A Mother's Struggle: The Harsh Reality of Female Stray Dogs

The streets are a harsh reality for female strays & their young. The dire situation of stray dog overpopulation has forced some communities to take drastic actions, such as harming or killing female dogs in an attempt to reduce future births. Outmatched by the physical dominance of male stray dogs, females often struggle to secure adequate food. This struggle becomes even more desperate during pregnancy and motherhood. As female strays tirelessly search for food, their helpless newborns are left vulnerable to hunger and isolation, becoming easy prey for predators, killed by people / traffic or lost to eventually starve or freeze. This, coupled with a high disease rate among strays, contributes to the 75% mortality rate statistic of the female’s young. To those who would doubt or criticize the value of a focus on spaying, imagine the suffering of an unspayed female: The relentless cycle of pregnancy, constant foraging and the agony of losing her young. As taxing & risky as the surgery is for the female, spaying can offer a lifeline, freeing them from this cycle of suffering and allowing them to live a healthier, more peaceful life on the streets. Given the current absence of reliable dog contraceptives, surgical sterilization remains the only humane method. 

Rethinking the Strategy: A New Approach to Stray Dog Control

The sheer number of stray dogs worldwide makes a blanket sterilization approach impractical. To sterilize every male and female dog capable of reproducing is to imply that the solution is to sterilize all 200 million stray dogs (and rising) - a monumental and unrealistic task. To effectively address this issue, we must adopt a more efficient strategy. As abandonment is out of our control, the most we can do is sterilize using the most efficient method possible.

A Smaller Target, A Bigger Impact: The Power of Female Sterilization

To optimize our efforts in reducing the stray dog population, we should concentrate on sterilizing one sex. Since female dogs are already less common, they would make a more manageable target for organizations and communities to prevent the birth of new puppies as this equates to less surgeries performed as well as less resources & time consumed. Simply put, fewer unsterilized females means fewer newborn puppies. Each spay surgery means, on average, 60 less newborn strays on the streets throughout the female’s life span. Additionally, adopting this strategy would allow spay / neuter groups to spread out their veterinarians to different regions as they would not need to perform surgeries on a constant flow of unsterilized dogs throughout the day. Much more emphasis would be put on the finding of stray females capable of reproduction. This would allow for wider coverage and a more efficient use of resources. 

A Closer Look: The Inefficiency of Male Sterilization

Many will raise the question, “But why not focus on stray male dogs as the surgery is less risky, less invasive and can address behavioral issues?” The nature of male mating, particularly their ability to reproduce multiple times and with multiple females, limits the impact of this strategy. Even if we were to sterilize 50% of all males, the overall number of new puppies born would not significantly decrease. A typical stray male dog is unlikely to find a mate. Dominant, alpha males, capable of outcompeting others, have the highest chance of successfully mating with a female. Additionally, female strays find dominant male attributes more attractive. This means that only a portion of male strays are actively reproducing, further highlighting the inefficiency of neutering males, as many would not have found mates anyway. Conversely, stray female dogs in heat are highly likely to find mates. 

A New Paradigm: Female Sterilization for a Sustainable Solution

Worldwide spay/neuter groups agree that sterilizing female stray dogs has a greater impact on the reduction of future stray populations. However, they continue fixing both sexes because they are simultaneously attempting to fix male dog behavior issues, territorial aggression and the spread of rabies. This is where our approach diverges from that of sterilization groups. This strategy focuses solely on female sterilization and rescue by shelters / community members because we believe that by drastically reducing the number of puppies born onto the streets, we simultaneously solve aforementioned problems (behavior issues, territorial aggression & rabies) due to the significant reduction in the future stray dog population in that region. Achieving this long-term impact would require a concentrated effort on female sterilization now, with tangible results becoming evident within the next 10-20 years. To achieve this, a paradigm shift is required, prioritizing future outcomes over current practices. 

Hope & Direction

Presently, people look at strays on the streets and see an overwhelming issue. “Who cares if I sterilize this dog, there are a thousand others..I won’t be making a difference” With this plan, in time, communities will learn the effectiveness of a single spay surgery. They will start to associate female strays as the highest contributor to the stray dog crisis and will not feel as if they are accomplishing nothing by taking that neighborhood female stray dog to a shelter or veterinarian. Their successful intervention will create a ripple effect, inspiring others to contribute to their community. By working together and adopting this efficient strategy, shelters, sterilization groups, and communities can turn this overwhelming crisis into a manageable problem and perhaps, one day, even solve it.

So how will we implement this strategy? Find out how by clicking “Learn more”