What does it mean to have a pet overpopulation problem in Buncombe County?

As long as there are more abandoned animals in our community than there are homes for them, we will have an overpopulation problem. Because we are charged by the community with managing this problem, we are perhaps more aware of the crisis than most.

Overpopulation causes a host of problems: feral dogs and cats can endanger the health and even the safety of people, domestic animals, and native wildlife. Equally important, they live in an unaccommodating habitat, with harsh winters, speeding cars, disease, and insufficient food. Feral animals reproduce at a rate greater than domesticated animals, making the problem even worse. Our tax dollars must pay to cope with these problems as long as overpopulation plagues us. And the only realistic short-term solution to overpopulation -- euthanasia of excess animals -- is an intolerable long-term solution.

There is only one acceptable long-term solution to overpopulation: we must, as a community, lower the birthrate of companion animals by spaying and neutering our pets.