Why Spay & Neuter Is The Solution

6.3 million cats and dogs find their way into shelters every year, causing a major sheltering crisis. You can help prevent this by making the responsible choice to spay/neuter your pet today! There are many benefits to doing so that we will go over below.

Health Benefits

Unaltered female cats and dogs have a greater chance of developing pyometra (a potentially fatal uterine infection). Spaying female dogs and cats can prevent uterine infection and reduce the risk of breast cancer. Neutering males can eliminate their risk of testicular cancer and reduce their risk of developing enlarged prostate glands (known as benign prostatic hyperplasia).

A study by Banfield Pet Hospitals found that neutered male dogs lived 18% longer and spayed female dogs lived 23% longer. Spayed female cats in the study lived 39% longer and neutered male cats lived 62% longer. Caring for a pet with reproductive system cancer or pyometra can easily run thousands of dollars—five to 10 times as much as a routine spay or neuter surgery.

Behavior Benefits

By decreasing certain sex hormones, we can improve many common hormonal behavior
issues. This can include urge for the dog to roam, urine-marking, and excessive barking and
mounting. In cats, we see a decrease in spraying, fighting, and yowling. Waiting too long to
spay/neuter makes it harder to curb these behaviors the older the animal becomes.

Doing Our Part

Due to our high number of intakes, it can be difficult to keep up with the number of surgeries to ensure all animals are spayed and neutered in a timely manner. With the help of Bissell Pet Foundation, visiting veterinarians, our amazing volunteers and foster/adoptive families, we are hoping to complete 1,000 surgeries during this project by the end of March!