The suffering you will have prevented

e
A pair of kittens before being spayed and neutered last week at the Marin Humane Society in Novato, Calif. 
Marin Humane Society  is credited with opening the first private, low-cost spay and neuter clinic in the U.S


I received a link to a great article this morning from Mariette's Back to Basics. The article informs that fewer pets are being killed due to spay and neutering programs - and isn't that just brilliant news! 

The news comes from Los Angeles and here's a small extract:

"It took years of campaigning to change thinking about sterilizing pets, but it has paid off. This year fewer than 4 million unwanted dogs and cats will be euthanized, down from as many as 20 million before 1970.

There are several reasons: Aggressive adopt-a-pet campaigns are carried out every day in cities all over the country and breed rescues save many dogs. But animal experts believe spaying and neutering has played the biggest role in saving so many lives.

Nearly every public shelter, private rescue or animal welfare organization in the country donates money, space or time to low-cost spay and neuter clinics.

Spaying and neutering has become the law in some states, counties and cities. Many states require all shelter animals to be sterilized. Rhode Island requires most cats to be sterilized, and Los Angeles requires most dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered by the time they are 4 months old.

While shelters are firmly onboard, the biggest problem has been selling sterilization programs to pet owners."

And this is where I would like to place a comment myself...

I've come across this regretable attitude several places (countries), in particular here in Greece. I'm not sure what kind of conviction this stance comes out from - some religous (and no offense) but mostly I think just out of pure ignorance. If anyone has ever watched the miserable suffering of a cat born in the wild (and dogs too) it might make them change their mind. Truly and seriously.

If you've ever been responsible for having just one female cat spayed - just take a moment to appreciate these numbers:
  • The average number of litters a fertile cat can produce in one year is 3
  • The average number of kittens in a feline litter is 4–6
  • In seven years, one female cat and her offspring can theoretically produce 420,000 cats
  • Only 1 in 12 of those 420,000 cats born find a home! (based on estimates in America)

That is a WHOLE lot of misery and suffering you will have prevented from entering into this world!

On top of this... if only ignorant people knew how safe, simple and fast these procedures are. I've observed both spaying and netuering - both is done with very small incisions and with the use self-absorbing sutures (no sutures needed for males in what I've observed). It's all done in no time.

Thank goodness for those low-cost spay and neuter clinics appearing in America. I wish it'd spread all around the world.  



Comments

Reena said…
I'm with you girl ... I wish those clinics would spread everywhere instead of unwanted kitties!
Blue Lavender said…
Hello my friend.
I just read your post, and it is very sad to see how people can be so ignorant about spaying their pets. It is very sad the high numbers of unwanted dogs and cats that are going to be euthanized every year. Recently I saw a very sad documentary called "Earthlings Documentary - Animal Abuse Video with Joaquin Phoenix". I think we should respect all God's creatures, at least treat them with mercy. But please, do not watch it if you are so sensitive about animals, this documentary it is very cruel, but sadly true. I couldn't believe what I saw, my stomach it is very upset just to remember the images.

I wish I could do something about it.

Send you a big hug

Laura.
ANGEL ABBYGRACE said…
We agree that spay/neuter has done so much good for animal welfare. WE cannot help but pray that more and more people will do this for their animals.

purrs
>^,,^<
♥Abby♥
Deb said…
Just back from our shelter and boy do I agree with you. There are 140 cats there and more coming in every day. Where are we supposed to find homes for all these cats? It is impossible when along with this shelter are more being born in barns and outside. The only answer is low-cost spay and neuter clinics everywhere.
Marg said…
Boy do I agree with this. I am always saying, if we could just get all these wild cats spayed and neutered, we wouldn't have so many in the shelters. They have just opened a low cost spay and neuter here in my little town which is so wonderful. And I have noticed that they are very busy. It just warms my heart to see that. And the people that do the Trap Neuter and Return are worth their weight in gold. They get put back into their colony kind of like you have but no more kittens. Whooo Hooo.
Great article. Thanks.
sunshine said…
Thanks for sharing this information with me, the statistics are unfortunately very sad.

The way I see it is just like Hellen Keller said
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." If we all decide to help at least 1 animal, we can together do a lot.
Exceptionally important post and sooo true!

I have a dear friend here in Michigan who I have featured on my blog a number of times. She started (on her own) a directory of low cost spay/neuter facilities that are located in the U.S. If you want to check out her site it is www.nootersclub.org

Thank you for the important info!
Dearest Joan,

Thanks for posting this! I was not up to it today but this way it is even better done than I could have and also good for being very recent as the article was from July 5.
Lots of love to you and your furry friends; especially Noona.

Mariette
Crafting Queen said…
So right, can't believe there are people who think that this is not a good thing for the animals.
MarkD60 said…
That's good! The more cats we fix, the less Youth-In-Asia!
Catherine said…
It's amazing to think how even getting a few kitties fixed can help the feline population in our area. There is just no excuse for not taking care of animals and no need for homeless pets.

Excellent post!
xo Catherine
Cornelia said…
Your words in this article save my day! Your brilliant awareness makes a huge difference in one's perception. Hope Noona is more well today.
How can I make a donation to GodsLittlePeople?
Julia Williams said…
The spay/neuter procedures have come a long way in the last 50 years. I read that article, and it talked about how crude it was back then. I'm glad the number of animals euthanized is coming down, but there are still too many for me to rejoice. I know it's unrealistic to hope for a day when NO animals are euthanized just because they don't have a home...but I have to hold onto the dream nonetheless.
Anna E said…
Frightening to see the numbers of (unwanted) kittens on print! So great that you share the information and it looks like it is being taken serious in more places in the world. Hope you wish comes true! :-)

Popular Posts