Education on Neutering and Spaying Save Animal Lives
Published July 27, 2011
Over the years, education and legislation have helped to change the way that many people think about the necessary processes of spaying and neutering, surgeries which have been a contributor in saving animal lives.
Many years ago I bred and showed Siamese, Russian Blues, Burmese and Oriental Shorthair cats. I belonged to several cat clubs, and had a very small cattery registered with the Cat Fanciers Association.
I sold kittens to potential buyers only after sitting down with them for a lengthy interview to better ascertain if they would provide the kitten a responsible and loving home. Part of this interview process meant advising these potential buyers that registration papers would only be provided after receiving written proof from their veterinarian that the kitten had been spayed or neutered. They also agreed to never have the kitten declawed.
While the majority of people who visited were delightful and readily agreed to our terms, I will never forget just a couple of folks whose issues around neutering and spaying were so bizarre that, needless to say, they left empty handed.
First there was a very odd lady who, after seeing our Siamese kittens, decided to purchase both a brother and sister. When we started discussing neutering and spaying, she gave me an incredulous look, saying, “Since these are brother and sister, they wouldn’t want to mate and have kittens. They don’t need to be fixed.” But after trying to convince her cats don’t think the same way as humans, with her refusal to change her mind, out the door she went with an empty carrier.
Then there was the gentleman from New York City who preferred a male kitten. When we started discussing neutering prior to his receiving registration papers, he jumped up off the couch, protesting vehemently while covering his crotch with his hand. I suggested he was over-identifying with the kitten, but he stood his ground. He also left without a kitten.
While some people still hang on to these notions, continuing to refuse pet sterilization, fortunately today, neutering and spaying have become far more widely accepted, and are practices that are almost routine. Executive Director of Los Angeles based Found Animals said, “It’s become a tenet of responsible ownership.”
While shelters and other animal welfare agencies continue to launch aggressive and attractive pet- adoption outreach programs, which accounts for saving the lives of many animals, animal experts believe neutering and spaying has been the biggest contributor.
According to a recent article in The Daytona News-Journal, the number of unwanted dogs and cats that will be euthanized in 2011 has dropped to less than 4 million, a significant decline from the 20 million euthanized before 1970.
Throughout the country, animal welfare organizations, shelters and private rescue groups donate money and space to low cost neuter and spay clinics. Additionally, neutering and spaying has become law in some counties, cities and states, some of them requiring all shelter animals sterilized.
What other factors may account for saving more animal lives? Share in a comment.
Shortly after retiring as a social worker and psychotherapist, I discovered my "writer's voice"…
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Comments (6)
I think education is crucial....but so is hitting people in the wallet. Right now our town gives a $3 discount for speutered pets on the licensing fee. That's right only $3! I have argued with this town for over 20 years that a discount like that is no incentive. Even if the pet lives to be 20 years old, the $60 saved won't even buy a Friends of Animals certificate. And it doesn't even cover half of the anesthesia charge for a speuter surgery at the local vets. The vets around here range from $300-$650 for routine speuter surgeries. I think that licensing intact animals should be cost prohibitive....like $100 a year or something and then if the pets aren't licensed, the fines should be in the several hundred dollar category. Breeders could by special licenses so they can have several intact animals and still afford to license them. If people had to pay exhorbatant fees to have incact pets, purrhaps they would think twice about the responsible decision and have their pets speutered. But, alas, I don't think that day will ever come.....so we must continue to EDUCATE EDUCATE EDUCATE....graphic pictures of euthanized animals at shelters seem to be effective.......
My city gives a $35 rebate on registering when you spay/neuter your cat
I think that commercials on TV is helping and our local shelter does assemblies in the schools to teach kids about proper pet care and it includes neutering and spaying. Personally, we have taught the same thing at the church we attended and to the churches my husband supply preaches. He has a children's message where he has a large bag with pennies in it. The kids do not know what is in the bag but they are given two pennies and told they are cats, a girl and a boy. Then he tells them to put them in the bag. He tells them that neutering and spaying is best for them and tells them that if they are left intact that in a certain amount of time this will happen. He then pours out all these pennies all over the floor. The kids are amazed that two cats can make that many kittens or in this case penny kittens. The adults are just as surprised.
I honestly think that all the ground work that has been put into place in the past with education is starting to show through in this upcoming generation. We cannot just sit back though and bask in the limited success that we see. We need to keep education right out in everyone's face. Our local newspapers now have weekly columns were you can write in and ask questions too.
Congratulations to Vicki's community! Progressive and caring parents, teachers and clergy can and need to educate kids from the earliest age on up; humane education, including spay/neuter and TNR facts, need to be disseminated from K-12 and beyond, remedially. A proactive society will be very helpful in bringing the "less than 4 million" down to zero, which is what everyone, animal-lover and those who couldn't care less alike, wants. Germany is a nation which has NO kill shelters. Let us follow their lead!
Years ago I had a vet who was excellent. Loved animals and was a great doctor. I had several female kittens, and my vet was quite clear about being sure they got spayed before a certain age. Then, I got a beautiful, male tuxedo kitten. My vet fell in love with him. When I asked about neutering, my vet began to ramble all over the place about how it would not be a good idea to do it too soon, that the kitten would stop maturing once he was neutered, etc. I insisted that he neuter Muffin by a certain age, and it was done. I chuckled about my vet's double standard for males and females. I mentioned this to my current vet who bought the other vet's practice and worked with him for several years. The new vet burst out laughing and said how she and all the techs used to tease him about this. Apparently, it was not just my Muffin. This doc did not like to neuter males, period. Otherwise, he was a fantastic vet....One of the best I have ever had.
The shelter we have here, alters all animals before they can be adopted. The cost is very minimal, and very necessary. I do think that more people should be educated on the importance of regulating overpopulated pets.