Results: No more stray dogs

(https://amsterdamhangout.com/why-are-there-no-stray-dogs-in-the-netherlands/) Holland With No Street Dogs. The World Health Organization estimates that there are around 200 million homeless animals in the world. Almost all countries deal with handling them and there's no real easy solution. Stray animals continue to have babies and the sheer influx of animals is something the world is not prepared to. Luckily, the Netherlands is not contributing to the WHO's statistics. Thanks to changes in legislation, mainly sterilization programs, the country has become the first one with no stray dogs at all. The Dutch government has been working hard to achieve that. Hopefully, other countries will follow soon. Would you like to see North American getting the same results?

Has It Been Always Like That? Not really. Since the beginning of the 19th century, the number of dog owners has increased drastically. During those years, people considered it as a status symbol to have at least one dog. Owning more than one dog was a symbol of social standing. The elites owned many pedigree dogs as pets or for sporting. These dogs were usually groomed and well fed as they were their master's status symbols. Poorer families, on the other hand, often kept their dogs on the streets. During this time, there implemented a dog tax in order to regulate the number of stray dogs, but the effect was opposite – people couldn't afford to keep their dogs or just didn't want to. Was there any similar situation in your area?

n the 19th century, the Netherlands was struggling with a rabies epidemic. One of the consequences was that people started to abandon their pets. They were just afraid that their pets could carry the disease. It was easier to just abandon a pet on a street to check if it's healthy. Unfortunately, dog abandonment was legal these days. The number of stray pets kept multiplying and suddenly the government realized that something must be done as soon as possible. They were concerned about both – the welfare of homeless pets, as well as the potential health issues they could spread. Thus, they decided to take matters into their own hands, it was high time to crack down. Was there a rabies epidemic in the past where you live?

Among the others, the PSVIR method (pick, sterilize, vaccinate, identify and return) has been brought into life. The Netherlands has a country-mandated legislation that allows spaying and neutering services to be free for Dutch people. The Dutch government implemented stronger laws concerning animal welfare in order to improve animal rights and protect their health. It's a bit similar to the UK's Animal Welfare Act. In short, any act of neglect or cruelty towards an animal will be punished by 3 years in prison. On top of that, there is a fine of around 16,000 Euro or more. Pet abandonment is illegal. In order for the abovementioned laws to be followed, a special division of police officers was created. Their main goal is to prevent animal cruelty and abandonment. The animal police are responsible for investigating animal neglect and rescuing pets from dangerous situations. At any time anyone sees a stray dog on a street, they should immediately call animal control. They can be sure that the animal will be rescued as soon as possible and then taken care of until it is adopted.Does this sound like a good plan to promote in other countries?