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Contents:
Myths and FactsMYTH: Spaying/Neutering a pet will hinder its health more than it helps it. FACT Quite the opposite... spaying/neutering your pet can help prevent mammary cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, testicular cancer, prostate disease, pyometra, a serious uterine infections, and complications during birth (if she was to get pregnant). Most importantly, fixed pets DO live longer. MYTH: It is better for an animal to have at least 1 litter before they are fixed. FACT That is the farthest thing from the truth! Medical evidence has proven that pets who are spayed before their first heat cycle are healthier than pets who are spayed after their heat cycle/1st litter. Because of this, vet's are now fixing animals at around 8 weeks of age. (also see MYTH: Spaying/Neutering a pet will hinder its health more than it helps it). MYTH: Pet's get fat when spayed/neutered. FACT Pets do NOT get fat as a result of spaying or neutering. Pets do, however, get fat from a bad diet or lack of exercise. Also, some pets get fat because that's how they were made. Just like people, some pets are destine to be fat no matter what. Spaying and neutering is not going to provoke obesity! MYTH: It costs too much. FACT There are several reasons this is not true. 1) Compare how much it will cost if your pet has a litter. Then you will be paying for even more pets (vet bills, food, etc.). It costs more to feed ONE litter for one year than it does to fix your pet! 2) If you get an animal from an animal shelter they usually pay for the spaying/neutering of your pet. 3) On Spay Day USA, most vet's give discounts on the spaying or neutering of an animal (Spay Day USA is the last Tuesday of February. However, many local groups recognize Spay Day USA during the weekend before or after this day, during the entire last week of February, and/or during the entire month(s) of February and/or March.). Check with your vet about this or go here www.1888pets911.org or here www.spayusa.org or call this number MYTH: If my cat/dog has babies it will be easy to find homes for them. FACT If that was the case then why are there so many puppies/kittens in animal shelters? If, by chance, you were able to find homes for all the puppies/kittens, you are still contributing to the over whelming pet population. For every home you give a puppy/kitten to, that is one less home for a lonely animal at the shelter. Also, how do you know that your babies will not end up unwanted? Most of the animals at the shelter were wanted at one time but the owner either lost interest, got allergies, moved and could not keep them, the list goes on & on. There is a good chance that many of your babies will end up at the animal shelter (and could be put down for lack of a good home). MYTH: I want my kids to see the miracle of birth. FACT First of all, this is not going to happen unless you stay by your animals side every moment of every day. Also, most animals give birth at night and you would be asleep for it anyway. If by some off chance you are able to see your pet giving birth, you will actually be teaching your children that it is ok to contribute to the already over whelming population of unwanted pets. However, if you do want your children to witness birth, go out and get a tape of it happening. MYTH: I want my pets to have babies because they have great qualities and I want them to pass it on. FACT There is no guarantee that the babies will get the good qualities of the parents. Also, take in to count that they could inherit the bad qualities! For instance, most gray hounds bred for racing do not make it on to the track because the do NOT inherit the good qualities of the parents. Most of these dogs end up in animal shelters or they get put down. MYTH: My pet is a pure bred. FACT Sadly, 1 out of every 4 unwanted pets in animal shelters are purebred. MYTH: My pet could not possibly get pregnant because it's always inside. FACT All animals are great escape artists. There is no guarantee that your pet will not get loose even if you think he/she does not have the desire to get out. A good majority of the pets at animal shelters are strays who come from loving homes. MYTH: If I fix my pet it will not be protective anymore. FACT Fixing your pet has no effect on an animals protective instinct. Most animals will be protective of their homes and owners no matter what. MYTH: If I spay/neuter my pet it will act different. FACT This is true to an extent, but in a good way. Animals who ARE fixed have less temperament and behavior problems than non fixed pets! A fixed pet is less likely to bite and less likely to run away from home. Also, a fixed pet will no longer have heat cycles which means they will not spray urine, leave blood where they sit/lay, and they will not howl like an un-spayed pet will. MYTH: My male pet will feel like "less of a man" if I get him fixed. FACT Animals do not have egos like humans do. Your pet will NOT know the difference. StatisticsHow to produce 80 million catsA cat can have babies as early as 4 1/2 months of age. She can have kittens every 3 months. The average size of a litter is 6.Assuming a cat has only 2 litters a year and only 2.8 kittens survive from each litter (keep in mind that a cat will usually produce more than this and more kittens are likely to survive from each litter), it is easy to produce well over 80 MILLION cats in 10 years. First year: 12 Second year: 66 Third year: 382 Fourth year: 2,201 Fifth year: 12,680 Sixth year: 73,041 Seventh year: 420,715 Eighth year: 2,423,316 Ninth year: 13,968,290 10th year: 80,399,780 A female dog and her female offspring can produce 192 puppies in only five years! (assuming two females per litter and two litters per year). And this doesn't include all of the offspring produced by her male puppies. Animal shelter facts9.6 million animals are euthanized in the United States every year!60% of dogs and 70% of the cats entering shelters are euthanized because there are not enough homes! Less than 2% of cats and 15% of dogs are reunited with their owner after a shelter has taken them in. 25% of dogs in animal shelters are pure bred. Only 10% of animals received by animal shelters are already spayed/neutered. Approximately 8-12 million animals enter animal shelters every year. And this does not take into count the ones entering humane societies and the SPCA. It is estimated that in the US alone there are approximately 70 million stray cats! Stray animals do not live as long as those who have a home. This includes animals that were once strays and have later been adopted into homes. Most animals find homes via family members. 15-20% of dogs are purchased from breeders. 10-20% of dogs/cats are adopted from animal shelters. 2-10% are purchased from pet shops. 20% of people who adopt their dogs from animal shelters later bring them back to a shelter! The cost of spaying/neutering a pet is less than feeding one litter for a year! Top 10 reasons pet owners give for relinquishing their dogs are: 1) Moving 2) Landlord problems 3) Cost of pet maintenance 4) No time for a pet 5) Inadequate facilities 6) Too many pets in home 7) Pet illness (es) 8) Personal problems 9) Biting 10) No homes for littermates Top 10 reasons pet owners give for relinquishing their cats are: 1) Too many in house 2) Allergies 3) Moving 4) Cost of pet maintenance 5) Landlord issues 6) No homes for littermates 7) House soiling 8) Personal problems 9) Inadequate facilities 10) Doesn't get along with other pets Table/graphThe tables below are statistics gathered from 1,008 animal organizations in the year 1997 alone. Included in these 1,008 are: 407 Local governmental animal care and control agencies, 229 Private non-profit shelters, 185 Private non-profit shelter w/ housing contract, 187 unspecified.
(The reason this chart dates back to 1997 is because shelters have lost interest in reporting their statistics.) By comparing the number of animals entering the shelter to the numbers leaving, you will notice that there were 327,144 animals left without a home in 97' alone! This does NOT include the animals which were already at the shelters!
*Unspecified includes (but not limited to): rodents, rabbits, avian, birds, poultry, reptiles, amphibians, ferrets, livestock (cattle, pigs, horses, etc), exotic, and wildlife.
The table below shows how these animals were obtained by the shelters.
Last updated: 3/30/2006 4:05 PM CST Sources: www.spayusa.org www.aspca.org www.petpopulation.org www.americanhumane.org |
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