A Strategy for Dog-Owner Education

By conservative estimates, the humane societies and societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals in the United States euthanize over 15 million pets each year. It is a great shame that people who have devoted their lives to animals should be forced to destroy the majority of animals that pass through their hands. In addition, the Pet Food Institute\u27s 1975 Survey revealed that a high percentage of pet owners were unsatisfied with their animals and ended up giving them away, taking them to animal shelters, or losing them in accidents. It would appear that only a minority of pets enjoys the luxury of spending their sunset years with their owners. Moreover, the great majority of former pet owners would not consider acquiring another pet. In contrast to the past, when owning a dog served some utilitarian or recreational purpose, or was simply an enjoyable endeavor, it seems that most pets today achieve only object status. Despite the fact that dogs and humans have enjoyed a close association for several thousand years, the majority of dog owners are relatively unaware of what their dogs are doing, or perhaps more to the point, what they are doing to their dogs. What is more ironic is that many of these problems could easily be avoided