Spay Your Dog

Last week the Prescott Humane Society held a poodle dress fundraiser. There was fun, games, t-shirts, promotional pens or promotional pen for those interested. The fundraiser has been held annually for a few years. Its purpose is raise awareness about animal cruelty, responsible pet ownership, and to raise funds for shelters.

Most people love dogs and cats. We spend a lot of money on them, spending billions and billions on food and other supplies for them as a nation every year. But every year in the United States millions of cats and dogs are given up to shelters and to the streets, where most die. Pet Overpopulation is everywhere. There are only about 5000 pet shelters in the whole of the U.S. Although shelters are able to take in 7 million cats and dogs every year, only half of these will find good homes from the shelter. The rest are euthanizedbecause pet shelters cant accommodate them.

If we truly love these animals as we say, we must take drastic measures to protect them from what they cannot protect themselves against: themselves. It is up to us to institute sterilization programs so that we can control the population. Cats and dogs reproduce much faster than humans. Cats can have as many as 3 litters a year of 4-6 kittens and dogs can give birth twice a year and have 6-10 puppies. In six to seven years a cat or a dog and their babies may give birth to a hundred more. Sterilization programs can prevent a lot of unwanted animals, and in areas where such programs have been started there has been a dramatic 30-60 percent decrease in the number of animals in shelters that need to be euthanized.

Sterilization is complex. It involves many people working well together. Laws can be passed to ensure that animals are sterilized , or increasing the cost of a license for an animal that is not spayed or neutered.

Action must be taken. There are too many animals for the amount of people who have taken them in. Some animal shelters have become warehouses for animals. This widespread cruelty to animals encourages and permits cruelty everywhere. Strays can disrupt neighborhoods, scaring or biting people, getting into trash cans, and scaring away wildlife. We can prevent dog bites by sterilizing. Overpopulation results in dangerous dogs. Instead of trying to deal with the consequences of overpopulation, we need to eliminate the problem from its roots. Spay or neuter your pets.