World Spay & Neuter Day

I love animals.  All kinds of animals. And, like most people, I seem to feel more for the young, the old, and the injured.  I want to take every single one of them home with me, to have, love and care for, their entire life.  Wide eyed, innocent kittens and puppies; grey-muzzled, sunken eyed, older cats and dogs; those who are ill and/or injured - they all tug at my heart strings.  "Take me home.  Love me.  Protect me.  Keep me warm and well fed.  Keep pain, cold, hunger, and heart-break away."  That is what I see in every animal's eyes - be they feline, canine, rodent, avian, equine, bovine, or porcine.  I feel a loving and protective bond.
   I was horrified when I realized, as a child, that animals taken to the "animal shelter" were routinely killed if they were not adopted within a certain number of days.  I am still appalled by that fact - especially after looking at the numbers.  Four million cats, dogs, kittens and puppies are killed each each because they are not wanted. That is almost eleven thousand per day!  And these numbers are only in the United States - not around the world.  Unfortunately, I remember hearing people tell my parents (and others) that their dog or cat had produced puppies or kittens, and that the babies were placed in a sack and drowned in a pond or creek, river or the sea.  Some were just placed in a bag or box and taken to a trash dump to starve to death.
   Spaying or neutering your pet is the best option under the sun.  Your female cat, or dog, spends half of it's energy toward reproducing from the age of six months onward. Males of both species fight and injure one another, battling over the right to mate with a female in heat.  The female is a baby factory, having multiple infants two to three times each year.  Stopping this cycle before it starts is the best way.
  If you have stray cats - ferals - living in your area, and don't wish to see them die horribly; and, especially if you are providing food for them, please look on the internet, or call your veterinarian, and find out about Trap, Neuter & Release programs.  These programs have volunteers who provide cages for trapping, they take the animal to the vet and the vet will neuter or spay the feral critter, and then the cat is released back into it's usual territory.  This keeps more kittens from being produced by the wild clowder.
  Unless you are looking for a canine or feline to show and breed - do NOT purchase a dog or cat from a "breeder."  If you have your heart set on owning a particular breed, purchase a pet quality animal, and immediately have it spayed or neutered.
  Please use any extra money you may have to support "no kill" shelters, and, to assist Trap, Neuter, and Release programs.  Believe me, if the dogs and cats could verbally thank you, they would.  Instead, all you have to do is look into the loving eyes of a companion....
   Spread the word about spaying and neutering your pet!  Help with Trap, Neuter and Return  (TNR) Programs!  Please help in lowering the numbers of animals killed each day at "shelters."  You can make a difference!