfare of animals, Laurel’s House is free to everyone who needs them, if financially disadvantaged or homeless. Please follow this link to visit their website and find out more about their inspiring charity.

Not from Houston? Google your local charity and support them, support them on social media, donate, contact them directly to ask how you can help.

· Non-profit veterinary clinics. Emancipet is a non-profit veterinary clinic that offers most vetting services and standard treatments for very low prices, often bundling services to even better deals than individual prizing. This non-profit concept offers Pet owners with limited financial resources an affordable option and encourages people to take their dog to the vet if necessary.

Consider donating your time and money to these wonderful organizations, maybe ask friends to donate to a specific organization in your name instead of giving presents for your next birthday/holiday.

By supporting Organizations like Laurel’s House or Emancipet, you contribute to tackling America’s dog problem from the root, not only the symptom (the dogs ultimately being left in shelters and with rescues).

Be part of the solution and do your part to make this world a better one for all pets and humans, not just your pooch at home.

While I am sure many people will be thinking: Well, if those people can’t afford a dog, they shouldn’t have one. I wholly disagree. I believe owning an animal, a companion should be a human right if you wish to do so. Pets are good for our mental health, keep us healthy and support us with many tasks in our often-overwhelming lives. Missy is my personal therapist, my life coach and best friend. If someone decided that I didn’t make enough money to afford the fancy dog food and shouldn’t have her anymore, they might as well take me to the pound as well. That’d be a world I wouldn’t want to live in.

Disclaimer:

In this post for SDG #1: No Poverty, I have been focusing on the dog overpopulation and poverty situation in the USA. However, all arguments and suggestions can be translated into international efforts. Especially in 3rd world countries or on the Asian continent, certain dog overpopulation/ stray animal problems are not only caused by poverty but also by cultural differences and/or educational deficits on the subject of animal protection.