By Maximiliano Ayala.
Do you really think that the state is solving in a good way the problem of homeless dogs? Considering that a dog is a living creature, the way the state is acting about this situation isn’t a good solution. Despite the number of homeless dogs around the city is being a real and big problem, the elimination of these animals is just an easy “solution”, without an ethical reflection. The plan that suggests the elimination of homeless dogs is against the animal’s rights and isn’t as effective as people may think.
Now, the reason of this decision was because of the big number of homeless animals that causes problems to people. First, people tend to think that street dogs are aggressive and may attack someone. Other reasons are that there are too many homeless animals and they shouldn’t suffer without an owner and that homeless dogs are anti-hygienic. The best way to avoid these situations is by eliminating them. But let’s stop here, and think a little... Is this the best way to solve this problem? Is this ethical? Should we kill lots of animals in order to stop their reproduction? Basing this on Ethics statements, nobody would consider the elimination of street animals as a real solution. And anyway, the method taken by the state isn’t effective. Considering that the patrol that collects animals won’t catch all of them, the environment without dogs will be precise for the other animals that weren’t caught. There will be more food for them and sources, and consequently, the reproduction of these animals will be successful. In other words, the number of dogs eliminated will be replaced by the number of dogs that were saved, and the method would become ineffective.
But not everything is lost for dogs; there is an alternative solution to this problem. Instead of applying the euthanasia, the government should consider the option of sterilization. By this way, we can stop in a humane way the massive reproduction of these animals without being against Ethics. There are many ways of sterilization: massive, extended, early and free. The state should consider the avoiding of the birth of these animals instead of killing them, that would cause them a real suffering.
Anyway, even if sterilization is a good way to control the reproduction of homeless dogs, people should be educated about their habits. Many people don’t look after their pets. When they are pregnant, the first thing careless people do is to abandon them, so they don’t have to maintain another seven or eight dogs. By this way, the abandoned animals may become aggressive because of living in the streets. But is this their fault? Obviously, it isn’t. They didn’t choose to live in the city; it was decided by the irresponsible people that don’t take care of their pet’s needs.
As a conclusion, we can state that the method taken by the state isn’t as effective as people think. Many important factors are being ignored by the state, that produces an unethical situation, and because of this, the plan shouldn’t be considered, even if it was effective.
