I come from a country where dogs and cats have it only two ways. Either they are someone's pet or working animal, or they roam around freely and are on their own.

There are no laws pertaining to animals, no spay and neutering programs, no shelters, no chains, no backyards or kennels... but also no neglect or abuse.
Some time ago a bunch of well meaning citizens , mostly ladies, started to address a problem that only nature would be able to fix, and things started going terribly wrong.
Big shelters were built, housing between 500 to 3000 dogs, under terrible conditions. A very small minority got adopted and spay/neutered, which was advertised with big fanfare. Donations, which did not even put a small dent in the bigger sceme of things, started rolling in. However, it soon became evident that no system was better than the system these well meaning citizens were trying to adopt. Most animals suffered and died or were killed under terrible conditions. The shelters closed, things went back to the way they were, and had been for the last few thousand years. Probably a million cats and dogs roaming freely, and mind you happily, in a society that is used to them and is readily accepting them the way they are. I have rarely seen animals hurting each other, or humans for that matter. Humans on the other hand accept these animals as part of society, and rarely someone is seen acting out. Nature takes care of things, only the strong survive, and become part of society.

Shelters are the end product of a long line of mistakes, neglect, and indifference . Canada, not having the stray animal problem mentioned above, is in a prime position to address the pet animal problem, in a humane and logical way, by addressing and implementing strict breeding regulations, strong bylaws and enforcement in regards to responsible and humane pet ownership , a mandatory spay/neuter and electronic identification process - , instead of building new shelters. There are numerous good examples of places, where these issues have been sincerely and seriously adopted, shelters have closed due to inactivity, and backyard breeders had to find another line of work.

Once it gets to the end product - the shelter, it usually is too late for many of these once wonderful animals... even the best of shelters pale in comparison to a loving home or to unconditional freedom.

Ali Yazman