Pete the Vet: Spaying and neutering is key to stopping puppy and kitten overpopulation

"SpayAware week (formerly known as Spay Week) has been an annual event for over 15 years: it has played an important part in persuading people that spaying and neutering should be seen as a normal part of responsible pet ownership."

Pic: iStock

I’ve written before about Ireland’s success story on the stray dog front, with the number of unwanted dogs being euthanased at local authority dog pounds reducing from over 30,000 dogs in the early 1990s to less than 200 in 2021. Animal welfare and rescue organisations, veterinary groups and local authority teams had worked hard together to make this happen. For a brief period, it seemed as if the age-old problem of unwanted dogs had been fixed.

The bad news is that the issue of canine overpopulation has come back in 2023. Many people who took on dogs during the pandemic have found that they cannot cope with the animals after all. Others have found that the surge in the cost of living has meant that they cannot afford the cost of caring for their pet. Animal rescue groups around Ireland have been flooded with unwanted pets being surrendered to them for rehoming, and they just can’t cope. Many have had to close their doors to new arrivals because there’s just no space left.