America’s Changing Relationship with the Pet Dog
How pet dogs moved from the streets to their owner’s beds, adoptions from shelters went up, and euthanasia rates went down. Photo: NotarYES/Shutterstock From large numbers of free-ranging dogs in the 70s, fast forward to today where many pet dogs sleep in their owner’s bed, and you can see how much Americans love their dogs. A review of the dog and shelter dog population from the early 1970s to today by Dr. Andrew Rowan ( Humane Society of the United States ) and Tamara Kartal ( Humane Society International ) charts some encouraging trends. Shelter Euthanasia Rates In the 70s, an estimated 25% of dogs in the US were allowed to run free in the streets. In 1973, The HSUS estimated that 20% of America’s dogs and cats were euthanized in animal shelters. That’s 35 million dogs and cats in one year. Animals arriving at shelters were typically looked after for 3-7 days (in case they were claimed by the owner) and then euthanized. In 2010, the proportion of pet dogs euthanized by shelters each...