World Spay Day is always the fourth Tuesday in February, which this year falls on Feb. 28. This is a good reminder of how important it is to have your pets altered before any surprise litters can make an appearance.
The Central Aroostook Humane Society has seen a steady decline over the past couple of years of the number of animals coming through our doors, especially cats and kittens. Trying to spay or neuter as many pets as possible before they are adopted is also a goal of the shelter. Watch for information next month, as Houlton Humane Society will be having a spay/neuter clinic on March 17 and 18.
Spay Day USA was created in 1995 by the Doris Day Animal League. It is the first and only International Day of Action to promote the spaying or neutering of pets, community cats and street dogs to save animals’ lives. On World Spay Day and throughout the month of February, which is Spay/Neuter Awareness Month, veterinary and animal welfare professionals, business owners and concerned individuals join forces to shine a spotlight on spaying and neutering as the most effective and humane means of decreasing the number of homeless animals put down in shelters or living on the street.
Spay Day was created to educate the world that altering is the only permanent and 100 percent effective method of birth control for cats, dogs, rabbits and other pets. While most pet owners who do not spay or neuter their pets have good intentions and think that their animals will not contribute to the growing pet population, it is likely that at some point pet owners will be faced with this problem.
It’s important to know that pets that have been altered live happier, healthier, longer lives. Males that have been neutered fight less, roam less, and are less territorial. Females that have been spayed are at a reduced risk of getting reproductive cancers. They do not go in and out of heat or give birth to unwanted litters. Pets that have been altered are more attentive to their human families.
Nationwide, 87 percent of cats and dogs kept as pets in the U.S. are spayed or neutered, according to the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association.
Here at the Central Aroostook Humane Society, we have seen our intake of cats continue to drop each year, and we can only attribute that success to having as many of our pets as possible already altered before they are adopted.
While the problem of pet overpopulation will likely never completely go away, you can do your part by having your pet spayed or neutered and by supporting your local animal shelter.
Stop by and visit our available pets at 24 Cross St., Presque Isle. Our hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., closing for lunch from 12 to 12:30. You can also check us out on Facebook.
The Central Aroostook Humane Society encourages all pet owners to be responsible by having their pets spayed or neutered.
Gloria J. Towle is the secretary and a member of the Central Aroostook Humane Society board of directors.
