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If you walk around the streets or countryside of any city in the US, UK Europe or anywhere else in the world, one of the most common and heart-rending problems that you come face to face with, time without number, is the appalling sight of stray and discarded animals. Animal homelessness is like a disease on our modern society. How can we as civilised people, who are supposed to protect and be loving towards animals, allow this situation to develop?

These animals do not ask to be born and all they expect after birth is to loved and cared for throughout their lives. Yet what happens in so many cases is that, once the novelty has worn off, they are simply left to fend for themselves in a strange and hostile world, lonely and afraid. How many die in pain and sadness or of a broken heart?

But there are many things that we can do to help stop this problem from developing. For a start families and parents could take a real and positive notice of the saying that "a pet is for life, not just for Christmas." A young puppy or kitten may look cute and adorable when seen at the kennel but, when you get it home and it is tearing up the furniture often people lose patience and effectively throw the animal out. You really need to find out what having a pet entails and ask yourself seriously whether you can cope with this before making such a decision as owning a pet.

Furthermore you have to realise, especially in the case of a dog, that little bundle of fur that sits in the crock of your arm may turn out to be a strapping animal that, on all fours, stands as high as your waist. Therefore it is essential to know all about the breed you are buying before making this investment. Another problem related to this is that the bigger the animal the bigger the food budget. If your finances are tight do not even think about a pet because it will drain them still further.

Another point to remember, especially if the pet is being bought for a child is that children's likes and dislikes change regularly. What they want today they will discard tomorrow. Just make sure that a pet is not treated in this way.

One of the largest contributory factors to homeless animals is the fact that there are too many animals being born. Many people think that puppy breeding is a way of making an extra income. Whilst this may be true, it is also adding to animal homelessness and a lot of the breeders know this. All I would say is would those same people breed children if they knew that they were going to end up on the streets? Remember, the money you might make from breeding is going to be mostly eradicated by the cost of keeping the baby animal and it really is not worth it. Therefore, it is much kinder to the pet and its potential puppies or kittens to have them neutered or spade so that you do not end up with unwanted animals that could become homeless.

Another very easy way to help reduce the level of homeless animals is to think before you buy. Why should you have a brand new kitten or puppy, which you will have to pay hundreds of dollars for when, for a small donation, you could provide a loving home for a homeless animal? Isn't it better to make a homeless animal happy by giving it a home?

It is very important that all of us who are pet lovers do our bit to stop the increase of homelessness amongst animal and the above describes just a few of the many way that we can each help to achieve this situation.

Learn more about this author, Paul Lines.
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