By Gloria J. Towle
In honor of World Spay Day, which is Tuesday, Feb. 23, we have a fun challenge for the kids. A coloring contest is taking place right now and all entries must be dropped off or mailed to the shelter at 26 Cross St. Presque Isle by Feb. 26.
The coloring forms can be picked up at the Central Aroostook Humane Society, Tractor Supply in Presque Isle, Bread of Life, Dead River, Presque Isle Save A Lot, Caribou Public Library, Critter Hill Kennel, Clippity Do Dog and the Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library children’s section. Forms can also be downloaded from our shelter Facebook page and website at centralaroostookhumanesociety.org.
One winner will be chosen from ages 0-7 and ages 8-plus to win a very special activity prize package. So, kids, get coloring and join in the fun!
Created as a Spay Day USA by the Doris Day Animal League in 1995, World Spay Day takes place each year on the last Tuesday of February. 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 the only permanent and 100-percent effective method of birth control for cats, dogs, rabbits and other pets is to spay and neuter our 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.
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. 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 to the success of having as many of our pets 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 26 Cross Street, Presque Isle. Our hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., closing for lunch from 12-12:30. You can also check us out on Facebook and petfinders.com.
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 Board of Directors of the Central Aroostook Humane Society.
