By Jan Murphy

Puppies and kittens. They are adorable, no two ways about it.

Who doesn’t love the idea of cuddling with that little warm ball of fur that almost always wants to love us in return? In a perfect world, we’d spend our days surrounded by adorable puppies and kittens… all the time (talk about stress relief!).

But, everyone knows our world is far from perfect. As an employee of the animal shelter and someone who has spent many, many years trying to help put an end to pet over-population, I can tell you: There are too many homeless pets in the world.

And, we all know what results from this: the senseless, unnecessary death of far too many innocent animals.

The solution is so simple it seems mystifying that we are still faced with staggering numbers of healthy, beautiful animals being destroyed every day in the United States, simply because there aren’t enough homes for them all.

Anyone who has not been held captive by aliens on another planet for the last 20 years knows what the answer is—we must spay and neuter our companion animals. It is simply irresponsible, not to mention inhumane, not to do so.

Comedienne, Elayne Boosler once asked the question, “Do you have 67,000 friends who are looking for a puppy?”

Boosler went on to explain that one female dog, producing one litter of puppies will propagate 67,000 dogs in six years. For cats that number can be quadrupled.

In the U.S., approximately eight million homeless pets enter animal shelters every year: 8 million. I hope you will take a moment to let that number sink in.

In most parts of the U.S., you are paying the price of someone else’s irresponsibility with your tax dollars. I often talk with people who say things like, “I just want to breed my dog/cat one time,” or “We’d like our kids to witness the miracle of birth,” or, my personal favorite: “My dog will make the cutest puppies!”

In all of these scenarios the end result tends to be the same. Puppies or kittens are sold or given to folks who may mean well, but don’t follow through with their responsibility and then of course more puppies and kittens are born.

And as the cycle continues, more dogs and cats are destroyed in animal shelters to make room for more puppies and kittens. Even if you have nothing but the best intentions when you choose to breed your dog or cat, it is inevitable that homeless pets will result at some point due to your actions.

Please—if you know someone who is considering breeding their dog or cat, for whatever reason—ask them the question Elayne Boosler once asked. “Do you have 67,000 friends who are looking for a puppy?”

— Editor’s note: Animal advocate Jan Murphy is a longtime member of the Friday Harbor Animal Protection Society and helps run the APS animal shelter.