The “Stray Dog” Problem

It’s a common problem in all municipalities and communities…stray dogs by the hundreds. It’s one of those pesky problems that city councils and town councils have been struggling with the increasing number of stray dogs roaming the streets. The Cayo Animal Welfare Society cares for animals especially dogs and cats and over the years has been working towards alleviating the problems caused by stray dogs. We asked President Shauna Morelli about it. 

Shauna Morello, President, Cayo Animal Welfare Society:  “Certainly different areas have different problems. There are some neighborhoods and areas that are worse than others for sure. And I don’t know if I have an explanation for that or not. It may be that there are people that are feeding stray dogs so they tend to accumulate in the areas where they’re finding resources. It also depends on how people are keeping their trash and their garbage secured and it also depends on how many dogs in that neighborhood are sterilized so the more dogs that are in a neighborhood the more dogs you are going to see in the neighborhood as they reproduce so we are aware that in certain areas it is a big problem and to be honest like for example in certain areas the culture is that spaying and neutering and sterilizing animals is unnatural and so the owners don’t take advantage of the opportunities to get that done and so we’re going to see more animals in those areas than others. They leave it to nature.”