Why spaying or neutering is one of the best things you can do for your pet – and for all pets

There is no reason the typical pet should not be spayed or neutered. Altering your pet is the No. 1 way to halt pet overpopulation. We have too many unwanted animals. There’s no plainer, simpler way to state the problem with not spaying or neutering your pet. Until we get pet overpopulation under control, innocent unwanted animals will continue to be killed year after year.

Every year, according to the ASPCA, about 6.5 million animals enter U.S. animal shelters. Of those, 670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats are euthanized. Finding adopters for those 6.5 million animals is made more difficult by the vast number of animals bred by unscrupulous people who do not provide the proper care or by people who choose not to alter their pets for any of a myriad number of reasons.

“It’s better to let her have a litter first.” As a Q&A on WebMD says, the benefits of spaying before your dog or cat’s first heat far outweigh the negatives.

“It’s unnatural.” We think that euthanizing healthy animals because no one wants them is unnatural. We’ll say it again: Spaying and neutering pets is the No. 1 way to stop animal overpopulation.

“I love my dog so much, I want another one just like her.” We’re pretty sure you love your kids a lot. But are they carbon copies of you? What makes you think your dog’s puppies will be clones of her?

“He won’t be a man!” If you really feel this way, all we can say is man up and give some good, hard thought as to what your animal’s physical attributes have to do with your own.

Some numbers to think about, thanks to the ASPCA:

• Cats breed up to three times a year. With an average litter of four kittens, an unspayed female and her offspring can produce 420,000 cats in seven years.
• Dogs can breed twice a year, each time giving birth to an average of 6-10 puppies. That adds up to 97,000 puppies in seven years.

Can you provide homes for that many animals? We didn’t think so.

There are benefits for you as well as your pet. Altered animals are less prone to certain diseases like breast cancer and prostate disease. That means fewer vet bills. Spayed females don’t howl and yowl because there are other things they’d rather be doing than snuggling with you. Neutered males don’t want to wander the neighborhood in search of that howling female.

At Shamrock Rescue Foundation, we would like to see the day when no animal is euthanized because of a lack of space to house it or funds to care for it, a day when animal shelters are truly what their name implies: places to shelter lost animals until they can be returned to their owners.