Issue/Affecting Who?

Animal overpopulation is a serious issue affecting our community. It affects the entire community--from households, businesses, the government and even things you would never think of such as resources and goods.

Household residents are affected by animal overpopulation because they are the ones who have to watch stray animals roam around and fear of getting bitten by a rabies-infested animal.

Businesses could potentially lose money over animals roaming around and getting into trashcans and whatnot. This is very unsanitary, especially for patrons dining at restaurants.

Citizens of the United States pay the government taxes to fix problems and care for people, so they must get rid of the problem.

Worldly, stray animals need somewhere to go; whether it an animal shelter or a home. Even Shanghai, China now limits the number of domestic animals a household is allowed to keep to prevent rabies.

Resources, goods and services, and finances are affected because we end up using our own money to get rid of the problem by providing animal shelters or even euthanizing some of the animals. 

Circular Flow Diagram

Possible Solutions

Solution #1:

Like Shanghai, it might be a good idea to limit the amount of pets per household so that the sickness spread by animals is kept under control.

Solution #2:

Instead of allowing people to breed animals from anywhere they like, the government should create a law only allowing licensed breeders to breed animals.

Solution #3:

Unless you are a breeder, spay and neuter nearly all other animals.

Positives/Negative Externalities

Negatives:

Of course, as nearly any law is put in place, there are definitely going to be people disagreeing with them. People might oppose my proposed solutions for animal overpopulation because they might think spaying and neutering is cruel. It's not the nicest thing to do to an animal, but it is vastly better than having to euthanize them later. A breeder also may oppose my decision to force licensing, especially if it is their occupation and it would end up limiting their pay.

Positives:

For one, less money would go to the euthanization of animals and there would be more money spent on keeping pets healthy and safe. Another would be the lack of animals roaming around and the government would not be forced to deal with more court cases involving rabies or dog bites or anything of that sort.

Analysis Questions

1. How does each possible solution for your chosen issue meet or fail to meet each of your criteria? Explain.

Every possible solution for my chosen issue meets the criteria because each possibility is just that, possible. If everyone helped, this problem would be obsolete. The animals would never have to be neglected or ownerless because there would be less of them to take care of. The money used to euthanize the animals could be used to create new shelters and spaying and neutering sites. 

2. Based on your research, which is the best solution to turn into action? Explain why you made this choice over the other possible solutions. Refer back to the criteria and externalities. 

Out of my three counterarguments for animal overpopulation, the most viable option would be to have the pets spayed and neutered. This is the easiest and would cease the ability for pets to reproduce. The only negative externalities would be the cost, but if the euthanizing factories were gone, I believe the cost would be fair. 

How can you help?

This issue is connected to poverty because of the animals overpopulating places. For example, if a restaurant was constantly surrounded by animals, no one would want to go and it would shut down. In turn, people would lose jobs and become poorer. Also, the government cannot really afford more money being spent on things other than education and necessities. Instead of spending the money on food or shelter for homeless people, the government is spending it on this problem.

There are many ways you can help. Adopting pets that do not have homes and not supporting local pet shops and spaying or neutering your own pets are both ways you can help end this severe problem. Many lovable cats and dogs are out there--not only would you have a new companion, but could be saving their lives as well!