"To provide homes for all of the unwanted or homeless animals, every family of four in the United States would need to have approximately 8 dogs and 20 cats"  - Kim Lagholz, a community practice veterinarian at Iowa State University

The Importance of Spaying and Neutering

As a nation, we claim to love cats and dogs. Millions of households have pets, and billions of dollars are spent yearly on pets supplies and food. But as a nation, we should take a hard, sobering look at a different annual statistic: the millions of dogs and cats given up to shelters or left to die on the streets. And the numbers tell only half the story.
 
Every cat or dog who dies as a result of pet overpopulation - whether euthanized in a shelter or by injury, disease or neglect - is an animal who, more often than not, would have made a wonderful companion, if given the chance. And the pet overpopulation problem can be solved so simply with just one small step, starting with not allowing our animals to breed. Here's information about this crisis and why spaying and neutering is the first step to the solution.
 
Consider the fact that in six short years, one female dog and her offspring can give birth to hundreds of puppies, and in seven years, one cat and her young can produce hundreds of kittens. Given these high production rates, carefully planned and implemented sterilization programs produce a dramatic reduction in the number of unwanted companion animals born. In fact, in towns and cities that have implemented such programs, we've already seen the number of animals who had to be euthanized decline by 30- 60%.
 
Education is an essential part of solving this problem. Unless people know the facts about pet overpopulation and sterilization, they are helpless to do anything about the problem. Reduced spay/neuter fess play an important role as well. Subsidized spay/neuter clincs and programs in some communities have already helped bring down the cost of sterilization. 
 
Finally, pet owners can do their part, by having their companion animals spayed or neutered. This is the single most  important step you can take. Have your pet sterilized so that he or she does not contribute to the pet overpopulation problem, and adopt your next pet from an animal shelter or rescue. 
 
Spay Neuter Statistics

More Information on Spaying and Neutering

For more information locally, please visit www.humanealliance.org. This is a link to the local low-cost spay/neuter clinic. 

You can also visit www.spayusa.org for more info.

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