Why Spay and Neuter?

There are so many reasons to spay or neuter, from offering your pet many health benefits to ending pet over-population and homelessness.

• Between 6-8 MILLION pets enter shelters across the country ever year
• 3-4 MILLION of those die in the shelters
• The United States is facing a severe pet-overpopulation crisis, and we will not be able to adopt our way out of it. Spaying and Neutering is the ONLYsolution
• Each summer starting in April, P.A.W.S experiences “KITTEN SEASON” in which hundreds of kittens flood the shelter at once. Most of these kittens are born at the same time because cats breed based on weather: long days and warm weather are their triggers that is it time to have kittens

Please click here to find out more about how you can get your own pets fixed or consider donating to P.A.W.S’s spay/neuter fund so that we may continue offering low-cost spay/neuter to pet owners in need. 

Health Benefits

The health benefits to having your pet spayed or neutered are numerous. Here are just a select few:

• Spayed or neutered pets live an average of 2 years longer than unfixed animals.
• Spay/Neuter reduces and totally eliminates some forms of cancers and certain types of infections that can be life threatening.
• Spayed or neutered pets are less likely to roam, which in turn decreases lifetime emergency veterinary costs due to lessened chances of being hit by a car or going missing.
• Spay/Neuter eliminates the health risks associated with a female pet giving birth.

Not quite sure? Or maybe you’ve heard that it’s better to let your pet have JUST ONE litter before being fixed? Or that a spayed or neutered dog won’t hunt? Click here to review many of the more popular but inaccurate myths surrounding spay/neuter.

Behavioral Benefits

• Spayed or neutered pets are less likely to roam, decreasing their chances of being hit by a car or going missing.
• Neutered male dogs and cats are less likely to take part in nuisance behaviors like mounting, urine marking, and yowling.
• Spayed female cats and dogs do not go through the draining emotional toll of the heat cycle.
• Spay/neuter can reduce or eliminate fighting amongst male cats and aggression in dogs.