SAVE LIVES, STERILIZE
- Fifty-thousand puppies and kittens are born every day in our country.
- Only one in nine will ever find a home.
Each day in the United States, thousands upon thousands of puppies and kittens are born because of the uncontrolled breeding of pets. Add to that number the abandoned strays roaming our communities and countrysides, and the picture of too many animals competing for too few good homes is tragic. The staggering scenario of pet overpopulation results in between 3 to 4 million dogs and cats being put to death every year.
- In North Carolina — every day — cats and dogs are killed at an average of 30 per hour, 727 per day, and 259,000 per year.
- The sadness of this tragedy is multiplied when you take into consideration that the vast majority of these now-dead dogs and cats would have made someone a wonderful companion pet if just given the chance to live. But in our current society, living creatures have become throwaway items to be cuddled when cute and abandoned when inconvenient. Such disregard for animal life pervades and erodes our culture, and is senseless and sickening to those who have a heart and love for animals.
- Your unspayed cat and her kittens can produce up to 420,000 cats in seven years.
- Your unspayed dog and her puppies can produce up to 67,000 dogs in six years.
Tremendous as the problem of pet overpopulation is, it can be solved if each of us takes just one small step: do not allow your animals to breed.
In addition, sterilizing your dog or cat is beneficial to their health and helps them live longer lives. If you spay your female dog or cat, it:
- Eliminates heat cycles, therefore males will not be attracted.
- Reduces the desire for the female to roam.
- Reduces or eliminates the risk of mammary gland tumors, ovarian and/or uterine cancer.
If you neuter your male dog or cat, it:
- Reduces or eliminates the risk of spraying (cat) or marking (dog).
- Reduces the desire to roam, therefore the male is less likely to be injured in fights or auto accidents.
- Eliminates the risk of testicular cancer and decreases incidence of prostate disease.
- Decreases aggressive behavior, including dog bites.
LOW COST STERILIZATION
If the expense of sterilization has been your roadblock, this is no longer a valid excuse. Check with the listings below for discounts and low-cost sterilization options.
- The $20 Fix
- ASPCA Low Cost Spay/Neuter Database
- Chatham County Low Cost Spay/Neuter
- Community Partnership for Pets
- Safe Care Feline Spay Neuter Clinic
- Spay Neuter Assistance Program of NC (SNAP-NC)
- SPAY/USA
- SPCA of Wake County Saving Lives Spay/Neuter Clinic
STILL NOT CONVINCED? PONDER THIS …
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- 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.
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