Two points have come to mind today while I was pondering this thread:-

1) Education - could it be made a compulsory school subject. The whole subject of religeous educationis getting in a mess in schools, better to drop it completely, and substitute animal welfare in it's place, less controversial, less political, and no additional cost (If RE is abolished)

2) How do other countries deal with the question of animals, well I could tell you about some of the horrendous places I've been to in Africa but instead I'll just mention Eastern Europe (Czechland in particular) here in the rural areas almost everyone has a dog, in most cases they are not a pet, in the summer they are out and in winter have a barn or big kennel to sleep in, at night they are often let out to roam, not very often groomed, and rarely taken for a walk. Sounds harsh, and it is, BUT the dogs get fed every day, they do get some veterninary attention and most important of all deliberate cruelty is rare, almost unheard of. To the peasant farmers around here their dog is keept for security, people are used to dogs, they are not frightened of them, and they acknowledge they are an important part of life in the country.

They learn about animals in a positive way at school and from their parents.

I think the biggest thing ANYONE can do is educate. Sometimes it seems such an insurmountable task, to change people's minds about such things as how to get a dog, rescue vs puppy, disabled vs perfect, byb vs responsible breeders, pet store (puppymill) puppies, training, spay/neuter..... the list goes on, and on.... and on. BUT, I look at it this way: If I can change just ONE persons mind about a particular subject, then I've done my job. I keep at it, doing demo's on deaf dogs and rescued dogs, talking to every one who'll listen about them, give advice when asked.... it all goes towards the final goal.

Here in my small corner of the world, about 30 - 40% of the dogs I meet ARE rescues, and about 90 - 95% of the dogs I see ARE spayed/neutered. The SPCA here is going to schools and doing talks, they have a Social Worker practicum student, and they do TONS of community events. Slowly, over time, WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE! We've not had a dog fighting ring found here (as long as I've been alive), and never had any dogs found from a suspected dog fighting ring. Dogs are well respected by most and kids are taught in school how to approach strange dogs.

After saying this tho, animal abuse DOES HAPPEN. There ARE Puppy Mills. Drug dealers HAVE Pit Bulls, Rotties, Shepherds, Dobies, etc. BUT I do believe that we're going in the right direction, and we WILL make a difference! Every ONE of us needs to be willing to put in a little time and effort into educating... one day you WILL change someone's mind, and then... it'll be so worth it.