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SPAY OR NEUTER YOUR PETS
Did you know....
Each year in this country millions of healthy cats and dogs are killed because there are not enough homes for them all. Each day 10,000 humans are born in the US - and each day 70,000 puppies and kittens are born. As long as these birth rates exist, there will never be enough homes for all the animals. As a result millions face early deaths as a form of animal control and others are left to fend for themselves against cars, the elements, animals and cruel humans. (It’s not just stray animals that end up in shelters and euthanized for lack of homes. Please read this composite story by Jim Willis written from the perspective of an unwanted pet.)
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An unspayed female cat, her mate and all of their offspring, producing two litters per year, with 2.8 surviving kittens per litter can total:
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An unspayed female dog, her mate and all of their puppies, if none are every neutered or spayed, can add up to:
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- One Year: 12
- Two Years: 67
- Three Years: 376
- Four Years: 2,107
- Five Years: 11,801
- Six Years: 66,088
- Seven Years: 370,092
- Eight Years: 2,072,514
- Nine Years: 11,606,077
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- One Year: 16
- Two Years: 128
- Three Years: 512
- Four Years: 2,048
- Five Years: 12,288
- Six Years: 67,000
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Many people don’t spay or neuter their pets because of common myths and misunderstandings. See the bottom of this page for some of the common myths and why they are not true.
In New Jersey, there is a state-sponsored fund provided by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services called the Pet Overpopulation Control Fund. Spay/neuter surgery costs about $20 each for pets adopted through nonprofit animal adoption services, government and municipal pounds and animals shelters, etc. Ask your local shelter or rescue group or call 609 292-7837 for more information.
Here are some other sources for low-cost spay/neutering programs:
Friends of Animals
777 Post Road, Suite 205
Darien, CT 06820
800 231-7387
Friends of Animals will send you an order form and a directory of participating veterinarians nationwide. You pay Friends of Animals for a certificate which you then take to the vet.
You can now purchase Friends of Animals spay/neuter certificates online. Just visit the Friends of Animals website at www.friendsofanimals.org - Click on the link to “Order Spay Neuter Certificates Online.”
You will then be able to find the FoA participating verterinarians in your area and order spay/neuter certificates.
Spay/USA
North Shore Animal League, Intl.
14 Vanderventer Ave., Suite L-1
Port Washington, NY 10050
800 248-SPAY
516 883-7575
Call Spay/USA to get the names, phone numbers, and prices of services that have agreed to provide lower cost spay/neutering for cats and dogs in your local area. Private veterinarians, community programs, and special clinics participate nationwide.
People For Animals
Hillside, NJ
908 964-6887
Visit http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html for listings of other low cost spay/neuter programs.
Common Reasons People Give For Not Neutering Their Pets (and why they’re not true.)
- Spaying or neutering will change my pet’s personality. The only behavior changes you’ll see are positive ones. Spayed or neutered animals make better compainions and are more affectionate. Males are less likely to roam or get in fights. Male cats tend to stop spraying if neutered young.
- She needs to have just one litter. Motherhood will not make your pet healthier or happier. In fact, early spaying greatly reduces the incidence of mammary cancer, and eliminates infections of the uterus and ovaries. Your pet can be spayed if she is in heat or preganant. Please don’t let more surplus puppies or kittens be born!
- My pet will become fat and lazy. Lack of exercise and overfeeding cause obesity. Make time for walks and play, and ask your veterinarian about reducing calories.
- I’ll find homes for all the puppies or kittens. Finding good homes for kittens or puppies is not easy. Many animals are discarded once they start to grow. And many will produce surplus babies of their own. The pet overpopulation crisis is perpetuated one litter at a time.
- But my pet is a purebred. Having a litter and ensuring the health of the mother and babies is expensive, not to mention the significant financial and health costs if complications develop. Your pet is a companion, not a financial investment. Besides, one out of four animals turned in to shelters is a purebred!
- I want my children to see the miracle of birth. Are you willing to explain to your children the tragedy of death caused by allowing yet another surplus litter to be born? What’s more, animals often go off by themselves to give birth.
- I want my dog to be protective. Spaying and neutering does not affect a dog’s natural instinct to protect home and family.
- The local shelter/humane society/SPCA will take care of them. But how? There are far more dogs and cats than available homes. Only one or two out of ten are adopted. Animal shelters across the nation are forced to kill an estimated 15 million dogs and cats (most of the young and healthy) every year.
- I don’t need to neuter my male-he’s not the one having litters. Immaculate conception doesn’t explain dog and cat pregnancies. Male pets can father many offspring, which makes you equally responsible for pet overpopulation.
- Preventing dogs and cats from having babies is unnatural. Domesticated animals are no longer ruled by the “laws of nature.” They have far more litters than in the wild. Spaying and neutering is the only way to end the cruel and unnatural overpopulation problem.
- I don’t want my male pet to feel deprived or less masculine. Don’t confuse human sexuality with a dog or cat’s hormonal instincts. Neutering won’t cause any negative emotional reaction or identity crisis. In addition, it greatly reduces the risk of prostate and testicular diseases.
- It’s too expensive to have my pet spayed or neutered. The surgery is a one-time cost and a small price to pay for the health of your pet and the prevention of more homeless animals.
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