Discussion answers

Speech Title: Adopt More Pets

General Purpose: To Persuade

Specific Purpose: I want to persuade my audience to get participate in adopting pets from animal shelters.

I. Gain Attention: One day, a friend sent me a WhatsApp video clip link of the “Baby’s Day Out” video in which the baby is taken in and guarded by a gorilla, but after the video ended, YouTube auto-played another video of the vise versa happening—a young girl who had adopted a dog, cared for it, played with it, and snuggled with it. The video exhumed so much emotion and the girl’s voice urging people to help and adopt abandoned dogs from animal shelters was also very emotive and convincing. This was the first time I got to think deeply about animal adoption and to even research more about it.

A. Pet abandonment is a big problem all over the world caused by inadvertent or deliberate casting off of exotic pets and companion animals by owners or desolation when owners die. From the moment of abandonment to ending up at the shelter, the probability of emerging alive are minimal—as most have their lives forcefully ended or remain alone and unloved.

B. Today I would like to talk to you about what you can do to help make a difference in keeping pets alive. I can actually guarantee that every one of us can do something in caring for and adopting for abandoned pets. The main thing I will talk about today is the reasons why each one of us should at least adopt a pet from an animal shelter. There is a lot of information regarding this, especially from the humanesociety.org website that enlightens the reader about the number of pets in shelters country wide, reasons to and how to adopt them.

Transition 1 – According to the Humane Society of the United States, about 7.6 million companion animals are placed in abandoned animal shelters nationally every year. About 3.9 million of those animals are dogs while about 3.4 million are cats. In addition, every year, about 2.7 million dogs and cats are killed because the shelters are full and there the adoptive homes and individuals are very few. II. Need/Problem

A. Every year, 2.7 million dogs and cats awaiting adoption are euthanized in the US, simply because there are too many pets into shelters and very few people willing to adopt a pet.

B. Research shows that just 10% of the animals that animal shelters receive have been sterilized or neutered. This causes animal overpopulation, because owners are letting their pets to intentionally or accidentally reproduce. As a result, millions of animals cannot find space in the shelters or foster homes and hence, they have to be killed every year.

C. The National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy (NCPPSP), reports that less than 2% of cats and only about 15% of dogs found and kept in pet shelters are returned to their owners. This means that most of these pets remain in the shelters, and with so few people adopting, they end up being killed to make room for more.

Transition 2 – According to American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, approximately 710,000 animals from rescue shelters are taken back to their owners (620,000 being dogs and 90,000 being cats). About 3.2 million animals in rescue shelters are adopted each year (1.6 million of them being dogs and 1.6 million being cats). This number can definitely go up if more people adopt more of these pets—which can be achieved by having them understand the significance of making that adoption step.

III. Satisfaction/Solution

A. People ought to realize that adopting a pet equates to saving a life—when you adopt and take in a pet into your home, you are saving a loving animal and opening up shelter space for another needy animal, hence there lessening the need for euthanasia.

B. Pets are good for your health, because they offer unconditional love, and have been shown to benefit their companions psychologically, emotionally and physically. For a child or an adult, caring for a pet provides a sense of purpose and satisfaction and diminishes feelings of solitude.

C. Adopting a pet lessens cruelty on animals especially by puppy mills, which are factory-style breeding facilities that profit from pet business without minding the welfare of pets.

Transition 3 – According an article on the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals website dubbed “Research Update: New National Estimates Are In!,” pet adoptions in shelters have likely increased, with dog adoptions increasing from an approximated 1.4 million to 1.6 million and cat adoptions increasing from 1.3 million to 1.6 million. This a a positive trend towards eradicating the need to kill some animals to make space for others.

IV. Visualization –

A. How many more animals will have to be killed for us to get a wake up call that we need to rescue the animals in the shelters?

B. Imagine how cruelty over animals has increased over the years despite humane efforts to protect animals, to the point of pet mills using modern technology to reproduce more customized pets that take away the chances of rescued pets to be adopted. It’s evident that there requires efforts of as many people as possible to counter this trend. The good thing is, we are getting there, steadily.

Transition 4 - Now, I bet you wondering how you can get involved in this crusade.

V. Action –

A. There are so many ways to help find homes for rescued pets. You can start by leading as an example and get a pet or two for your home from a rescue shelter and also encourage other family members and friends to do the same.

B. You can also help your local pet rescue shelters in organizing a campaign to enlighten people on the significance of pet adoption, and mobilizing locals to adopt. You can also help promote pet shelter adoption platforms such as websites via social media, etc. We all need to stand together to foster shelter pet adoption.

References:

Greenwood, A. (2017). Here’s why fewer pets are dying in shelters every year. TODAY.com. Retrieved 19 June 2017, from http://www.today.com/pets/aspca-adoption-euthanasia-s-down-animal-shelters-t109029

The Humane Society of the United States. (2017). Top Reasons to Adopt a Pet : The Humane Society of the United States. Humanesociety.org. Retrieved 19 June 2017, from http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/adopt/tips/top_reasons_adopt.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/search?q=importance%20of%20adopting%20rescued%20pets&rlz=1C1CHBF_enKE746KE746&oq=importance%20of%20adopting%20rescued%20pets&aqs=chrome..69i57.15592j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Weiss, E. (2017). Research Update: New National Estimates Are In!. ASPCA Professional. Retrieved 19 June 2017, from http://aspcapro.org/blog/2017/03/16/research-update-new-national-estimates-are

Visual Aids:

· Image showing Population Multiplication from Unneutered Dogs

· Image showing Population Multiplication from Unneutered Cats

· Graph showing annual breakdown of number of pets returned to owner, adopted, and euthanatized.