|
Facts about Spaying and
Neutering |
 |
In the
United States, every day, 70,000 (or more!) puppies and kittens
are born. Every day 10,000 humans are born.
|
|
|
"No homes for littermates" is one of the top ten reasons people
relinquish their cats and dogs to shelters. |
|
|
The top reason both cat guardians and dog guardians give for not
having their pet altered is that they simply have not bothered
to do it yet. |
|
|
Twenty percent of cat guardians think their cat is too young to
be altered, and 18% say they are not able to afford spay/neuter
surgery. |
|
|
Twenty-one percent of dog guardians want to breed their dog, and
13% think their dog is too young to be altered. |
|
|
An estimated 11 million cats and dogs are killed in shelters
each year. |
|
|
As many as
25% of dogs entering shelters each year are purebreds |
|
|
Approximately 61% of all dogs and 75% of all cats entering
shelters are destroyed |
|
|
Tens of millions of stray and feral cats struggle to survive on
their own outdoors. Although some are altered and live in
managed colonies, most are not altered and receive no health
care. They reproduce at will and many suffer from illness or
injury before dying. |
|
|
Over half (56%) of dog guardians and nearly two-thirds (63%) of
cat guardians rank pet overpopulation as the most important pet
issue. |
|
|
In a study of relinquishment of cats and dogs in 12 U.S. animal
shelters, 30% of the surrendered dogs were purebreds. |
|
|
The same study indicated that 55% of the surrendered dogs and
47% of the surrendered cats were unaltered. |
|
|
It costs U.S. taxpayers an estimated $2 billion each year to
round up, house, kill, and dispose of homeless animals. |
|
|
In the
United States it is estimated that an animal is euthanized every
1.5 seconds (In the time it took to read this, about 10 animals
have been destroyed) |
|
|
Spaying a
dog or cat eliminates her heat cycle. The heat cycle,
called estrus, lasts an average of 6 - 12 days, often
twice a year, in dogs and average of about a week, three or more
times a year, in cats. Females in heat can cry
incessantly, show nervous behavior, and attract unwanted males. |
|
|
Neutering a
male makes them less likely to mark their territory. |
|
|
Females are
less likely to develop cancer or pyometris, a common uterine
infection in unaltered females. If spayed before her first
heat, a female is 200 times less likely to develop breast
cancer. |
|
|
Males are
less likely to suffer infections or disorders in the
reproductive or prostate glands or develop urinary problems,
which can lead to kidney disease, the most common problem in
unaltered males over five years old. Unaltered males
typically spray urine to mark their territory both inside and
outside the home. Neutering at a young age can often help
eliminate this problem. However it is never to late!
Neutering an older dog can often help curb this behavior. |
