Please spay and neuter your pets!

HSUS estimates that 3-4 million (yes million!) dogs and cats are euthanized each year because there is just no place for these sweet and loving companions. Animals love us unconditionally and in return we make it nearly impossible for them to find homes to love them back. For every 10,000 babies born in the U.S., there are more than 70,000 puppies and kittens born. There are just not enough homes for all these animals being born. However, we can become a part of the solution by spaying and neutering our own pets as well as teaching the next generation to spay and neuter their pets...

 

One unspayed female cat and her offspring can produce 420,000 cats in just 7 years. One unspayed female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 puppies in just 6 years. This is why when we say we want our pets to have just a couple of litters to show our kids the beauty of giving birth, the effects can be staggering. Every day, shopping carts full of litters of puppies and kittens are being brought to shelters. Every year, over 400,000 puppies are surrendered to shelters because their owners are unable to find them new homes. We may mean well, but it's because of us that animals are dying.

 

Then, there are the backyard breeders who are just looking to make a buck. Reputable breeders are great! Their goal is the quality of the dog, not the price or the quantity. However, backyard breeders believe in the quantity and the price they can make, not the quality. Many of these backyard breeders do not socialize or health check their puppies. They also do not even take into consideration the health of the father and mother. Sure, many of these puppies find homes, but also many of these puppies end up at the shelter when they are older, untrained and no longer in that cute fluffy puppy stage. These backyard breeders don't screen future homes, they are just looking for a good price. That is one of the reasons why shelters have so many young, but untrained dogs being surrendered.

 

People are greedy, anything one can make money off of, apparently one will, EVEN with a sweet creature full of love and emotions. This is why we cannot stress enough the importance of spaying and neutering our own pets! There is just too many people breeding dogs and cats that is it killing over 3-4 million dogs and cats each year. If we spay and neuter our own pets and teach our next generation to do the same, we might be able to fix this problem. There will always be enough kittens and puppies in the world, because of the strays and reputable breeders. But if we can start reducing the population just a little, less animals will have to die. One generation won't be able to fix this, but a couple just might.