Companion Animal FAQs

“If I am able to find homes for all the kittens or puppies, why shouldn’t I allow my cat or dog to have a litter?”

While your intentions might be good, there’s no way of knowing what will happen to animals once they have been adopted. This year, millions of healthy, wonderful animals will be euthanized in shelters because there aren’t enough homes for them. Many more will be abandoned on the streets. All this misery and death can be prevented through spaying and neutering. Every stray cat and neglected dog came from an animal who had not been spayed or neutered. PETA works hard to educate the public about the importance of spaying and neutering, and we also provide spaying and neutering services for the animal companions of low-income families and elderly people.

 

“Don’t puppies in pet stores need homes just as much as puppies at animal shelters? Besides, how else can I choose the breed that I want?”

Many of the dogs who are sold in pet stores came from puppy mills and breeding kennels. In puppy mills, female dogs are kept in crude outdoor cages with no protection from rain, sweltering heat, bitter cold, or biting winds. They are denied companionship and comfort and are treated like breeding machines. Their puppies are taken from them, packed into crates, and shipped hundreds of miles to dealers, often without adequate food, water, or air. Poor breeding practices lead to health problems, physical deformities, deafness, eye diseases, and many other ailments.

Once puppies arrive at pet stores, they are put into cramped cages, adding more strain to their already-stressed lives and making it easier for them to become sick. No law regulates how pet stores must dispose of animals, and some stores have been caught killing unsold dogs on the premises. Shelters are only able to find loving homes for some of the animals they receive, and the rest are euthanized, so for every animal sold by a breeder, one dies at the shelter.

If your family has the time, energy, space, and money to care for a dog or cat (or two), please visit your local animal shelter and adopt. Mixed-breeds are typically healthier and more even-tempered than purebred animals, but if you’re determined, you can usually find purebreds at shelters.

“Isn’t it better to declaw a cat than to give him or her away?”

If you asked your cats if it would be OK to put them through 10 separate, painful amputations that would weaken their legs, shoulders, and back muscles, they would probably say “no”—and they wouldn’t be alone. Many veterinarians around the world refuse to declaw cats. In fact, in Germany and some other parts of Europe, declawing is illegal. Cats who have been declawed experience terrible pain after the surgery and have difficulty walking until their paws heal. Without their claws, cats are defenseless. With the aid of a scratching post and firm, consistent instructions about where they may and may not scratch, cats can easily be taught not to scratch furniture.

“What's wrong with chaining dogs outside? Isn't that better than letting them run loose?”

One of the worst things that you can do to a dog is to chain him or her. In fact, life on chain is so cruel that it’s illegal in some cities! Chained dogs are exposed to blistering heat, bitter cold, rain, and wind, putting them at risk for heat exhaustion, frostbite, and other health problems. Chains can wrap around trees or other objects, water bowls can easily tip over, and food can quickly spoil in summer or freeze in winter.

Chained dogs often become overly fearful of intruders and overly protective of their tiny patches of ground. They are easy targets for cruel people who taunt and tease them, and as a result, many chained dogs become defensive and untrusting. It’s no surprise that dogs who spend much of their lives outside on chains often become dangerous, while dogs who are well socialized and supervised rarely bite.

Probably the worst thing about chaining dogs is that they become terribly lonely. Dogs are pack animals who long to love, live with, and be loved by their human families. Denying a dog companionship is so cruel that some dogs are actually driven crazy by their loneliness. It’s best for everyone when dogs are treated as treasured family members.

“Why shouldn’t cats be allowed outdoors to explore and exercise?”

Cats should be allowed outdoors for walks on leashes, just as dogs are, and to explore securely fenced yards. A product called Cat Fence-In, a flexible mesh barrier that can be placed on the tops of privacy fences to prevent cats from climbing out, can help you keep your companions safe in your yard.

Like dogs or small children, cats who are allowed outdoors without supervision are vulnerable to the dangers of cars, other animals, cruel people, and disease. Many diseases, like feline leukemia, feline AIDS (FIV), and others, are highly contagious and can easily be passed on to other companion animals.

Free-roaming cats are thought of as pests by some people because they go to the bathroom in their yards, dig up and sometimes eat their plants, or kill birds on their property. Free-roaming cats have been shot, poisoned, and stolen by angry neighbors. Fortunately, cats can live happy lives indoors.

"What’s wrong with keeping birds in cages?"

All caged birds were either captured or captive-bred. In the wild, birds are never alone, and if they are separated from their flock, even for a moment, they call wildly to their flockmates. These social animals clean each other, fly together, play, and share egg-incubation duties. Many species mate for life and share parenting tasks. In the wild, most birds will not take a second mate if they lose their first.

Life in captivity is often a death sentence for birds, who may suffer from malnutrition, loneliness, and the stress of confinement in improper environments. Birds are meant to fly and be with other birds in a natural environment. Confinement causes birds to have temper tantrums and mood swings.

Birds taken from the wild pose a health threat to both humans and domesticated animals. Parrots, for instance, can transfer the psittacosis virus to people, which can be deadly. The lives of captive-bred birds aren’t much better. Birds who are older than 8 to 10 weeks old don’t sell well at pet stores, so many are kept for breeding and stuck in small cages for the rest of their lives.

If you love birds, contact a bird-rescue group in your area to learn how you can foster or adopt an abused or neglected bird.