Running Head: ANIMAL OVERPOPULATION, UNDERRATED PROBLEM: LITERATURE

REVIEW 1

Pet Overpopulation, Underrated Problem: Literature Review

Ruben Bolado

University of Texas at El Paso

PET OVERPOPULATION, UNDERRATED PROBLEM 2

Abstract

UTEP has a problem that not many people have addressed throughout time, it has

overpopulation of stray cats, pigeons and other species; while it may seem harmless for many

people, it has been proven through different sources that it is not. Animal overpopulation can

cause diseases spreading, unbalance in the ecosystem of a region, a great reduction of species

due to another one over-hunting it, and economically and socially harming a population. Some

points of view will be addressed through different questions that provide information on

overpopulation of animals on UTEP, species of animals located there, the effect of having

overpopulation of animals and solutions for the problem.

PET OVERPOPULATION, UNDERRATED PROBLEM 3

Pet Overpopulation, Underrated Problem: Literature Review

Animal overpopulation is a problem that can easily go over the head of a lot of people

since it does not directly affect our lives nor it causes a problem that has to be addressed

immediately; this is why it is important to raise awareness over the subject before it leads to

more drastic effects.

The most common species found around the University of Texas at El Paso are cats, but

the situation is not limited just cats; there are several varied species occupying the university

such as dogs, pigeons, and squirrels. Although these last-mentioned species are not as commonly

spotted as cats overall, they are still a concurring problem for the university since they are still

considerably large populations of animals.

Cats, dogs, pigeons and squirrels are part of the regions ecosystem, but certain

conditions like unregulated reproduction of these mammals has led to them reaching high

numbers of animals roaming down the streets and causing other species on the region to be

reduced on population. This is why different methods have to be used to control the

overpopulation of these animals.

For these reasons, this literature review will be approached from the point of view of the

following four questions that will provide a structure to the research:

Is there a problem with animal overpopulation in UTEP?

How do cats compare to other animal species in campus?

What are the effects of the overpopulation of feral cats on the campus?

How does engineering can provide solutions to the problem of animal

overpopulation in UTEP?

Reviewing the following questions will narrow the large subject of animal

overpopulation and focus it towards its causes, effects and solutions; identifying these will help
PET OVERPOPULATION, UNDERRATED PROBLEM 4

confront an issue that can affect socially, economically and ecologically a region; therefore more

serious actions can be taken to begin to counteract this problem.

Is there a problem with animal overpopulation in UTEP?

There is a problem with animal overpopulation at the University of Texas at El Paso;

animal overpopulation of these species occurs when there are more domestic cats and dogs than

there are people who want them as pets. This has caused animal shelters to estimate up to 70

million stray cats alone (Tom and Warhol, 2015, Introduction).

UTEP has been growing continuously since it was first founded in 1914 and stray cats

and dogs have been around since the beginning but only since 2012 have we instated a real and

organized plan to begin to control feral cats and other species around the campus. The TNR

(trap-neuter-return) program has been implemented to deal with free-ranging cats. The goal of

this plan is to minimize stray cat populations through capturing and sterilizing them. To avoid

euthanasia is one of the main arguments of this method (Dombrosky and Wolverton, 2013, p.2).

According to Lorain Watters from The Prospector, feral cats are mostly unadoptable and,

when taken into animal shelters, 99 percent of them will be euthanized within the next three

days. Such procedure for euthanizing these animals is directly paid from tax-payer dollars. That

turns the issue into a more serious problem for El Paso citizens.

Different methods have been used to control cat overpopulation, but the most effective

method has been proven throughout several studies to be the TNR (trap-neuter-return) method

(Gilbert, 2011, Yuma Elks, HSOY ally to trap, sterilize cats) which consists in trapping feral

cats, sterilizing them and returning them to their habitat; this way they cannot reproduce

anymore, and they are not killed. This is the most humane method to deal with feral cats and it is

also the most effective; this causes a win-win situation.

PET OVERPOPULATION, UNDERRATED PROBLEM 5

Pets are commonly taken into homes by people driven by love of animals, and although

the desire to take and protect them is a reason to take more animals home, it does not always

translate into quality care for them (Herzog, 2007, Establishing & Enforcing Standards for

Animal Welfare). Also, owning pets can create negative effects on their owners such as allergies

(Links, 2006, Establishing & Enforcing Standards for Animal Welfare); putting into adoption

these animals could cause these problems and consequently create more problems.

The UTEP Animal Overpopulation survey was realized with the purpose of finding what

do students think about animal overpopulation in the campus. The survey was conducted

throughout the week of the twenty-third of October. Students of the University of Texas at El

Paso that were roaming through the library were asked different questions regarding the

problems of animal overpopulation in the campus and residence complex if possible. Forty

individuals with at least 12 credits (this with the purpose of finding people who spent at least 12

hours a week in the university) and has been enrolled in UTEP for at least one semester prior to

this one were surveyed with the following questions:

1. Have you seen animal species free-ranging throughout UTEP?

2. What animal species have you seen more frequently?

3. Have you seen animal species free-ranging throughout El Paso?

4. What animal species have you seen more frequently?

5. How often do you see them every week?

6. Do you think UTEP has an animal overpopulation problem?

7. Do you think El Paso in general has an animal overpopulation problem?

Questions four and five answer this research question with relevant information. Out of

the forty people surveyed, just fourteen agreed that UTEP has an animal overpopulation
PET OVERPOPULATION, UNDERRATED PROBLEM 6

problem; many of the students that answered no, mentioned that they rarely see the animals on

campus. Later, when asked about El Paso in general having a problem with animal

overpopulation, twenty-nine students agreed that El Paso indeed has a problem with animal

overpopulation. As shown in figure 1, we can see that most students think that El Paso has a

problem with animal overpopulation, while the University does not.

Figure 1, Animal population survey at UTEP: results of survey regarding animal

overpopulation around the campus.

Animal overpopulation as a Animal overpopulation as a

problem in UTEP problem in El Paso

Yes No Yes No

It is worth mentioning there were also 5 people that answered that while UTEP has a

problem with animal overpopulation, El Paso does not; this answer represented a minority and

shows how the population of these animals can differ a lot from one area to another; this is why

results cannot be generalized completely into the above charts by assuming that one answer

always came after the other one.

The results of the primary research survey conducted in the university can be interpreted

as very good preliminary research for determining the most commonly seen animal species on

the campus and El Paso in general, but it still needs a lot to present the result that was being

sought and the research is far from being conclusive.

PET OVERPOPULATION, UNDERRATED PROBLEM 7

How do cats compare to other animal species in campus?

Cats, according to the survey were the most commonly spotted animals in the city of El

Paso in general but not as much in the University; this may be the most significative result of the

survey since of the forty people that answered yes to having seen an animal free ranging

throughout El Paso, twenty-eight of them mentioned cats as their most commonly spotted animal

and the twelve other ones mentioned cats on second place just after pigeons on three occasions

and after dogs on nine occasions.

Though cats were spotted in El Paso almost three times per-week on average, cats in

UTEP averaged once per-week with 63% of the people spotting them once per month or less.

Dogs were spotted just once or twice on UTEP by two people.

Pigeons were the runner-up to cats when it came to UTEP only spotting; thirty four

people answered yes to having spotted animals around the campus and twenty-one answered

pigeons and commented that some parking spaces are full of them, as well as the bigger

buildings in UTEP; twelve said cats and only one said to have just seen a dog.

Cats are may be the second most spotted animal in campus and this may be due to the

fact that they are reserved to certain hours and places of the campus.

What are the effects of the overpopulation of animals on the campus and the El Paso
region?

Animal overpopulation can have many effects on an established ecosystem; as argued by

Erbschloe (2010) in page 1, overabundance of a certain type of animal can cause detrimental

ecological, environmental, and social impacts such as the El Paso area. Opposed to what Matlock

and Marty argue we can use the example of white-tailed deer in the United States having these

kind of impacts, instead of contributing to their ecosystem and enrichening it; given this, hunters

provide service to the community and deer population because they thin the herds; this alleviates
PET OVERPOPULATION, UNDERRATED PROBLEM 8

the environment and makes the breeding stock of the deer population stronger. But in the case of

the community of El Paso, although to a certain degree there is resemblance with this situation,

there are some variables.

The problems caused by animal overpopulation go beyond ecological problems; they also

affect both socially and financially our society. The practices of capturing these unwanted

animals for then feeding and caring for them have costs of millions of dollars each year, this

money is paid by taxpayers and private agencies. There is also the additional costs generated by

the methods to control the breeding of these animals, such as the euthanization and disposal of

the animals (Tom and Warhol, 2015, Introduction) and the neutering, sterilization, and spaying

of the animals.

The problems the animals cause, and their effects have not been addressed as much as

they should. The shelters havent kept track of the statistics of animals entering and exiting them;

this makes it extremely difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the programs applied to counter

the problem (Zawistowski, S., Ruch-Gallie, R., Salman, M., & Morris, J., 1998, p.195).

Stray cats and other animals often feed from humans waste containers, such as trash

cans, containers and bags; as we can see a cat steering away from trash containers in figure 2.

This waste is often a cause of diseases for people nearby, and it may even cause a widespread

disease on a certain area.

Animal overpopulation can lead to more drastic consequences such as complete

destruction of crops; in Australia, emus reached an immense population that completely

destroyed wheat-fields; the birds did damage such that crops which should return 6 bags per acre

would not even return 2, also destroying 3 farms (Johnson, 2006, p.153); this could be a great

argument against Gilbert, who argues that studies show that the neutering method is the most
PET OVERPOPULATION, UNDERRATED PROBLEM 9

effective; proving that in extreme conditions there is no time for a slowly paced method with

such long term results as TNR. The uncontrolable population of emus in Australia led to the so

called Emu War which consisted in dealing with the birds by the army shooting them with

mounted guns while chasing them through the field. This is one drastic outcome of animal

overpopulation.

Stray cats feed on smaller prey than themselves,

besides the food they get from humans waste (see figure

2) which has a tremendous abundance to begin with. They

catch mice, a practice that requires very few energy and

provides small gain; this combined with the few energy

required to get food from human sources, we get larger

population densities for these small carnivores (Denny and

Figure.2, Ruben Bolado, (2017).
Stray cat scavenging in the night: Mark, 2011, p.13).
we can see a stray cat leaving after
searching trash containers shows The great population of stray animals on campus
how these animals can carry
bacteria that can be later nocive for can also lead to the decrease of other small species that
humans.
may become prey for these bigger mammals; an example

may be the dramatic increase of pythons on southern Florida. In contrast to 2000 this has caused

a significant decrease of mammal observations of 99.3 percent on raccoons and also significant

decreases in bobcat and rabbit populations (Dorcas, Willson, Reed, Snow, Rochford, Miller, Hart

2012, p.2)
PET OVERPOPULATION, UNDERRATED PROBLEM 10

How does engineering can provide solutions to the problem of animal overpopulation in
UTEP?

With now an estimated forty percent of all Earths unfrozen surface being occupied by

agricultural land, we human beings have changed the biomes of earth. This has a significant

effect on animals and our surroundings. Ecological engineering helps us relocate these animals

and plants by grabbing them from select places and putting them into another. They adapt to the

new system and help provide services for the rest of the species surrounding them (Matlock,

Marty D. 2010, p.9). Adapting them into a community helps us control overpopulation by

balancing it naturally.

Different solutions to the animal overpopulation have emerged in the region of El Paso

throughout the years, one of the common practices is to capture and euthanize al the stray cats

since they are unadoptable (Montes, 2013. p.8).

El Paso has turned towards a No-Kill community and a survey conducted by El Paso City

Animal Services has indicated that more than 60% of the people surveyed strongly support No-

Kill animal shelters. (Olmedo, Corral-Camacho and Caire, 2008, p.5)

A great alternative for euthanizing stray cats is the already mentioned neutering, which

consists in removing the male cats testicles, and spaying, removing ovaries and uterus of a

female cat, this is known as the TNR method; which with new techniques implemented by a new

Kensington clinic, the costs were reduced significantly for neutering and spaying to $35 and $50

respectively, both including rabies shots and flea and ear mite treatments (Rittmeyer, 2015,

p.61).

A company called critters claims its surgeons are able to perform ten thousand of these

surgeries a year or even more, and their costs range from $100 or less for dogs and between $40

and $55 for cats (Burger, 2017, Critters Without Litters turns five).
PET OVERPOPULATION, UNDERRATED PROBLEM 11

Engineering technology is capable of constantly find more efficient ways to develop and

deploy operational practices and new technology to address new problems and environmental

challenges (Idaho National Laboratory, 2005, p.1) and this applies to finding new ways to

control and solve animal overpopulation.

Holistic engineering is a term introduced for engineers capable for managing, leading and

understanding technology in order to connect it to different disciplines; holistic engineering can

be used as an advantage to connect the best side of engineering and applying it to other areas

(Grasso and Burkins, 2010, p.28) such as animal overpopulation.

According to James J. Duderstadt in his report Engineering for a Changing World

during the past years, we need new paradigms in the engineering practice to better fit the needs

of civilization in the 21st century and a fantastic way to make use of this statement is by

addressing animal overpopulation. The practice of holistic engineering can be greatly improved

with a technique being employed by the North Dakota High School; this consists in training

students since a relatively early age to affront through engineering, different challenges that will

serve as preparation for the future.

PET OVERPOPULATION, UNDERRATED PROBLEM 12

Bibliography

Watters, L. (2013, October 22). Campus cats find support through community programs. The

Prospector. Retrieved October 30, 2017, from

https://www.theprospectordaily.com/2013/10/22/campus-cats-find-support-through-

community-programs/

Dorcas, M. E., Willson, J. D., Reed, R. N., Snow, R. W., Rochford, M. R., Miller, M. A., Hart, K. M.

(2012). Severe mammal declines coincide with proliferation of invasive Burmese pythons in

Everglades National Park. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States

of America, 109(7), 24182422. http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1115226109

Burger, J. (2017). Critters without litters turns five, celebrates dramatic success in reducing animal

overpopulation. ().Bakersfield Californian, The (CA). Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W6566346899&site=ed

s-live&scope=site

Denny, M., & McFadzean, A. (2011). Engineering animals : How life works Cambridge, Mass. : Belknap

Press of Harvard University Press, 2011. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat04704a&AN=nug.b3381715&si

te=eds-live&scope=site; http://0-www.degruyter.com.lib.utep.edu/isbn/9780674060852; http://0-

ebookcentral.proquest.com.lib.utep.edu/lib/utep/detail.action?docID=3300969

Dombrosky, J., & Wolverton, S. (2014). TNR and conservation on a university campus: A political

ecological perspective. PeerJ, Vol 2, p e312 (2014), , e312. doi:10.7717/peerj.312

Engineering technology. [electronic resource] : Delivering science-based engineered solutions to meet

energy and environmental challenges (2005). Idaho Falls, Idaho] : Idaho National Laboratory,

2005?]. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat04704a&AN=nug.b2253085&si

te=eds-live&scope=site; http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS103572
PET OVERPOPULATION, UNDERRATED PROBLEM 13

Erbschloe, M. (2010). Animals and human society. Research Starters: Sociology (Online Edition),

Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=95607453&site=eds-

live&scope=site

Gilbert, J. (2011). Yuma elks, HSOY ally to trap, sterilize cats. ().Sun, The (Yuma, AZ). Retrieved from

http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W63584781460&site=e

ds-live&scope=site

Grasso, D., & Burkins, M. B. (2010). Holistic engineering education : Beyond technology New York :

Springer, c2010. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat04704a&AN=nug.b2393935&si

te=eds-live&scope=site

Duderstadt, J. J. (2010). Engineering for a Changing World. Retrieved from: Holistic Engineering

Education: Beyond Technology

Johnson, M. (2006). Feathered foes: Soldier settlers and western australia's Emu war of 1932. Journal

of Australian Studies, 30(88), 147. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=75293611&site=eds-

live&scope=site

Matlock, M. D., & Morgan, R. A. (2010). Ecological engineering design : Restoring and conserving

ecosystem services Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2010. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat04704a&AN=nug.b3377979&si

te=eds-live&scope=site; http://0-

ebookcentral.proquest.com.lib.utep.edu/lib/utep/detail.action?docID=661682
PET OVERPOPULATION, UNDERRATED PROBLEM 14

Melvin, C., & McCoy, B. (2017). North dakota high school trains students to be the IT department. New

York: NBCUniversal Media, LLC. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsnkt&AN=edsnkt.NBCK111166

&site=eds-live&scope=site

New kensington spay/neuter clinic targets animal overpopulation (2015). McClatchy-Tribune Information

Services. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgov&AN=edsgcl.396926695&s

ite=eds-live&scope=site

Olmedo, C., Corral-Camacho, G., & Caire, M. E. (2008). El paso animal services survey: Support for a 'no

kill' community DigitalCommons@UTEP. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ir01087a&AN=dcutep.iped.techre

p.1077&site=eds-live&scope=site;

http://digitalcommons.utep.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1077&context=iped_techrep;

http://digitalcommons.utep.edu/iped_techrep/76

Tom, J., & Warhol, S. (2015). Domestic animal overpopulation overview. Salem Press Encyclopedia,

Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=89158161&site=eds-

live&scope=site

Zawistowski, S., Morris, J., Salman, M. D., & Ruch-Gallie, R. (1998). Population dynamics,

overpopulation, and the welfare of companion animals: New insights on old and new data.

Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 1(3), 193. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=7459952&site=eds-

live&scope=site