Especially in summer or after Christmas is when more animals are abandoned. Sadly this happens every year and although the number of adoptions is increasing, the truth is that the number of abandonments is not decreasing as much as we would like.
From our site we want to help you to put solution to animal abandonment. Leaving them on the street is never an option, we can always find an answer to our questions. They may take more time, but we'll get there:
After the holidays…
Although the abandonment of animals does not occur at a certain time of the year, it does, we can say almost with shame, that after the holidays the percentages of abandonment increaseBefore Christmas we started this problem trying to raise awareness among people who wanted to adopt and/or give an animal in giving away pets for Christmas, is that correct?
There are terrible figures that ensure that more than 120,000 dogs and 60,000 cats are abandoned each year in Spain causing accidents on the streets or highways, dying of cold, suffering from illnesses, etc. The list will be quite long and very distressing but it is not about stopping reading but, as a country that leads the dropout rates in the European Community, working on it so that together we can lower the figures.
The most common causes that lead to abandonment
The causes of animal abandonment are very varied, but the following stand out:
- The members of the human family do not divide the tasks and they did not want, deep down, a dog in their lives This can be avoid making the family participate in the previous selection. Making a diagram dividing tasks according to the ages of the humans responsible, if they do not yet have the necessary age, example for walks. Previous family talks always help with these problems.
- Moving or adopting on vacation and then they don't know what to do with the dog. This, as terrible as it may seem, happens very often and especially during vacations, where they think that the dog can entertain them for a while but when they return to the routine, children at school and adults at work, they notice that the dog is left 16 hours alone at home and many times, he gets bored and starts breaking things, his passport abroad. These owners do not have the time, nor the desire, to educate him, but we can always turn to a dog trainer, a neighbor who wants to walk him with his family, or simply, if we do not find an immediate solution, find a substitute family for him.
- Your new partner doesn't like dogs or is allergic to cats We must be very sure that the animal is already part of of our family to try to integrate everyone in the same house. We can't just leave the "conflict", we will always have some new conflict and not all of us can leave them.
- Your dog or cat is not the right one for your lifestyle It goes hand in hand with the first point. It usually occurs in young people who live alone and seek a company for the times when they are alone at home. But they usually notice that they are not going to abandon their outings for a beer after work and/or university as long as their dog does not spend more than 12 hours alone at home. It also happens in these cases that they choose a cat, but this one, out of loneliness, begins to feel like the owner of the house and can become aggressive in the presence of strangers in "his home" and as a result, the human cannot continue inviting friends to study or eat. We must be aware that if our animal has behaviors that are not appropriate for what we expect of it, it may be due to our poor management and my advice, seek advice from professionals on the subject to find a solution, but never abandon them.
- Lack of time to walk it, educate it, feed it are some of the causes that, although they are already explained in the previous points, we must consider.
- If your animal has a clear disease that did not exist before the adoption We must give it the necessary care, inform the veterinarian of the possibilities of treatment and/or care. It is a very important issue to deal with as a family and in cases where we are not able to deal with the inconvenience, look for a family that can or wants to help.
Discover more in depth the Causes of animal abandonment in this other article to help avoid them.
We have the solution within our reach
Although we have already discussed the most common causes of abandonment and their possible solutions, I believe that, as quality individuals that we are, we must face our responsibility as owners of an animal. The arrival of the animal to the family must be a mature act and very meditated among all, here we will obtain success. They can be given, adopted or bought but always with the awareness that they will be our responsibility and not for a few days, hopefully for the next 20 years.
Don't forget Join an association or foundation that helps animals to continue promoting responsible adoption, education and awareness that every homeowner should know. Even so, you yourself can help by spreading the most important cases on social networks and collaborating in a kennel or animal shelter.
