We Need to Talk About the Pet Industry
6 ways that you can actively contribute to better animal welfare
Australia, we have a pet problem. As a nation, we have one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world: almost two in three of our households currently have a pet (40% of these are dogs) and nine in 10 of us have had one at some point in our lives. There are currently more pets than people — with around 5 million dogs, 4 million cats, 11 million fish and almost 6 million birds.
But unfortunately, this means we also have a lot of unwanted pets — which often end up abandoned or dumped in shelters. In 2018, the RSPCA received over 130,000 animals Australia-wide, the vast majority of which were dogs (40,000) and cats (53,000). Of these animals, 37,000 were euthanised — including approximately 5,500 dogs and 12,600 cats.
But the RSPCA is hardly alone: some estimates place the number of cats and dogs euthanised in Australian shelters each year as high as 100,000. While there are strong arguments to be made against the way that euthanasia is applied at large “animal welfare” organisations, this clearly this points to a much wider issue, which is the unchecked breeding and sale of domestic animals with little to no regulation or government oversight.
It is imperative to push for top-down change — including clear and enforceable legislation to limit breeding and the introduction of no-kill policies which have been successfully implemented in other countries.
But we also have to take responsibility, as consumers, for how we are contributing to the problem. Domestic animals have become a commodity, and will continue to be mass-produced (and destroyed) unless we break the chain of demand and supply. Here’s how.
1. Adopt, don’t shop
In the last 20 years, Australia has seen a shift towards adopting rescue pets from shelters, rather than going to a breeder or pet store. Dogs that are sold online, at markets, or even in pet shops, may come from puppy farms (also called puppy mills) where they are kept in overcrowded and inhumane conditions and forced to churn out one litter after another. Unless you visit a property yourself — and sometimes even then — it can be impossible to know how animals are being treated when their sole purpose is breeding.
But any animal that you adopt from a shelter is a life saved. What’s more the costs associated with adopting are significantly lower than other types of sale — the average dogs costs over $900 from a breeder and $500 from a pet shop compared with $260 from a shelter. On average, cats cost around $620 from a breeder, $240 from a pet shop and $155 from a shelter.
2. Don’t buy a pet you can’t commit to
While life expectancy of a pet varies by species and breed, you can expect a dog to live 10 to 12 years and a cat to live 12 to 16 years. That is a long time to to be looking after an animal. It also comes at a cost: between food, bedding, medication, council registration, microchipping and vet fees, dog owners fork out an average $1,627 and cat owners an average $962 on their pet each year in Australia.
Shelters will tell you that the busiest time for them is after Christmas — when the novelty of getting a pet as a present wears off and the reality of actually looking after it sets in. Since the release of the popular family film Oddball in 2015, thousands of maremmas (the dog that stars in the film) have been bred and subsequently re-homed by rescue groups — because their new owners quickly discovered they were unsuitable for suburban backyards.
The bottom line is, don’t buy an animal unless you’re absolutely sure you’re willing and able to keep it for the rest of its life.
3. Foster through a rescue organisation
I personally can’t commit to looking after an animal for the next decade, because I travel and don’t live in the same city as family members who would be able to take care of it in my absence. So instead of acquiring a new pet and then dumping it in a shelter down the track, you could foster domestic animals from a rescue organisation while they work to match it with its forever-home.
Fostering has the potential to save the life of an animal that would otherwise be euthanised and helps to take some of the strain off shelters. Ideally, you should also play a role in socialising the animal and helping it prepare for its adoptive home.
However, be careful about which organisation you foster through — seek recommendations from people who have already fostered so you don’t end up with the experience I had.
4. De-sex your pet straight away
There is no excuse for not de-sexing your dog or cat — although unfortunately this is not a legal requirement in all Australian states and territories. The financial impact of de-sexing is relatively low (from $100 to $500, depending on the breed, gender and age), especially when you compare it to the costs of looking after their offspring.
Plus, every litter you breed and give to a shelter to re-home is likely to result in the loss of other animals. Put simply: if you can’t afford to de-sex your pet, then you can’t afford a pet.
5. Do NOT bet on dog or horse racing
Australia is not only a pet-loving nation, we are a bet-loving nation. We are one of only eight countries in the world with a commercial greyhound racing industry and ours is by far the biggest. Around 20,000 new dogs are bred each year — 40% of these never make it to the track and are considered “wastage”.
What’s more, dogs that race are typically retired between the age of two and five, and will need to be re-homed for the remainder of their lives. However, only a small proportion are adopted — around 1,000 per year. According to the industry itself, up to 17,000 healthy greyhounds are euthanised in Australia each year and many more will be euthanised by shelters.
Horse racing creates the same problem: around 13,000 thoroughbreds are born each year, of which at least 2,5000 will never race. Most racehorses have a career of two to three years — and yet live to 25 or 30 years. Every dollar that you spend having a harmless punt on the horses or greyhounds helps to fund the massive oversupply of racing animals, that will sooner or later have to be re-homed or euthanised. Yes, that includes the Melbourne Cup.
6. Donate to local animal rescue groups
The money that you save on gambling ($4 billion a year on greyhound racing in Australia!) would be put to better use in helping fund animal welfare organisations in the work they do to rescue and re-home our abandoned, abused and neglected pets.
The fact is that it takes money to clean up this mess that we’ve created — and one that is growing with each passing year. When it comes to paying for vet bills, medical treatment and food supplies, local rescue groups don’t have anything like the resources of larger organisations which receive millions in wills, council grants, corporate sponsorship, and fundraising drives.
And remember, that larger shelters may have significant euthanasia rates while volunteer-run groups generally have no-kill policies. So make sure you do your research to be certain that you are giving your money to an organisation that aligns with your values — and is truly interested in the best welfare outcomes for each individual animal.
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