Snip!?!
That’s right, snip, snip away. I might be a Mutt, But I’m 100% Fixed, Snipped, Nipped, Spayed, Neutered, whatever you want to call it. February is Spay Neuter Awareness Month and World Spay Day is Tuesday, February 23rd. The MuttButs are passionate about spay/neuter efforts in order to help reduce the number of homeless pets. Especially since at one point in their lives they were both homeless pets and were rescued. They now live a life of luxury! Well, full of love at least.
Riedi (that’s my black and tan boy!) was adopted from the local shelter on December 26, 2002. He was only 5 pounds and was sitting all by his lonesome in a big cage. I was told that there was an entire litter of puppies and he was the last one left. I still question whether or not he was really 6 weeks old because I’m not sure he had been weaned off his mother yet.
Isn’t this the cutest little MuttBut you’ve ever seen?
How horrible and scary it must be for all of those puppies, dogs, kittens and cats dropped off at shelters across the country every day. The owner’s simply thought that it was okay to be irresponsible and not worry about finding them homes, but instead dump them at the shelter for someone else to deal with.
I do however have lots (and lots and lots!) of cute baby pictures of Riedi to share.
My MuttBut Margi was from a local rescue and we will discuss her adoption into our family in a future blog post.
Fix at Four
According to Best Friends Animal Society, over 4 million pets are euthanized in shelters across the US yearly. WOW! That number is staggering. That’s why they started their Fix at Four campaign. You should get your pets fixed at FOUR MONTHS of age! Just 16 weeks may seem young, but that’s when kittens can first get pregnant and for puppies it’s 6 months. If you have specific questions about the best time to fix your pet, please consult your veterinarian.
Pet overpopulation is a major problem in the US and many don’t realize that cats can have one to two litters a year with four to six kittens per litter. Dogs have the same number of puppies per litter and usually about one litter a year.* Multiply that by the number of unneutered pets each year and the numbers can be overwhelming, as evidenced by the overflowing shelters.
Become a part of the solution, Fix at Four!
In addition to spaying and neutering your pets and encouraging everyone you know to do the same, the other ways you can help shelters and rescues are endless.
- Adopt don’t shop!
- Volunteer
- Foster
- Donate money and items – Many nonprofit organizations do yard sales throughout the year to raise funds and look for donations. You can also call your local shelter and see what items they are in need of. This can be anything from blankets, leashes and toys to hand sanitizer.
- Find a local pet food pantry – Many local communities have these and they help people that may not otherwise be able to feed their pets for a short period of time who would otherwise turn their pets into the local shelter. I had an Open House for Dezi & Roo in November and turned it into a Pet Food Drive. I donated a carload full of food and treats to Cooper’s Cupboard!
- Donate your time and skills
- Donate your special talent
Donate Your Special Talent
This last item is where I want to focus a bit on. You may not be able to take time to go to a local shelter or rescue and spend time there or even foster, but you may have a specific talent or skill they are in need of. You have probably heard me talking about a local nonprofit that I enjoy helping, PAWSitive Supporters. They raise funds and assist with local no cost/low cost spay/neuter for those that cannot otherwise afford it.
I’ve known the founder, Fran Jackson, for about 6 years now and while she knows that I am unable to go to most of the events where they take the animals to be fixed, she knows she can count on me for other things. When there are events, I will spend my lunch hour posting them on various websites to help spread the word.
I also help her with the wine and beer tastings – Sip for the Snip! (Love this!). We talk to people about what we are working on and see if they have ways to help and I head up our silent auction table to raise money to pay for the SNIPS!
Through Periscope, I met Monique Rodriguez with Silver Paw Studio in Fort Collins, Colorado. She is a pet and people photographer. Monique often donates her time to visit local rescues and takes great pictures of the adoptable animals so they can be used on their website to attract adopters. Monique’s talent shows the pets in their best light and helps them to get adopted. Monique is phenomenal and I love her dedication to helping the homeless animals.
If you’re not on Periscope, you have to come join us. There is a very supportive Pet Lovers Tribe and we have a blast! You can check our my past scopes to see what it’s all about.
Contact local rescues and see if they have needs that you can volunteer your talents for.
Don’t forget to Snip, Snip away!
* Statistics from the ASPCA.
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Thank you for sharing this great information! So many people are not aware of the importance of spaying and neutering, and they don’t take it seriously. We will definitely be sharing your post on our FB page!
Thank you so much! I am very passionate about spay neuter. It is a huge problem across the US and especially in Georgia.
If we could get everyone to spay neuter, the euthanasia rates would drop.
Our vet here will not s/n a animal that is under 6 months unless the animal is a cat and it has to be feral or semi feral. When neutering males they don’t have to play the hide and seek while looking for testicles that have not dropped. While ma was a spay/neuter clinic manager at the humane society ,every few months we had people coming in with male pets who had impregnated females. They wanted to know how it was possible. They had their vet records from where they had the pet neutered.
Come to find out there would be a mm of testicle left. Enough to create sperm to fertilize a egg. The people all used different vets even from different states.
Great post and such an important topic to talk about! Thank you for spreading the message! 🙂
I’m very pro altering (especially for cats!!), but I will not alter before 6 months. My vet won’t do it before then, either. Now that I’ve researched the topic at length, the benefits of delayed spaying and neutering will have my next dog spayed between 18 and 24 months. I’m a responsible owner with enough knowledge to handle an intact dog, so there’s no reason to do it early in my case.
I’m 100% for 6mo spay/neuter for the general public, though.
This is such great information and will hopefully make people realize WHY it’s so important.
I’m pro spay/neuter for most people but pediatric neutering is not something I’d choose for my own dogs. I’d rather wait till they’re mature and their growth plates have closed. I can definitely see why shelters need to do it though.
There are some really useful tips here. I think people forget how their special talents or areas of expertise can help out shelters in need. I think that local shelters need help writing dog and cat profiles to help these adoptable pets stand out, as well as photos that show their best side.