Those thoughts came back to me after reading about research in adoption psychology. This refers to a growing trend among animal shelters to study the psychology of shelter animals, as well as that of people who give up pets and those who adopt them. The idea is to not only match people with compatible pets. The goal includes discovering why owners give up pets (in hopes of reducing the number of abandoned animals) and to develop shelter designs and training programs for abandoned animals that will make them more adoptable. The overall goal: greatly reducing the number of animals euthanized every year.
The article is flawed. It starts out strong, and then devolves into a lightweight story about the author's decision to adopt a dog from the shelter he's writing about. It does makes some sobering points:
1. Of the four million dogs that enter animal shelters in the United States each year, half are euthanized.
2. The most heartbreaking scene was the description of the shelter's "disposition team," which has the emotionally wrenching job of assessing new arrivals and deciding, on the basis of a few minutes' interaction, which animals get sent to the adoption kennels and which get sent to the canine Treblinka of the euthanasia room.
3. While the main reasons for surrendering dogs are understandable — biting, aggression, chewing on furniture, inability to house-train, moving, and loss of job — many are downright frivolous and reflect a shocking emotional disregard. Among the examples cited in the article: animals surrendered because they were "boring" or the owners were going on vacation, or the family bought new furniture and the dog's coloring didn't match.
The most interesting argument the article makes is that pets are being forced to adapt to a changing human culture that they were never bred for. Most dog breeds were developed for specific outdoor purposes - herding, catching rats, and hunting. These jobs not only selected for energy and intelligence; they were usually performed in the company of people or other dogs.
Our population is far more urban and suburban these days, and in many families the adults all work - and work long hours. Those dogs are now forced to endure long days alone in a house or apartment. Their boredom and loneliness is relieved only by the arrival home of their humans who, after a long day of work, are often too tired or stressed or busy to deal with the needs of their canine companions.
Article comments
1 - Kaonashi
You didn't have to get your cats declawed. There's a product called Soft Claws (also called Soft Paws), which are vinyl covers you glue on your cat's claws. They come in different sizes and colors, and stay on for about a couple of weeks or so, depending on how active your cat is and how fast their claws grow.
They can be expensive, but I get mine on eBay for a great deal. Putting on Soft Claws is not that much more difficult than trimming your cat's claws. It's a shame that no one at the animal shelter told you about them, because it would have saved your cats unnecessary surgery.
2 - Kaonashi
By the way, I only spent $60 at the shelter for my kitten. This included spaying and microchipping. However, the bulk of the costs went to the subsequent visits to the vet to treat her cold (as you said, it's a very common occurrence among cats in shelters), and all the necessary shots.
3 - Lura
There is just never a good enough reason to declaw your cat. It is always human-selfish. Cat comes with furniture wrecking, there's tons of other solutions to it. If you don't like it buy a stuffed animal rather. I despise the vets who do it, even more those who decide to deprive cat of its most valuable asset.
Shame.
4 - Lindsay
First of all, I got my cats for $80 each from my local Humane Society. This pittance of a fee included spaying, microchipping, two bags of food, their first vet visit, a grooming visit, and all their prescriptions for the first ninety days.
This fee is incredibly nominal compared to what goes into providing these animals everything they need to make it to adoption and to care for the animals that will never be adopted. Even $150 is more than reasonable, when people often pay twice that at a pet store without any of the freebies included at the animal shelters.
If somebody is not willing to put a small investment towards their pet, then they are likely not prepared to put the further investment of care and maintenance toward it either.
As for your own situation, declawing your cats is something you chose to do, so this cannot be remotely factored into the sunk cost of the cats. Furthermore, it is something you chose to do knowing that it is cruel simply because you do not have the time to train the cats. If you are willing to subject them to something that you consider cruel because you are not willing to expend a bit of time initially, then perhaps you should have thought your adoption through a bit further.
Animal shelters are money-pits full of amazing people who give a great deal emotionally every day to save the little lives that you just adopted. How can you begrudge them the tiny fee they charge to cover a fraction of their operating costs?