Spaying or neutering your pet can be the best thing for your animal. Usually an animal is fixed at six months of age, although medical science has proven it can be done sooner. Fixed animals lead much healtier and happier lives. When an animal is fixed, they no longer feel the desire to search for a mate. This will make escape less likely, and death by accident on the road a less of a concern. Spaying and neutering also calms the animal. Their need to fight for territory and mating rights dwindles. Males will also not spray on their territory; your clothing, your furnature, your walls. 70,000 kittens and puppies are born daily. The cost to communties having feral animals who were the product of a unwanted litter include; animal control costs, they get into trash containers, cause damage to private lands, kill wildlife - and can be a threat to children. Dogs bred without concern of making the breed better, or companionship can be very dangerous. Feral cats will defecate in sand boxes. When children play there, they will get small amounts on their hands. Everyone knows children love to stick their fingers in their mouth. A small child without much of an immune system will get very sick from an encounter like this. Did You Know? Every day 70,000 puppies and kittens are born in this country while only 10,000 people are born. It's simple math - there just aren’t enough homes for all of these animals. Every year 10-12 million animals are euthanized in shelters for lack of available homes. On average, 64% of all animals taken into shelters nationwide have to be euthanized for this reason. At least 50% of the overpopulation problem is non-neutered males. Females can’t do it alone. Purebreds account for 30% of all the animals in shelters. "Papers" don’t mean an animal should be bred. For every home you find for an animal that you have bred, a home is lost for a shelter animal. Breeding to "see the miracle of birth" demands that you also "see the tragic results". Visit a shelter. Animal overpopulation has reached a crisis point in this country. You personally can make a difference by spaying or neutering your pet. It is the single most important thing you can do to prevent animal cruelty! (http://www.petrescue.com) American Humane Society | Pet Rescue | Find a Shelter near you - ask them for their own statistics |
