To end the needless cycle of dogs and cats dying on the streets or shelters filling up with unwanted pets and then being euthanised, litter prevention is the only way. You cannot ‘rescue’ or rehome’ or ‘adopt’ the way out of the endless supply of unwanted animals. Dogs and cats reproduce far faster than people wanting to adopt them.
There are many reasons to spay and neuter but a few of the more important ones are:
- Decrease over population
- Reduce spraying and marking
- Reduce roaming
- Reduce aggression
- Lower the risk of some cancers
- Increase life span of up to 3 to 5 years
- Stops birth defects – animals don’t respect family relationships and siblings will mate. This increases the risk of offspring with birth defects and deformities.
- Reduces the risk of theft – neutering animals can reduce the risk of them being stolen for breeding.
In just 3 years, and from as young as 4 to 6 months, one unspayed female and one un-neutered male dog can produce over 500 others as their offspring reproduce and reproduce……and for cats its around 400.
Killing or removing street dogs does not work for population control. If you kill or take a dog off the street, another will just move into that territory so long as the food source remains. This leads to increased fighting, injuries and breeding continues.
For female dogs it is particularly important to spay to prevent them developing pyometra, an infection of the womb, which can often prove fatal if not caught early. Spaying drastically reduces mammary tumour risk, prevents false pregnancies, and stops heat cycles (bleeding, discomfort).
Spay & Neuter slows population growth
On the streets, many homeless dogs and cats suffer terribly from starvation, disease & injuries. Many are run over, or in some countries are shot or poisoned.
Those rounded up and put in municipality run pounds often suffer similar fates, without adequate veterinary care and with little chance of adoption.
Sterilisation is critical for the management of free-roaming dogs and cats and related disease control.
Spay & neuter provides a humane and effective way to reduce the number of dogs and cats living on the streets, and improves the health of those remaining. Sterilising community dogs and returning them to their territory allows for natural reduction in population over time and usually results in the most socialised and healthy dogs remaining on the streets.
Sterlising your pet is just as important, not only for the health benefits it brings, but also for preventing them (and you) contributing to the massive problem of homeless and unwanted dogs and cats.