Pet Overpopulation: An Economic Analysis

Coate, Stephen; Knight, Brian

doi:10.2202/1935-1682.2574

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(9 reference statements)

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“…A lot of casual evidence suggests that individuals hold empathetic feelings towards animals. For instance, there exist more than 60 million domestic dogs in the US, and many of them are treated as family members, receiving for instance a birthday or a Christmas present (Coate and Knight, 2010). Wild animals, too, are regularly the center of media attention and widespread sympathy, as documented by the scandal about the shooting of Cecil, the lion, which in 2015 provoked responses of reprobation and anger by scores of individuals around the globe.…”

Section: Moral Consequences Of Meat Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An economic model of the meat paradox

Hestermann

Yaouanq

Treich

2020

European Economic Review

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Many individuals have empathetic feelings towards animals but frequently consume meat. We investigate this "meat paradox" using insights from the literature on motivated reasoning in moral dilemmata. We develop a model where individuals form self-serving beliefs about the suffering of animals caused by meat consumption in order to alleviate the guilt associated with their dietary choices. The model predicts that the price of meat has a causal effect on individuals' beliefs: high prices foster realism by lowering the returns to self-deception, which magnify the price elasticity of meat consumption. The model also predicts a positive relationship between individuals' taste for meat and their propensity to engage in self-deception, a causal effect of aggregate consumption on individual beliefs, and the coexistence of equilibria of "collective realism" and "collective denial".

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Section: Moral Consequences Of Meat Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An economic model of the meat paradox

Hestermann

Yaouanq

Treich

2020

European Economic Review

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“…Coate and Knight () note the economic and social importance of a market for pets but argue that it is characterised by pet overpopulation, and the breeding of ‘excess’ animals is held to be responsible for many issues around dogs in the community, including the high rates of pet euthanasia in Australia. In urban areas, however, dog populations are a product of human action.…”

Section: Disposable Dogsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dog Waste, Wasted Dogs: The Contribution of Human–Dog Relations to the Political Ecology of Australian Urban Space

Instone

Sweeney

2014

Geographical Research

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The city is increasingly recognised as a complex more-than-human space where the lives of humans and non-humans entwine in consequential ways. Humananimal encounters constitute sometimes convivial and sometimes challenging relations that reflect wider pleasures and tensions in urban society. This paper grapples with concerns about the place of dogs in Australian urban public space and urban life more broadly. Adopting a relational political ecology approach, we ask what pet dogs tell us about the political, emotional, and material struggles that surround multispecies urban cohabitation. Following two human-dog urban waste streams -one concerned with dog waste, the other with dogs as waste -we consider how human-animal relations of both attachment and disposability shape the material flows that constitute urban political ecologies. In particular, by focusing on the 'shadow ecologies' of dog waste and disposal, we uncover the dynamic practices of care, disgust, violence, and love through which dogs, their waste, and their bodies are sanitised, controlled, and ultimately concealed from our everyday urban spaces.

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“…A result of these issues is that the number of pets that enter the market far exceeds the demand, which translates into overpopulation. In accordance with general economic principles, commodification and overabundance of animals depresses both price and value [ 3 , 40 , 41 ]. When an owner–pet bond suffers reduced value, the probability of abandonment and euthanasia are high [ 42 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amelioration of Pet Overpopulation and Abandonment Using Control of Breeding and Sale, and Compulsory Owner Liability Insurance

Perdomo

Padilla

Dewitte

2021

Animals

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Overpopulation and abandonment of pets are long-standing and burgeoning concerns that involve uncontrolled breeding and selling, illegal trafficking, overpopulation, and pet safety and well-being issues. Abandonment of pets creates numerous negative externalities and multimillion-dollar costs, in addition to severe consequences and problems concerning animal welfare (e.g., starvation, untreated disease, climatic extremes, uncertainty of rescue and adoption), ecological (e.g., invasive species and introduction of novel pathogens), public health and safety (e.g., risks to people from bites, zoonoses, or road hazards), and economic (e.g., financial burdens for governmental and nongovernmental organizations). These interwoven problems persist for several reasons, including the following: (1) lack of an efficient system for the prevention of abandonment and overpopulation, (2) lack of regulatory liability for pet owners, (3) lack of legal alternative to abandonment. This article proposes a novel comprehensive management system for amelioration of overpopulation and abandonment of pets aimed to tackle the current supply and demand dysfunction of the pet market and provide a legal alternative to abandonment.

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Pet Overpopulation: An Economic Analysis

Cited by 6 publications

References 22 publications

An economic model of the meat paradox

An economic model of the meat paradox

Dog Waste, Wasted Dogs: The Contribution of Human–Dog Relations to the Political Ecology of Australian Urban Space

Amelioration of Pet Overpopulation and Abandonment Using Control of Breeding and Sale, and Compulsory Owner Liability Insurance

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