Local Vet: Make Sure You’re Ready For Pets

Why are there so many stray animals, and what can be done to help the stray animal population?

Marc Bordelon, a veterinarian at the Lafayette Veterinary Care Center, said the "owner ignorance populates shelters with abandoned pets. And unfortunately, it boils down to education. Sometimes people jump into thinking that they're ready for a pet, and they truly aren't."

Bordelon said there are 5,000 shelters nationwide with that take care of about five million stray or abandoned pets, and about 3.5-million of those animals are euthanized. Twenty-five percent of adopted pets are returned to the shelters. Bordelon said most pets are returned because the animals weren't spayed or neutered or because of behavioral problems.

"The excuses I've heard from anything to I don't have the money to do it or I want my family to experience the miracle of birth," Bordelon said. "Or some people have religious reasons or a lot of men will say I don't feel like going to take Buddy's manhood away."

The cost to taxpayers to shelter and take care of these animals is about $2 billion, Bordelon said.

To listen to the full interview with Bordelon, click on the 'Play' button below.