The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) reports that 6.3 million pets enter shelters and about 920,000 shelter pets are euthanized each year. The number of pets that are euthanized was far higher in previous years, so our collective efforts are helping!

If your heart breaks hearing about the hard lives (and deaths) of so many innocent animals, there are some things you can do.

Not every pet that is roaming the streets is in need.

Despite the advice of veterinarians, some people allow their cats to spend time outside—and some cats are “door dashers” that seem to get out no matter what their people try to do. If they have a collar on and seem to be well-fed and not causing harm, you probably don’t have to worry about them.

Many people don’t put collars on their cats, so it’s hard to tell if they have a home or someone caring for them or if they’re feral (i.e., they don’t have a place to call home and do not make good pets because they fear people).

Veterinarians and humane organizations are making an effort to reduce the feral cat population, and to make life better for the colonies that already exist, by spaying and neutering them and finding homes for the ones that are adoptable. If you see a cat that has an ear “tipped”—this is when a small portion of their ear is humanely removed—they may be a stray that was captured at some point in their lives to get spayed or neutered and released where they were last found.

Sadly, too many pets are hit by cars every year. Emergency veterinary care can be expensive (hundreds to thousands of dollars).

If you hit a pet with your car or witness a pet getting hit, you should make every effort to communicate with the pet parents to try to get help for the animal right away. So look for a collar with a tag on it.

If a cat is hit by a car, petmd.com recommends first getting yourself and the pet to safety, then checking to see if the cat is breathing and still has a heartbeat. Wrap them carefully in something soft, keeping in mind that they may bite if they are in pain or distress.

While every veterinary team wants to provide care for every pet that gets hit by a car, they cannot be expected to offer their services for free. If you're being a good Samaritan, let them know. They may be able to provide enough care to ease the pet's pain and distress while they're trying to find the pet's owner.

It’s important to learn ways of preventing car injuries, too. Dogs should be leashed except at off-leash dog parks and trained to sit and stay so they don’t run out into the street. They shouldn’t be left unsupervised, even in a fenced-in yard. And be sure your car windows aren’t open enough for a dog to jump out.

 

Aside from needing forever homes, most pets living in shelters and with foster families are in good hands. The best thing you can do to help these animals is to donate to the organizations that rescue and assist pets in need.

This is a tough situation. If you suspect someone is abusing or neglecting a pet—injuring them, withholding food or water, using pets for fighting, or keeping a dog penned or chained out in the cold or heat without adequate shelter—you can report it to local law enforcement or animal control.

Unfortunately, abusers sometimes abuse pets before they abuse human household members. In Ohio and other states, veterinarians can help document health conditions that can indicate an animal that is neglected or abused. Abusers all too often use pets as leverage, sometimes making a victim stay by harming the pet, or threatening to do so. There are organizations like Sheltering Animals of Abuse Victims (SAAV) that are spreading the word about the ways family violence and pet abuse are linked.

We believe that every family should be able to experience the emotional, physical, and mental health benefits of living with a pet. Access to veterinary care is a social justice issue.

There is a growing movement to help low‑income people, and unhoused people, to continue to live with their pets. In 2016, The Access to Affordable Veterinary Care Coalition was formed to help the public understand the issues facing low‑income pet parents and to come up with solutions to this growing problem.

Veterinary Care Vouchers provided by One Health Organization are part of that solution. Since 2014, we’ve provided more than $353,000 in veterinary care to pet parents in northeast Ohio.