Tuesday, February 24, 2015

World Spay Day 2015

 
According to the Humane Society of the United States, an estimated 6-8 million homeless cats and dogs enter animal shelters in the U.S. every year. Only about half of these animals are adopted.

That means 3-4 million animals lose their lives on an annual basis in the U.S. alone, due to pet overpopulation. And the HSUS tells us that the majority of these animals who are euthanized are healthy, sweet pets who would have made great companions.




photo: freephotobank.org
And it’s not just in the U.S. – this is a worldwide problem. Globally, pets who are sentenced to roam the streets due to overpopulation are often brutally killed as unwanted pests by local authorities.

Once again, the HSUS:  "In addition to being inhumane, these methods are not an effective long-term solution to street animal overpopulation. They may also accidentally harm the environment or kill other animals in the community.

The good news is that it doesn't have to be this way.

Spay/neuter is a permanent, 100-percent effective method of birth control for cats, dogs, and rabbits. When we spay or neuter pets, feral cats, and other street animals, we ensure those animals and their offspring will not add to the millions of already suffering animals."

World Spay Day is dedicated to encouraging organizations and individuals in the United States and abroad to support the spay/neuter process to help bring this problem to an end.

Spay/neuter is a simple solution, a simple process, and it can have a profound impact on the animal population. Help reduce the number of animals who suffer and die each year by being a part of the solution— spread the word: promote spay/neuter!

(originally published February 25, 2013)
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Header photo: Flicker, via Theen Moy, Creative Commons


18 comments:

  1. Amen. It breaks my heart how many cats and dogs are senselessly murdered.

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  2. We agree and we wish they could all find new homes. Have a terrific Tuesday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  3. It is always sad when animals have to suffer because of humans

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  4. I wish everyone would spay and neuter, my heart breaks for all the homeless kitties.

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  5. It's so important to spread the word again and again ! We host a World Spay Day Blog Hop, would you like to join us ?
    http://www.swisscatblog.ch/en/2015/02/world-spay-day/
    Purrs

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  6. Wait! Before the kitty in the top photo gets spayed, mom wants some kittens that look just like it because it is so cute! All our cats and dogs are spayed and neutered...just what we do at our house!

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  7. I'm sorry Melissa, they aren't senselessly murdered.. a murder is something that can only happen to people. Second there is not enough money or space or time to take care of them. they are killed because it is kinder than leaving them in a cage for the rest of their life not being properly fed or cleaned up after because there are not enough homes. Leaving them to fend for themselves is also not an appropriate answer because those cats often live a very hard life and are parasite ridden, don't find enough food, and die young often at victim of violence, being eaten by another animal, killed by a car or some unkind human.
    We kill because we care.. It is not the ultimate solution, it isn't even a good solution, but the alternative (at the moment) is worse.

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  8. People need to think about this every single day and do what they can to help!

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  9. Right on! Spaying and neutering is critical for getting pet animal overpopulation under control.

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  10. Those numbers are really heartbreaking.

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  11. It's a real crisis. Spay and neuter is really important to help with the overpopulation problem.

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  12. What's really sad is that we talk and talk about the importance of spaying and neutering animals and it seems like it not making a difference. What more can we do?

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  13. I suppose (Island Cats) somehow getting this message out to the average person is critical. We (responsible pet owners) already understand the importance of spaying and neutering pets. It's the people who have never considered the domino effect of not spaying and neutering their pets who need to be reached. The wide spread loss of animal life due to a lack of knowledge, understanding, education, is so disheartening.

    the critters in the cottage xo

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  14. This is such an important message. Thanks for sharing.

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  15. This is so very important. We're so insulated in the cat community and often take for granted that this is all just common sense. But it's shocking to realize how many people just don't know. Thank you for helping to spread the word!

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  16. We know most bloggers promoting this are speaking to the choir, but if each of us reaches only a few people who are unaware of the need for spay/neuter, we will be doing our jobs! XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

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Coolio! A comment? For US?