Think About it!

As an Animal Control Officer, I often see things that just make you scratch your head and ask "What are they thinking?". The number one thing is why more people don't have their pets spayed or neutered. Oh, I have heard all the excuses...from "She's so cute, what if we decide we want puppies?", to... "I don't want my dog to get fat!". The truth? As a general rule, the two main reasons more people don't do it is because of 1.) Lack of information, and 2.) Money. Let's be honest about it! More often than not, it comes down to a matter of dollars. The other excuses are just a convenient form of rationalization.

This month, the ASPCA is sponsoring the Adopt-A-Shelter Dog Month, and are encouraging people across the the country to visit your local shelter or pound, and give a dog or cat a chance for a new life. In keeping with this theme, I am redistributing some pertinent information for you, courtesy of the Kansas Humane Society and the American Humane Association. Please...take a few moments to look through it, and then think about it. Look at the pictures I have posted on this site, and know that not one of these wonderful animals has been fixed. Then ask yourself, would they be where they are, if they had been? Or if their parents had been? Just think about it!

Too many pets, not enough homes:

Each year, around 15 million pets are turned in to animal shelters across the country. Only 25 to 30 percent of these animals are reclaimed by their owners or adopted into new homes. The rest, some 11 million dogs, cats, puppies and kittens, must be put to death because no one wants them. This terrible waste can easily be reduced by reducing the number of puppies and kittens being born. And the best way to do that is to neuter your pets. Neutering is a simple surgical procedure which prevents pets from reproducing by removing their reproductive organs.
As a pet owner, you can add to the overpopulation problem or help end it. Don't fool yourself into thinking that if you find a home for each of your pet's offspring you avoid adding to the number of homeless pets. Actually, you've only eliminated potential homes for other waiting puppies and kittens. Only so many responsible, caring homes exist, and finding a home for one of your pet's offspring inevitably dooms some other cat or dog. Besides giving other pets a chance at a loving home, neutering your pets gives them and you a lot of benefits you may not be aware of...

Your pet will be a more content family member:

Because they're domestic animals, dogs and cats naturally take to, and need, people, but this natural affection gets overpowered by the drive to reproduce. This urge to mate leads to roaming, fighting, aggression, excessive barking, howling, and other unwelcome behaviors. Neutered pets are freed of this urge and the resulting bothersome behaviors, making a calmer and more content pet who prefers to stay home and concentrate on you. If you have more than one pet, you'll find your neutered pets get along much better with each other.

You won't have to fight off suitors:

When your female dog or cat goes into heat, the males for blocks around will know it. Some breeds of dogs can smell a female in heat up to five miles away. Walking her will be like going into battle. Every loose male dog in the neighborhood will follow, and nothing will drive them away. Your dog will normally come into heat twice a year, and she'll attract males for almost three weeks.
Cats are incredibly efficient reproducers. During breeding season (approximately February through October), females come into heat as often as every two weeks, and won't stop unless they're allowed to reproduce. They also can go into heat while nursing their current litter. Cats needing to mate will wail, rub, and dart out the door at the slightest opportunity. They become almost magical in their ability to escape. If you don't want your pet to breed, you're in for a very trying time. You'll get no cooperation from your pets because all their instincts are compelling them to find a mate. Nor is a fenced yard sure protection. Dogs will achieve the impossible when motivated to mate, and the number of puppies conceived in safely fenced yards number in the hundreds of thousands.

Your pet will be healthier:

Because the urge to search out mates is eliminated, neutered pets are less likely to roam from home and be injured in fights or killed in traffic. In fact, neutered pets have twice the average life expectancy of unneutered pets, partly due to a much lower chance of suffering from breast, uterine, prostate, and testicular cancers.
Dogs and cats can be neutered as early as eight weeks or anytime beyond that age. Females can be neutered when they're in season or early pregnancy, but the risks are somewhat greater. (Be sure to inform your veterinarian of her condition.) The best and easiest thing for you and your pet is to get her neutered as early as possible and before she comes in season the first time. Waiting until after her first heat period does nothing for either of you. Make an appointment with your veterinarian. If the expense is a problem, ask your local humane society about the low-cost spay/ neuter clinics in your area.

You won't have to put up with staining or spraying:

During their "heat" periods, female dogs and cats experience a flow of blood. So unless you're willing to diaper your pet (and can anticipate the timing) or deal with the stains on your rugs and furniture, spay your pet and eliminate this problem entirely.
Unneutered male cats can also stain your floors and furniture, but it happens year round and it smells terrible. As active reproducers, unneutered male cats must tell everyone that this is their area and they're willing to defend it, so they mark territory by "spraying" objects inside and outside of the house with strong smelling urine. If neutered early, male cats rarely develop this habit. Older "sprayers" usually stop within a few months of being neutered.

You won't have to spend extra money:

Purebred or not, it costs money to bring a healthy litter into the world. The mother will need periodic check-ups by a veterinarian and a special diet during her pregnancy. Medical costs will mount if she has problems during the pregnancy or delivery, or if the puppies or kittens have health problems. The young won't be ready to leave home for eight weeks, which means two months of housing, cleaning, and feeding them. In addition, they'll need to be checked and vaccinated by a veterinarian before putting them up for sale.
All this takes time and money, not to mention the cost of advertising and the days spent waiting by the phone and showing the animals to prospective buyers. If you don't screen the buyers carefully, you may also end up carrying the additional burden of conscience for letting a puppy or kitten go to a home where he may be ignored, mistreated, abandoned, or abused. Worst of all is the heartbreaking decision about what to do with the leftover puppies and kittens you just can't find homes for.

You won't have to find homes for the offspring:

When you read the columns of classified ads selling puppies and kittens, or listen to your local radio station, you'd think breeding your pet could make you rich. Don't count on it! A lot of those animals are never sold and end up being given away or taken to a shelter.
If your pet isn't a purebred, you'll have trouble giving the young away. Even if your pet is purebred, she must be mated with another purebred and the pups or kittens properly registered (for a fee) for any hope of profit. And it's very likely your pedigreed female will make a shambles of your best-laid plans by mating with the first mutt or alley cat she meets. Worse yet, even if you keep your pet properly restrained in your yard, she can still be mated by someone elses pet on the loose, and you won't know what the pups will be like until they get here. Most dog breeds have their own genetic issues, and some breeds - if they mix - can have potential issues that may be very expensive indeed to take care of at best, and make it very difficult to adopt out at worst.

You won't add to the fatal population explosion:

No one likes to think about healthy, beautiful, affectionate cats, dogs, puppies and kittens losing their lives because no one wants them. Shelters, which offer food, warmth, and medical attention, care very much about these animals, but the volume of pets entering shelters greatly outnumbers the families looking to adopt. Euthanasia protects the unwanted ones from the pain of a life without companionship. A better solution is to limit the number of animals being born until they equal the number of people who want and can care for them. So please contact your veterinarian or animal shelter and get your pet neutered.

Thanks again to the Kansas Humane Society and the American Humane Association for the contents of this article.