Pet Overpopulation in Durham County

Most people have heard the phrase “Pet Overpopulation” but what does it really mean and how real of a problem is it in Durham County? For some people the reality of pet overpopulation comes when they hear that we get about 20 animals brought to the Durham County Animal Shelter every single day of the year. For others, the problem becomes real when they walk through the shelter and see every single cage filled with an animal.

On average we do receive about 20 animals every single day. Approximately 7,000 animals came to us in 2009. We wish it weren’t so and are working to reduce that figure.

Animals come to us from all kinds of situations, but most are considered either “strays” or “owner surrenders.” Over 4,000 stray animals were brought to the shelter last year. A stray is any animal with no apparent owner who is found by caring citizens or picked up by Animal Control. Each is checked to see if he or she has tags and scanned for a microchip in hopes we may locate the owner.

We also received about 400 animals that were abandoned in homes or were taken because of concerns about animal cruelty. Animal Control also houses animals at the shelter that are part of ongoing court cases or that need to be quarantined. The vast majority of the remaining animals we receive are owner surrenders. Last year we took in well over 2,000 animals that fall in this category.

While we believe that owning a pet is a commitment for the life of the animal, there are a variety of circumstances in which people choose to surrender their pets. Regardless of the reasons, the Durham County Animal Shelter takes in all animals because we would rather an animal be in our care, receiving food, medicine, shelter and affection than forced to fend for itself living homeless and unwanted.

Our efforts to reduce the number of animals at the shelter include addressing the reasons why animals are brought in. We continually reach out to pet owners at the shelter, through the media and with education and informational tables at dozens of community events and festivals. We support the important work of a local organization, AnimalKind, to reach out to low-income pet owners with low-cost spay/neuter certificates and we counsel owners who bring in litters of puppies and kittens to get their animals fixed. We provide resources to pet owners such as free pet food through the Salvation Army, and we offer dog training and cat care advice so someone who may just need a little help can keep his or her pets and not need to surrender them.

The struggle to reduce pet overpopulation must be a community wide effort. Fortunately Durham has some wonderful individuals and organizations, like AnimalKind, Independent Animal Rescue, SNAP, POP-NC,  and the Coalition to Unchain Dogs are working tirelessly to turn the tide. It will take the work of all of us- community leaders, pet owners and concerned citizens- to solve this crisis. Once every pet owner spays and neuters, adopts their next pet from a shelter or rescue and keeps their pet for life, pet overpopulation will become a thing of the past. It can be done and with your support we will continue to do what we can to reduce the number of homeless animals in Durham County.