SPAY & NEUTER FACTS VS. MYTH
DID YOU KNOW?
The most important thing you can do to stop animal abuse is to spay or neuter your pets!
Each day 10,000 humans are born in the U.S. - and each day 70,000 puppies and kittens are born. As long as these birth rates exist, there will never be enough homes for all the animals. As a result, every year 4 to 6 million animals are euthanized because there are no homes for them.
What can you do to stop the suffering?
Spay and neuter your pet! In addition to saving lives, spaying and neutering can also drastically improve your pet's health and life expectancy. The idea that pets become fat or lazy when they are spayed or neutered is a myth. Sterilized pets lead healthier, longer lives. Spaying a female eliminates the possibility of uterine and ovarian cancer and greatly reduces the risk of breast cancer. Neutering a male reduces the risk of both prostate enlargement and prostate cancer. Neutering also will make your pet more affectionate and less likely to roam, get in fights, or become lost.
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Spay and Neuter Your Pets!
Good for You, Your Pet, and the Community
Prevent A Litter - It's Good for You
Spayed and neutered pets are better, more affectionate, companions.
Neutered cats are less likely to spray and mark territory.
Spaying a female dog or cat eliminates its heat cycle, which can last twenty-one days, twice a year, in dogs, and anywhere from three to fifteen days, three or more times a year, in cats. Females in heat often cry incessantly, show nervous behavior, and attract unwanted male animals.
Spayed and neutered pets are less likely to bite. Unaltered animals often exhibit more behavior and temperament problems than those that have been spayed or neutered.
Prevent a Litter - It's Good for Your Pet
Spayed and neutered dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives.
Spaying female dogs and cats eliminates the possibility of uterine or ovarian cancer and greatly reduces the incidence of breast cancer.
Neutering male dogs and cats reduces the incidence of prostate cancer.
Neutered animals are less likely to roam and fight.
Prevent A Litter - It's Good for the Community
Communities spend millions of dollars to control and eliminate unwanted animals. Irresponsible breeding contributes to the problem of dog bites and attacks. Animal shelters are overburdened with surplus animals.
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Six Common Excuses for Not Spaying or Neutering Pets
1) My pet will get fat and lazy.
Neutering or spaying may diminish your pet's overall activity level, natural tendency to wander, and hormonal balances, which may influence appetite. Pets that become fat and lazy after being altered usually are overfed and do not get enough exercise.
2) We want another pet just like Rover and Fluffy.
Breeding two purebred animals rarely results in offspring that are exactly like one of the parents. With mixed breeds, it is virtually impossible to have offspring that are exactly like one of the parents.
3) My pet's personality will change.
Any change will be for the better. After being altered, your pet will be less aggressive toward other dogs or cats, have a better personality, and will be less likely to wander. Spraying (urine marking), which is often done by dogs and cats to mark their territory, diminishes or ceases after pets are altered.
4) We can sell puppies or kittens and make money.
Even well-known breeders are fortunate if they break even on raising purebred litters. The cost of raising such a litter -- which includes stud fees, vaccinations and other health care costs, and feeding a quality food -- consumes most of the "profit." Well-known breeders raise breeds that they like. These breeders also try to improve the standard of the breeds they raise.
5) My children should witness our pet giving birth.
Pets often have their litters in the middle of the night or in a place of their own choosing. Because pets need privacy when giving birth, any unnecessary intrusion can cause the mother to become seriously upset. These intrusions can result in an unwillingness to care for the offspring or in injury to the owners or to the pet.
6) I am concerned about my pet undergoing anesthesia.
Placing a pet under anesthesia is a very common concern of owners. Although there is always a slight risk involved, the anesthetics currently used by veterinarians are very safe. Many veterinarians use equipment that monitors heart and respiratory rates during surgery to ensure that their patients are doing well under anesthesia. Thus, the medical benefits of having your pet spayed or neutered far outweigh the slight risk involved with undergoing anesthesia. Consult your veterinarian if your are concerned about this aspect of the procedure.
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FACTS: ACTUAL PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS. USE ON YOUR WEBSITE!
Some people think that neutering their pet may hurt them. Actually, neutering helps prevent some harmful medical problems for animals and decreases their chances of getting cancer. Neutering also deters high-risk behavior such as roaming, getting into fights, and mating. So, neutering your pet doesn't hurt – it helps.
Don't use your cats and dogs to teach your children about the birds and the bees. Between 8-12 million companion animals are killed each year in America due to lack of homes. Don't let your pet have even one litter. Spay or neuter today.
Many cat lovers feel it is kinder for Kitty to be allowed outdoors. Statistics show that 90% of the millions of cats killed on our roads each year are unsterilized. Fertile cats tend to get into fights and wander more. So, please, if you must let Kitty go out, make sure he or she is fixed!
Why did Spot cross the road? He loved the ladies. Unfortunately, his latest girlfriend lived on the far side of the highway. Spot never made it to the other side. About 80% of dogs hit by vehicles each year are un-neutered males. Fixing your pet decreases the urge to wander and increases his chances of living a longer, healthier life. Get your pet fixed.
For every person that is born, 15 dogs and 45 cats are also born. You do the numbers … There aren't enough homes for them all. You can solve the problem. Spay or neuter today.
Only 1 in 9 cats and dogs born in the U.S. will find a home. The rest will be destroyed because nobody wants them. Could you choose which animal will live? It's a choice no one should have to make. But your local animal shelter makes this decision every day. You can help stop the killing. Spay or neuter your pet.
1 + 1 is 420,000. How's that? One female cat and one male cat and their offspring results in 420,000 kittens in 7 years. The solution to the problem of pet overpopulation is for you to spay or neuter your cat.
1 + 1 is 4,372. How's that? One female dog and one male dog and their offspring can produce 4,372 puppies in 7 years. The solution to the problem of pet overpopulation is for you to spay or neuter your dog.
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Five Good Reasons Why You Should Spay or Neuter Your Pet
1) Spaying or neutering increases your pet's chances for a longer, healthier life.
Spaying your pet before her first estrous cycle (that is, before she reaches sexual maturity) greatly reduces her chances of developing breast cancer and completely eliminates the threat of uterine and ovarian cancer and uterine infection, which are common occurrences in unaltered females.
Neutering your male dog or cat prevents testicular tumors and may prevent prostate problems. Neutering also decreases the possibility of perianal tumors and hernias, which are commonly observed in older, unaltered dogs. Because neutered cats are less likely to roam, the threat of abscesses caused by bites and diseases transmitted by fighting are greatly reduced.
2) An altered dog or cat is a better pet for your family.
Males neutered early in life are less aggressive toward other males and are not distracted by females in heat. Therefore, a neutered male will be less tempted to leave your property and cross that dangerous highway searching for a mate. Neutered males also are less likely to mark every one of your (or your neighbor's) expensive shrubs with his urine as well as inside the house.
Spaying your female pet eliminates the problem of stray males camping in your yard and decreases her desire to roam and breed.
3) No family wants to cope with an unwanted pregnancy.
Spaying prevents your pet from giving birth to unwanted puppies or kittens.
4) Spaying results in a cleaner female dog and home.
Because female dogs pass bloody fluid for about ten days, twice a year, as a part of their estrous cycle, constant care must be taken to avoid carpet stains in homes with such animals. Spaying your dog eliminates this problem.
5) You are helping to alleviate the dog and cat overpopulation problem.
Each year, millions of unwanted dogs and cats are euthanized (killed) at shelters across the country. Although pet behavioral problems are the main reasons animals are given to shelters, many orphans are the result of accidental breeding by free-roaming, unaltered pets. The more pets spayed or neutered, the fewer dogs and cats will have to be destroyed. Delaware Humane Association does not euthanized; however, hundreds of dogs and cats are turned away each year because there is simply not enough room at the shelter to accommodate them.
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