Posted
on February 25, 2014
The Humane Society wants you to know how important it is to spay or
neuter your pet. The last Tuesday of February each year, the society
and other organizations hold a campaign to make people more aware of
this important responsibility—and to encourage veterinarians and
veterinary clinics to hold events during which this kind of surgery
is affordable and available to all.
Spaying
is sterilizing a female animal by removing her ovaries. Neutering is
sterilizing a male animal by removing his testicles.
Why
would we do this to animals? Well, there is a horrific overpopulation
of dogs and cats, and that means lots and lots of them are homeless,
and many are captured and put into shelters. Happily, some of the
animals taken to shelters are adopted, but many are “put down.”
And of course, this euphemism means that they are killed. They're
killed in a painless, humane way—but we would be a better society
if we didn't have so many homeless dogs and cats, and if we don't put
down so many strays. If every pet owner did his or her part by
spaying and neutering pets, it will help make the problem smaller
rather than make the problem larger.
Spayed
or neutered animals actually tend to live longer, healthier lives,
and they even tend to have fewer behavior problems. Of course, this
results in reducing costs for the pet owner, as well.
Spaying
and neutering are good for rabbits, too.
The
numbers of the situation
If
you are still not convinced we should be spaying and neutering our
pets, consider the fact that you should either (1) provide or (2)
find a good home for any puppies or kittens your pet has.
So,
how many would that be?
Let's
go with kittens. A female cat will usually have two to five kittens
per litter, and so we can say that the average litter is three. With
that female having 29 litters in 10 years, that makes 87 kittens!
Do
you want to have 87 cats? I guess you'd still have the mother cat, so
that would be 88 cats. And surely some of these cats would also start
having kittens...so that makes it the number explode into thousands
and thousands of cats!
Do
you want to find good, loving homes for 87 kittens? Good luck! I once
had a female cat who had five kittens—all as cute as could be! We
found four good homes after a lot of effort...but we could never find
a fifth family to take the “runt” of the litter, a little black
kitty we had named Howie (for Halloween). Finally my husband found a
kitten rescue place that would take little Howie—and he lived a
full, fun life with lots of other cats in a playground-for-cats kind
of setting. But he didn't have his own family to love and cuddle him.
What
if you have a male cat that you do not want to neuter? Well, you may
not ever see his kittens, so you may not have to provide homes for
them—but you will have to walk around with the knowledge that he
could be fathering 2,500 kittens each and every year that you put off
neutering him.
TWO
THOUSAND, FIVE HUNDRED!
If
your tomcat lives a full life, he might father 35,000 kittens!
The
numbers are similar for dogs. One unspayed female dog and her puppies
can produce 67,000 puppies in just 6 years.
The
saddest number is that at least three million cats and dogs are put
down every year—not because they are gravely ill, or badly injured,
or old and in pain—but because caring pet owners cannot find good
homes for their pets' kittens and puppies.
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